Characters Welcome! (and Needed!)

Ever wish for the simpler days? Does today’s fast pace and impersonal electronic age have you down? Well, Mount Rainier National Park is looking to take a few select folks Back In Time! This summer we are expanding our living history program and we need people passionate about the park, history, and people, and who have a penchant for dressing up, to join us for some fun. We need volunteers to fill a variety of roles to bring history to life this summer for our Shadows of the Past living history programs and a variety of vignettes at Longmire. Volunteers are needed for the following:

Characters – Have a flair for the dramatic? Ever wanted to wear a fake beard and talk with a Scottish brogue? We need people to fill a variety of roles from Mount Rainier’s history, memorizing scripts and portraying characters in at least one Shadows of the Past program and one character in a roving vignette.

Guides – Do you like to answer questions and play follow the leader? Guides are needed to lead visitors through the Shadows of the Past program by memorizing a script and monitoring the group. We also need guides to introduce vignettes and answer visitor questions.

Writers – Like to write short stories? Vignettes need to be written for 15-minute programs involving three to five characters. Topics will revolve around the 1899 – 1920s history of Mount Rainier. Specific topics will be discussed and assigned to writers.

Lantern bearers – Want to be involved, but want to stay behind the scenes? Lantern bearers are needed for Shadows of the Past programs to illuminate the path for visitors and the characters during the program.

Researchers – Have a general curiosity about Mount Rainier in the late 1800s to early 1900s? Researchers are needed to create a general outline and bibliography of background information about Mount Rainier and characters from 1889 to the 1920s.

Mark your calendars! Shadows of the Past performances will be the evenings of July 10th and 24th and August 7th and 21st. Vignettes are scheduled for July 17th and 31s and August 14th and 28th during the day.

For more information on the program or any of the positions listed please contact Lee Snook at Lee_Snook@nps.gov or 360.569.2211 x 6043. You can also submit an application online at volunteer.gov/gov.