Friends & Neighbors: Twenty-five graduate from inaugural Docent Academy
On May 12, more than two dozen residents from throughout the region graduated from the inaugural Thames River Heritage Park Docent Academy – a 10-week training program for current and prospective volunteer docents.
Program graduates noted below include engineers, hospital and university administrators, attorneys, insurance executives, educators and history buffs who come from the park’s hometowns of the City of New London, City of Groton and Town of Groton and include one couple who summers in Niantic.
The following is a list of the graduates:
East Lyme
Mary Farrell
Linda Hase
Patricia Lord
Philip Lord
Paul Warms
Groton
William Havens
Freya Phelps
Griswold
Charlotte LeVasseur
Mystic
Harry Payne
New London
Caroline Driscoll
Linda Mariani
Barbara Nawrocki
Marilyn Richardson
Marian Sanko
North Franklin
Shirley Sholes
Norwich
JoAnn Bromley
Pepi Kahn
Kimberly McLean
Carol Scandariato
Kenneth Scandariato
Waterford
Chris Allan
Joann Hodge
“Every week someone shares how much they are enjoying the program and how it has enriched their lives. I am blown away by both their enthusiasm for the program and their interest in volunteering at one of the sites,” said Catherine Foley, executive director in a release.
Based on the program’s success, Thames River Heritage Park Foundation has been invited by the Connecticut League of History Organizations to present a session on how it envisioned, created and implemented the 10-week, multi-site training program for prospective docents to support heritage sites at its annual conference on June 6.
Heritage sites included in the program were Avery-Copp House Museum, Bill Memorial Library, Ebenezer Avery House, Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park, Fort Trumbull State Park, Garde Arts Center, Hempsted Houses, Lyman Allyn Art Museum, Monte Cristo Cottage, Nathan Hale School House, Old Town Mill, New London Black Heritage Trail, Shaw Mansion/New London County Historical Society and the Submarine Force Library and Museum / USS Nautilus. Connecticut Humanities funded the program.
For more information go to thamesriverheritagepark.org/docent-academy or contact Catherine Foley at catherine.foley@thamesriverheritagepark.org.
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