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By: Dave Thompson | Lynchburg News and Advance
Published: February 24, 2012
A newly formed foundation is making it a mission to get Appomattox Court House National Historical Park ready to play its part in the sesquicentennial celebration of the Confederate surrender and the end of the Civil War in three years.
The Appomattox 1865 Foundation has only been incorporated as a business since November, and is in the process of attaining nonprofit status. Organizers and park officials are optimistic the group will have an impact not only in the park’s near future, but further down the road.
Ernie Price, chief of education and visitor services at the park, said he was excited to have the newfound support, especially considering how little national parks are able to do on their own.
“As a federal agency we can’t go out there and ask for money. Congress gives us the money that we get and that’s it. We can’t even lobby Congress for more money,” Price said.
“The friends group, they certainly can go out there and raise funds and raise awareness … they also can advertise. They can market. It’s really a nice marriage,” he said.
Sue Cochrane, one of the group’s founders, said she started volunteering for the park about three years ago. One thing kept coming to mind during meetings.
“During discussions, things would come up and they’d say, ‘Oh we can’t do that,’ and I’d say, ‘You know, a friends group could do that for you.’”
So after assembling the right personnel, drawing up papers and establishing some goals, the group was incorporated last year and plans to start fundraising once their nonprofit status is granted, hopefully in March.
She said the foundation’s long term goal to raise support for the park well after the 150th anniversary celebration, but right now, the goal is to accomplish certain projects to enhance the park for the influx of visitors expected in 2015.
“We are going to be the showpiece for April of 2015,” Cochrane said.
“There will be a large increase in tourism, and they’re coming specifically to Appomattox to come to the park and the museum.”
“That’s obviously when the nation will be looking at Appomattox,” said Price.
“It’ll be kind of the 15 minutes of, in fact, international fame.”
Anything the foundation raises money for must be on the park’s list of projects. The ten on the foundation’s list only comprise a fraction.
The foundation’s fundraising list includes: adding landscaping to decrease the view of vehicles from inside the park, creating a new orientation program complete with upgraded equipment, setting up a seminar for the anniversary in 2015, repairing and replacing fencing and renovating some of the buildings on the premises.
The projects range anywhere from $1,000 to $250,000, and Cochrane said the organization’s early goal is to get all the money for one project by the weekend of the anniversary this year.
She said by the sesquicentennial, she hopes for a good number of those projects to be completed, but that’s by no means the end of the foundation’s work.
“This is just a drop in the bucket,” she said.
“One (project) falls off the list, another is waiting to come on.”
Price concurred.
“We can’t allow ourselves to just simply focus on 2015, when we have a job to do, in theory, forever beyond that.”
By: Dave Thompson | Lynchburg News and Advance
Published: February 24, 2012
A newly formed foundation is making it a mission to get Appomattox Court House National Historical Park ready to play its part in the sesquicentennial celebration of the Confederate surrender and the end of the Civil War in three years.
The Appomattox 1865 Foundation has only been incorporated as a business since November, and is in the process of attaining nonprofit status. Organizers and park officials are optimistic the group will have an impact not only in the park’s near future, but further down the road.
Ernie Price, chief of education and visitor services at the park, said he was excited to have the newfound support, especially considering how little national parks are able to do on their own.
“As a federal agency we can’t go out there and ask for money. Congress gives us the money that we get and that’s it. We can’t even lobby Congress for more money,” Price said.
“The friends group, they certainly can go out there and raise funds and raise awareness … they also can advertise. They can market. It’s really a nice marriage,” he said.
Sue Cochrane, one of the group’s founders, said she started volunteering for the park about three years ago. One thing kept coming to mind during meetings.
“During discussions, things would come up and they’d say, ‘Oh we can’t do that,’ and I’d say, ‘You know, a friends group could do that for you.’”
So after assembling the right personnel, drawing up papers and establishing some goals, the group was incorporated last year and plans to start fundraising once their nonprofit status is granted, hopefully in March.
She said the foundation’s long term goal to raise support for the park well after the 150th anniversary celebration, but right now, the goal is to accomplish certain projects to enhance the park for the influx of visitors expected in 2015.
“We are going to be the showpiece for April of 2015,” Cochrane said.
“There will be a large increase in tourism, and they’re coming specifically to Appomattox to come to the park and the museum.”
“That’s obviously when the nation will be looking at Appomattox,” said Price.
“It’ll be kind of the 15 minutes of, in fact, international fame.”
Anything the foundation raises money for must be on the park’s list of projects. The ten on the foundation’s list only comprise a fraction.
The foundation’s fundraising list includes: adding landscaping to decrease the view of vehicles from inside the park, creating a new orientation program complete with upgraded equipment, setting up a seminar for the anniversary in 2015, repairing and replacing fencing and renovating some of the buildings on the premises.
The projects range anywhere from $1,000 to $250,000, and Cochrane said the organization’s early goal is to get all the money for one project by the weekend of the anniversary this year.
She said by the sesquicentennial, she hopes for a good number of those projects to be completed, but that’s by no means the end of the foundation’s work.
“This is just a drop in the bucket,” she said.
“One (project) falls off the list, another is waiting to come on.”
Price concurred.
“We can’t allow ourselves to just simply focus on 2015, when we have a job to do, in theory, forever beyond that.”