The mid-April sesquicentennial, or 150th, anniversary of the start of the Civil War is rapidly approaching. One way to commemorate that seminal event in U.S. history is to join the nationwide effort to help clean, restore and preserve many of the sites - battlefields, cemeteries and others - associated with that conflict. There's certainly ample opportunity to do so here.
On April 2, if the past is any indication, hundreds of area residents will join tens of thousands of Americans in more than 20 states to participate in Park Day. The event, started 15 years ago by the Civil War Trust to assist the vital effort to maintain Civil War sites, has grown considerably. This year more than 100 sites will be included in the observation. Volunteers at each will engage in activities ranging from trash removal to painting to trail building. Their work is much appreciated.
Officials at many locations - local, state and federal - agree that routine but important maintenance would go undone if not for Park Day volunteers. Current budget crises make it impossible for public agencies to meet the demand for maintenance dollars.
Participants often receive a token award - often a T-shirt or commemorative patch - for their work. The real reward, though, is the knowledge that their work connects them to momentous events in the nation's past, and that their labor contributes directly to the preservation of a historic site.
Area participants in Park Day include the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, the Dalton Confederate Cemetery and Prater's Mill, near Varnell in Whitfield County. A call to the office at each site should elicit information about activities on April 2 and the age groups for which they are appropriate.
Park Day won't end the problem of failing infrastructure - that requires consistent, long-term funding - but it does provide a bit of relief. That is welcome, as is the opportunity to celebrate and help preserve important pieces of the nation's history.