PROSPECT, MAINE -- On Saturday, April 18, 2009, from 10 AM until noon, volunteers are needed to team up with the Friends of Fort Knox and the Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT) to help clean the Civil War era State Historic Site. The nationwide effort - dubbed Park Day - is underwritten with a grant from The History Channel. In 2008, over one hundred and eleven sites took part in Park Day throughout the country.

Park Day, now in its eleventh year, is an annual hands-on preservation event created by CWPT to assist local groups with the maintenance of Civil War sites. Participants gather at the sites to help with activities that range from trash removal to trail building. In exchange for their hard work, volunteers receive t-shirts and have an opportunity to hear a local historian discuss the significance of the site.

Volunteers are needed to sweep, rake and ready Fort Knox for its opening on May 1. For more information about Park Day at Fort Knox, please call 469-6553 or email FOFK1@aol.com.

Resuming in May, the Friends of Fort Knox will continue work on the Century and a Half Project, providing extensive masonry repair on the interior of the Fort. Last year, the Friends were able to reopen the cistern rooms of the enlisted men's quarters as a result of significant masonry repair.

Individuals, who would like to help the Friends in their ongoing mission to preserve the Fort, learn about Fort history, Friends' 2009 special events or hours of operation for the Penobscot Narrows Observatory are encouraged to visit their web site at www.fortknox.maineguide.com. Fort Knox is owned by the people of Maine and operated by the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands.