Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Colonial National Historical Park


 
Hi my name is Hannah Sender and I am part of the new ProRanger Cohort.  I am currently interning at Colonial National Historical Park in Virginia, and living at the Yorktown Coastguard Base.  At Temple University I will be going into my senior year as a criminal justice major, with a minor in environmental studies.  I have been intrigued by this program since my freshman year and was esthetic that a new cohort was finally started.  Our first major outing as a group was at leadership camp, which was a fantastic week.  Most people would think of the saying “too many chiefs and not enough Indians,” when you put twelve natural born leaders together for five days, that there would be lack of communication, or too much, and ignorance of others ideas.  Yet this was not the case, we worked through what communication problems we had, and made sure everyone’s ideas were heard.  We could not have worked together better and the week flew by.  




At Colonial NHP I had the privilege of meeting the Acting Superintendent Jennifer Flynn, Acting Deputy Superintendent Steve Williams, Chief Ranger Ken Doak and many other employees my first day at the park at a staff meeting.  I spent the first week doing ride-alongs with my supervisor Ranger Mark Krebs, getting to learn about both Yorktown and Jamestown.  A major part of CNHP is the Colonial Parkway, which connects Yorktown to Jamestown.  Similar to the Tour trails of Yorktown, Island Loop Drive takes visitors around where the settlers arrived Jamestown.  


This past weekend starting Friday June 5th, the L’hermione was docked in Yorktown, which is a replica of the original French ship that arrived in the U.S. in 1780 bringing Marquis de Lafayette.  Lafayette’s forces and the Hermione were crucial in the surrender of the British in Yorktown.  This event was streamed live so the French could see the ceremonies over the weekend.  French dignitaries, and the Governor of Virginia attended for ceremonies including a 21 gun salute, with a multiple canon returns upon the ships arrival, followed by a wreath ceremony.  It was a busy weekend with visitors coming all the way from France, but a fantastic learning experience. 




3 comments:

  1. That ship is also comings to the fort next Friday at about 7am !

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  3. If you get a chance to go on it definitely do it! The tickets are free but the three days it was here they were gone by 10 a.m. and I was working everyday it was here. I heard the inside is beautiful though, and if it's anything like the outside is has to be amazing. It'll be in Philly, and Boston is its last stop so hopefully John and Brittany can see it too!

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