Great Smoky Mountains National Park is recruiting volunteers to provide orientation and historic information to visitors at Mingus Mill, located one half mile north of the Oconaluftee Visitor Center near Cherokee. Volunteers will work alongside millers to help educate visitors about the general role of milling in the Smokies, including the unique turbine wheel at Mingus Mill.
Mingus Mill, built in 1886, offers visitors a unique look into the inner workings of a mill that custom ground everything from corn to wheat or rye. The intricacy of the turbine-driven mill provided local patrons with custom ground cornmeal or flour in a fraction of the time needed by other types of mills.
Volunteers will work alongside Great Smoky Mountains Association employees. Each volunteer is asked to work at least one, four-hour shift per week from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. during the peak visitation season from April through the November.
New volunteers are required to attend training on Friday, March 6 from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. The training will be held at the Oconaluftee Administration Building near Cherokee. Volunteers should bring a bag lunch.
If interested in this exciting volunteer opportunity, please call Park Resource Education Ranger Florie Takaki by phone at 497-1906 or by email at florie_takaki@nps.gov to reserve a space for training.
– National Park Service release
