Mount Vernon Presents Free Program for Scouts

For Immediate Release 
October 21, 2009
Digital images available      

Public Information:
(703) 780-2000      
education@mountvernon.org

Media Contact:
Melissa Wood (703) 799-5203
mwood@mountvernon.org

Mount Vernon Presents Free Program for Scouts

MOUNT VERNON, Va. – Historic Mount Vernon welcomes all Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and Camp Fire Club members (in uniform or wearing an official pin) with free admission during its Scouting Days program, from November 1, 2009 - February 15, 2010. On Saturday, November 7, Mount Vernon kicks off Scouting Days with special activities from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Scouts have an opportunity to learn more about colonial life through hands-on projects and stations on surveying, woodworking, textile-making, farming, and cooking. Demonstrations with livestock and blacksmithing are also offered.  In addition to these activities, scouts are encouraged to make their own wreath to lay at the tomb of George Washington, which is the site of a special changing of the guard throughout the day. Two leaders from each group will receive a discounted admission rate of $7.

Scouts can participate in a variety of activities on November 7:

• Surveying:  Join professional surveyors as they demonstrate and teach basic skills in the science of land surveying, compass surveying, topographic surveying, distance measurement with a chain, distance measurement with steel tape and plumb bob, electronic measurements, and a discussion on the role of a modern land surveyor.
• Woodworking:  Watch as Mount Vernon carpenters demonstrate woodworking techniques used to make 18th-century tools.
• Cooking:  Mount Vernon’s interpreters will demonstrate 18th-century cooking over an open fire.
• Animals:  Mount Vernon’s livestock and trades staff will offer demonstrations with our rare breed animals at the George Washington: Pioneer Farmer site.
• First Person Interpretation:  Scouts are invited to visit the Greenhouse Theater to watch dramatic first person programs that reveal George Washington through the eyes of his contemporaries. Lady Washington will greet scouts in the Little Theater.
• Mansion: Tours of the Mansion will focus on Washington’s fundamental role in the founding of our nation and on the concepts of civic responsibility.
• Wreathlaying: Scouts can participate in a moving wreathlaying ceremony at George Washington’s tomb. A special changing of the guard ceremony will take place throughout the day.

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Events, programs, and activities are subject to change.

Public Information:
703-780-2000; 703-799-8697 (TDD); Visit.MountVernon.org

Since 1860, over 80 million visitors have made George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens the most popular historic home in America.  Through thought-provoking tours, entertaining events, and stimulating educational programs on the Estate and in classrooms across the nation, Mount Vernon strives to preserve George Washington’s place in history as “First in War, First in Peace, and First in the Hearts of His Countrymen.”  Mount Vernon is owned and operated by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, America’s oldest national preservation organization, founded in 1853.  A picturesque drive to the southern end of the scenic George Washington Memorial Parkway, Mount Vernon is located just 16 miles from the nation’s capital.

Hours of operation: April-August, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; March, September, October, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; November – February, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.  Regular admission rates: adults, $15.00; senior citizens, $14.00; children age 6-11, when accompanied by an adult, $7.00; and children under age 5, FREE.  Admission fees, restaurant and retail proceeds, along with private donations, support the operation and restoration of Mount Vernon.