Update: George Washington Memorial Parkway Junior Ranger Activities

Package from the Parkway

Hello Junior Rangers! Today I was very surprised with a large envelope from the people over at George Washington Memorial Parkway (GWMP, or simply, “the Parkway” as the locals call it). I am excited about it because it is a reply to the package I sent them a few weeks prior, and come on, getting packages in the mail is fun. :)

So first, the backstory:

A couple of weeks ago, around the same time I sent out Traveling Clara Barton, I had also sent out a slew of my completed Junior Ranger books that I had picked up from the GWMP HQ at Turkey Run Park when I visited there last month. There are many NPS sites along the Parkway and you can find all the current Junior Ranger books there at the Parkway HQ. The notable exception here is Arlington House, which I didn't know had a program till after I left DC. I completely forgot to ask if it had its own separate one. Argh. :(

And although technically Clara Barton NHS is administered by the Parkway, the book for that site was not at the HQ. And apparently Glen Echo Park (also administered by the Parkway) has its own, which like Arlington House, I didn't know until after I left (book was also not at the HQ either). It also didn't help that the Ranger station was closed at the time I went over there.

So anyway, you take the books you get at HQ with you and complete them as you visit each site; once you’re done, you mail them all back to the same place, Turkey Run Park (as not every site has a manned ranger station). The books I did are listed here:

• George Washington Memorial Parkway
• US Marines Corps War Memorial and Netherlands Carillon
• Theodore Roosevelt Island
• Road to Freedom: The Underground Railroad Junior Ranger Activity Book

(I also did Fort Hunt Park, but I forgot to mail it in—oops.)

So fast-forward to today, and I got an envelope back from the Turkey Run Park HQ with a whole bunch of goodies inside. :D

Letter from Ranger Wheeler

Letter from Bryan Wheeler, Park Ranger: First I was surprised that there even was a letter in the first place, but this was really cool! He actually took the time to read through all of the books I sent and actually referenced my answers in his letter—I was very surprised by this.

  

Junior Ranger Patch

Junior Ranger Patch: Ranger Wheeler was very nice in sending me a Junior Ranger program logo patch because I completed so many books. I did chuckle though when he said “you can get your parents to sew [it] on your clothes or your book bag.” It was still very nice of him to send that. Very unexpected and appreciated.

Theodore Roosevelt Island Junior Ranger Badge: Awarded for completing the Theodore Roosevelt Island Junior Ranger book

George Washington Memorial Parkway Junior Ranger Badge: Awarded for completing the activities in the GWMP Let’s Move Outside! Junior Ranger book. I thought there was something different that you get for the Let’s Move books, but maybe that’s only select parks. Sadly the badge broke in half in the mail, so when I send out the Fort Hunt book, I am going to write to Ranger Wheeler to see if he can send me another one.

GWMP Civil War Junior Ranger Badge: Awarded for completing the Road to Freedom Underground Railroad Book (not to be confused with the Junior Civil War Historian patch, that’s a different program).

Note: Apparently you don’t get anything for completing the US Marine Corps War Memorial/Netherlands Carillon book because it is considered to be part of the GWMP book (and come to think of it, the activities were the same…).

And that’s it! It was a very nice reward for all the work it took to complete all those books. The sites along the parkway were very nice to visit and I will talk about them in more detail in another post. A big thanks to Ranger Wheeler at the Parkway for taking the time to put all this together and his generosity in giving me the Program patch as a gift! :)

Explore On, Junior Ranger! :)