Volunteers of the year, part 2

But first, a couple of items. The Pennsylvania Military Museum was included in WeAreCentralPA.com’s ongoing “Daytrippin’” feature—some of you may have trouble with the link, it seems to vary.

On May 8, in honor of National Tourism Day, Visit Bucks County announced the recipients of its annual tourism grants. Washington Crossing Historic Park and Pennsbury Manor were among the 50 organizations who will share more than $1 million in grants. In addition, Pennsbury’s Tabitha Dardes received the Dedicated Partner Award as part of Visit Bucks County’s first-ever National Travel and Tourism Week honors (it’s not too late to celebrate NTTW by visiting your favorite heritage site this weekend). Congratulations!

So now, we continue with our all-too-brief intros to the volunteers recently honored for their work in 2011 (more posts on this here and here). These folks represent the wealth of dedicated unpaid staff at sites on the Trails of History who, working with the dedicated paid staff, preserve our Pennsylvania heritage and share it with the public.

Lorraine “Lorri” Ownsby divides her year between summer volunteering at Drake Well Museum, where she staffs the front desk and helps visitors learn about the exhibits, and winter volunteering at the Superstition Mountain Museum in Apache Junction, Arizona.

At Eckley Miners’ Village, Karen Esak has been instrumental in the development of Victorian-themed fundraising events, as well as two plays, one based on Mother Jones and the other on the Avondale Mine Disaster.

John “Jack” Oliphant serves Ephrata Cloister in a broad variety of ways—as a member of the Chorus, as an interpreter for historical programs and tours, as a chauffeur of people and cider—adding up to just over 125 hours in 2011.

Among other contributions to the Erie Maritime Museum and Flagship Niagara over the past 20+ years, Lance Barclay has guided numerous tours, trained and mentored new guides, and represented both the museum and the ship in Erie and beyond through educational presentations.

Jack Washington has provided leadership to the board of Graeme Park as well as participating in public programs for all ages, portraying Dr. Graeme, presenting Revolutionary War military personas, and demonstrating 18th-century woodworking skills.

Hope Lodge has benefitted greatly from Tony Garvan’s hard work keeping the gardens and grounds clean and cleared of brush as he helps to make the site enjoyable for reenactors and the visiting public.

More next week.