Come Follow My Adventure...

Come on over and join my new Facebook Group: Zach's Living History Adventure In Alaska

I created this group page so that there will be a central location for people to keep up-to-date with journey in Denali National Park this summer. I will use this group page to post pictures, videos, and stories for you all to see and follow along.

And, no I do not plan on abandoning my blog, I just wanted another venue that would enable me to share multimedia experiences of my Summer adventure.

Big Changes...

I have to admit that while I am more excited than I have been in a long, long time...I am just as equally terrified!

Today, my management team officially approved a leave of absence for me that will allow me to accept a short-term contract with the Doyon/Aramark Joint Venture, the National Park Service's authorized concessioner of Denali National Park.

I will be spending May through September of this year working as a Living History Interpreter as part of the Denali Natural History Tour.

I cannot express how excited I am to have the opportunity to continue and advance my career as a Living History Professional, as well as have the opportunity to live and work in Alaska at such a beautiful place as Denali. This experience will be a great departure for me on many levels, yet I know it will be an adventure full of lessons to be learned. It will be a wonderful break from the summertime of Virginia, however, I will be sad at spending that time away from Portia (a big thank you to my family for agreeing to watch her while I'm away). It will be a once in a lifetime experience I have no doubt.

And it won't be so bad reporting to work here everyday:

For those of you who are wondering, my assignment will be to portray a 1940's era Park Ranger. A great departure from the many characters I have portrayed over the years and it will be a whole new era for me to familiarize myself with, I really can't wait...despite how scary this whole thing is.

A Full Company At 'Over-Strength'

As some of you may (or may not) know, my job involves me playing a variety of different people from the 18th Century. One such character is Captain Alexander Parker of Col. Thomas Posey's Virginia Regiment. Typically I will portray this American soldier/veteran on Wednesdays and Fridays as part of our End of Day program. The year is 1781, and the American and French forces are amassing for the siege of Yorktown. But before the march to the city of York, Capt. Parker has come to Williamsburg to find any and all brave, able-bodied men, over the age of 16 who would like to exact some revenge on the Redcoats that have wrecked havoc and devastation on their countryside...and with a cry for all those willing to fight to step forward or be left behind this is what happened yesterday, Friday, April 9th:

21 ranks of men, five across stepped forward and volunteered for service in the Continental Line. Considering how quiet this crowd had been all day I honestly did not expect more than three or four men to step forward. While we had few boys step forward they were removed from the ranks before the volunteers were issued their Oath of Enlistment:

At this point in history, a complete company is composed of 100 men. With 105 total men sworn in we exceeded the numbers of a full company by five men, making this the largest number of men I have ever seen recruited here...a full company at 'over-strength'...it was a lot of fun to be a part of and see the patriotism of this quiet crowd come to life in these 105 men.

(Click on images for larger view)