Chattanooga and the surrounding are blessed with a large number of battlefields, parks and other sites connected with the Civil War. All are rightly regarded as treasures that commemorate events that took place there. Unfortunately, the sites tied to that important period in U.S. history are visited by increasing numbers of people at a time when government money to maintain and protect them is in short supply. The result is a fiscal nightmare that strains maintenance budgets and makes long-range planning nearly impossible.
There’s no easy remedy to the problem. One way individuals and organizations can help ameliorate the situation though is Park Day, a nationwide effort celebrated on April 10 and designed to clean and restore Civil War sites. The event, created by the Civil War Preservation Trust, underwritten by History, formerly the History Channel, and recognized as a “Take Pride in America” event by the U.S. Department of the Interior, allows area residents to assist in the maintenance and preservation of places important to local, regional and national history.
The premise is simple – and effective. Volunteers meet at designated places to undertake chores that public funding no longer supports. That includes raking leaves, picking up trash, restoring and building trails and assisting with routine repairs. It is a family-friendly event that will help extend the useful life of places with ties to the past for future generations.
Event organizers say additional venues likely will be added before April 10, but so far Park Day participants in the area can volunteer at the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park in Fort Oglethorpe, at Prater’s Mill near Dalton, at the Dalton Confederate Cemetery and at the Old Western and Atlantic Railroad and Cisby Austin House in Tunnel Hill, Ga. Times and rain dates are available by calling the office at each site.
Park Day can’t solve the problem of failing infrastructure – only consistent, long-term funding can help do that – but it does provide a bit of relief. That is welcome, as is the opportunity for individuals to celebrate and help preserve the service and sacrifice of those who lived before them.