HARPERS FERRY, W.Va. – Visitors to the Harpers Ferry National Historic Park on Wednesday morning were able to witness history in the making, as park officials and members of the United States Mint unveiled the new West Virginia quarter that is already in circulation.
Despite a quick deluge before the event began, the park was filled with family, friends, nature enthusiasts and the like as the ceremony began a little after 10 a.m.
The children anxiously formed a semi-circle around a model of John Brown’s Fort, which housed the new quarters before they were dropped into a box below to display.
Every child and teenager eighteen and under received a free, shining new quarter, and there was also a coin exchange for adults as well.
Park Ranger in charge of education, Todd Bolton, was instrumental in getting the event together, and he said working with the U.S. Mint couldn’t have been a better experience.
“We’ve had a committee going for about two years that’s been working on this event. It’s been a collaboration with the United States Mint. They have been fabulous to work with, it’s been a wonderful collaboration,” he excitedly proclaimed after the event.
He said from the planning perspective it was an interesting experience because the event falls on the park’s Centennial Year.
The goal of the National Park Service Centennial is reaching out to the next generation.
“We’re really trying to bring young people into the park to have them experience national parks in new and unique ways. We’ve got a lot of music programs going on this year. For instance, for the first time ever, we will be having a music festival in August, and the music is going to be Folk, Bluegrass, Indie-Rock – music that is geared towards a younger audience. We’ve also got our 15th annual Don Redman Jazz Heritage Concert at the end of this month. Again, in an effort to reach out to the next generation, we are for the first time hosting the “Don Redman Next Generation Jazz Academy”. We’ll be bringing in juniors and seniors from the tri-state area who are music and jazz students, and they’ll have the opportunity to study under Dr. Larry Ridley, a famous jazz musician and educator,” Bolton explained.
He also said the park is offering “the most ambitious and aggressive schedule” for programs and events this year, mentioning their event guide consists of over 1,500 activities for this Centennial year alone.
