Volunteers help harvest grapes from Discovery Park’s vineyard
UNION CITY, Tenn. — It’s the season of harvest and these volunteers took the steps to begin a journey of transformation with the fruit of the vine.
The Discovery Park of America is known for the grand history of the nation, while getting visitors involved in events that welcome you into various cultures and experiences. But did you know that you could volunteer and be a part of the creating something special?
“Volunteers is a big part of our organization. We’re doing so many different things. You can pick what you’re interested in, whether or not if you’re involved in Master Gardeners, or if you specifically enjoy hanging Christmas lights,” said Clare Saum, director of marketing for Discovery Park of America.
The volunteer opportunities are so vast, but one in particular that takes place about twice a year is the harvesting of the white and red grapes.
“About a week or 10 days ago. We harvested all of our white grapes, and we’re harvesting our red chambourcins this morning. We’re gonna load those up and we’re gonna take them off to a local winery in Humboldt called Crown Winery, and we’ll get these things processed and hopefully have some wine this time next year. It should be fantastic,” said John Watkins, director of grounds and landscaping for Discovery Park of America.
If you are interested in trying the wine from the previous vintages, they are available in the Discovery Park gift shop. If you are more on the artsy side or like to tell stories of history, you can take part as well.
“We have so many different craftsmen that set up on our busy Saturdays. We just celebrated David Crockett’s birthday, it was filled with volunteers setting up, talking about things that they’re passionate about, a lot of lost arts, so to speak, that we have that’s all volunteer based. So quilting, any any local artisans that you can find in this in the settlement that is all volunteer driven. So we couldn’t do it without our volunteers,” said Saum.
For more information on volunteering, send an email to ssimbeck@discoveryparkofamerica.com.
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