THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 28, 1996 TAG: 9607300512
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover story
SOURCE: BY JAMES SCHULTZ, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: CAPE HATTERAS LENGTH: 156 lines
IN JUST under two months, volunteer Carol Findlay has mastered most of the basic facts, including the most important: It's 255 steps to the observation deck of the 208-foot-tall Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.
Depending on how quickly you navigate the spiral staircase, it's five or 10 minutes to the top. And volunteers know that's plenty of time to come up with questions about the towering structure.
So on this breezy, sticky July day Findlay is ready for the boy with hair the color of pumpkin as he bounds out of the lighthouse.
``Whew! That's a big one!'' the excited youngster exclaims. ``Can you fish up there?''
``No,'' Findlay replies, holding back a smile. ``You can't.''
Findlay and her husband - described as ``mature and retired'' - lived for years in Hampton, Va., before moving to Florida. They are in their first summer as National Park Service volunteers. While Findlay works at the Hatteras lighthouse, her spouse is campground host at nearby Cape Point.
She is one of about 75 volunteers marshaled this summer on the Outer Banks, working at National Park Service sites all along Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
More than half work at the Hatteras lighthouse, with the remainder at such locations as Fort Raleigh on Roanoke Island and the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills.
These Volunteers in the Park - or VIPs as they're more informally called by park rangers - staff information desks, clean beaches, help arrange museum collections, conduct environmental and educational programs and monitor plant and animal life. VIPs oversee campgrounds, spruce up buildings, attend to a variety of administrative duties and look after gardens, grass and shrubs.
``Without volunteers, we would not be able to provide the level of visitor services we do now,'' said Robert E. Woody, the Hatteras Group's chief of interpretation and its volunteer coordinator. ``Without volunteers, the lighthouse would not be open to the public. It's as simple as that.''
Federal budget reductions have thinned the ranks of permanent Park Service staff. Additional cutbacks are likely, further straining services and increasing the demand on those career civil servants who remain. Volunteerism at the Hatteras Seashore appears destined to increase in importance.
To calculate volunteerism's dollar value, Woody starts with an estimated figure of 22,000. That's the rough hourly total National Seashore volunteers will have worked by the end of 1996, and the equivalent of almost 11 full-timers working 2,080 hours a year.
Were each of the theoretical 11 permanent workers to receive a minimum of $20,000 each, says Woody, the dollar value of the volunteer contribution would amount to some $220,000. But that figure is way conservative; Woody claims that once the true private-sector value is factored in for the variety of professional services rendered by volunteers, the annual dollar amount balloons to at least half a million.
Considering that the Hatteras Group's annual budget runs between $5 million and $6 million, volunteerism is an important financial addition.
``Each year volunteers get involved in new things they haven't before,'' Woody said. ``Volunteers are very flexible . . . What we hear a lot from our volunteers is the phrase: I want to give something back.''
A desire to contribute brought former Navy captain and aviator Bud Brown to the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills. Brown and his wife moved from their Virginia Beach home in 1989 to retire on the Outer Banks; they now reside a few minutes away from the Memorial.
Brown said that after he met another park service volunteer who lived in his neighborhood, he decided to offer his services at the site honoring the Wright Brothers.
``I decided it looked like a lot of fun. I started and have been here ever since,'' Brown said. ``I feel very strongly about our National Park Service. They really need our help.''
Brown, 65, comes in two days a week during the summer season and one day a week the rest of the year. He answers questions and hands out materials at the Memorial's visitor center. He also gives talks on the history of the first flight, and of the months and years following the Wrights' triumph, as the brothers worked to perfect and commercialize their invention.
``Volunteering is a very natural thing,'' Brown said. ``It keeps me busy. And it keeps me interested. I'd recommend volunteering to anyone.''
According to ranger and Wright Brothers volunteer coordinator Fentrice Davis, approximately 500,000 visitors come to the Wright Brothers Memorial each year, with the bulk of visitation occurring between late May and early September.
Davis says that in 1989 the Wright Brothers public-contact complement consisted of a staff of five permanent civil servants and six temporary ``seasonals.'' By 1996, that number had been halved, to three full-timers and two seasonal employees.
Outer Banks tourists, Davis observes, may not realize just how important people like Brown have become to the park service,
``Volunteers are here to help us get the job done,'' Davis said. ``They are vital to our entire operation. If it wasn't for our volunteers, and considering our budget crunch, we couldn't get interpretation and programs done.''
Volunteers were responsible in 1995 for the complete refurbishment of a replica of the 1903 Wright flier on display in the Memorial's visitor center. During the restoration, close to 7,000 hours of professional time were donated by engineers and aviation buffs, says Hatteras interpretation chief Woody. In all, volunteers saved the government at least $100,000 with their efforts.
And even when they're not regularly scheduled, many volunteers will rearrange their lives to lend a helping hand.
``There have been situations where we've called a volunteer and said, ' `Can you help us out?' '' Davis said. ``And they've said yes. It's a big relief when you know they're there.''
Donna Peele, 43, is only too happy to help out. She and her husband Shankie, owners of a local motel, have been volunteering since May 1993. Between them, the couple works three days a week at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.
``My husband and I feel this is something we need to do,'' she said. ``It's a way to give back to the community. This (lighthouse) represents so much to the Outer Banks and to the villages down here.''
Peele says that sometimes when she works, her son and his buddies come down to surf just off the lighthouse beach. As she stands a couple of hundred feet up in the air, she'll catch his eye and they'll wave to one another.
But that's only occasionally. More often that not, you'll find Peele in animated conversation with sweaty but curious folk who have trekked to the observation deck for a panoramic view of beach and ocean.
``Working up here,'' said Peele, ``you learn a lot.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by DREW C. WILSON
National Park Service volunteer Chuck Giannnoti, 58, of Buxton,
sweeps out the first floor of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse before
another day of tours begins at the historic structure.
Volunteer Nancy Giannotti, left, answers a question from a visitor.
Volunteer Nancy Giannotti, 59, of Buxton, waits as volunteer Mike
Martin, left, 52, of Avon, wipes his brow after climbing the 255
steps to the top of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.
Volunteer Mike Martin opens the doorway that opens onto the
observation deck at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. He's one of about
75 volunteers working this summer on the Outer Banks at National
Park Service sites all along Cape Hatteras National Seashore. More
than half work at the Hatteras lighthouse, with the remainder at
such locations as Fort Raleigh on Roanoke Island and the Wright
Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills.
Graphic
AT THE PARKS
Attractions at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore are open at
the following times through Labor Day:
The Bodie Island Visitor Center is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6
p.m.
The Fort Raleigh Visitor Center on Roanoke Island is open Sunday
through Friday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and on Saturday from 9 to 6.
The Hatteras Island Visitor Center is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6
p.m.
The Ocracoke Island Visitor Center is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6
p.m.
The Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center is open 9
a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills is open
daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. There is an entrance fee of $2 per
person or $4 per car. by CNB