Smokies Recruiting Volunteers to Assist Visitors at Mingus Mill

The Mill, which is located one half mile north of the Oconaluftee Visitor Center near Cherokee North Carolina, provides an opportunity for park volunteers to assist in educating visitors about the general role of milling in the Smokies and specifically the turbine wheel at Mingus Mill.

Mingus Mill, built in 1886 offers visitors a unique look into see the inner workings of a mill that Great Smoky Mountains National Park is recruiting volunteers to help provide visitors with historic reference and information at Mingus Mill. custom ground everything from corn to wheat or rye. The complexity of the mill provided customers with custom ground cornmeal or flour in a fraction of the time needed by other types of mills.

Volunteers will work alongside Great Smoky Mountains Association employees. Each volunteer is asked to work at least one four-hour shift per week from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. during the peak visitation season from April through the end of November.

New volunteers are required to attend orientation and training on Thursday, March 31, 2016 from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Volunteers should bring water, lunch, and a light jacket. The training will be held at the Oconaluftee Administration Building adjacent to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center near Cherokee, NC.

To reserve a spot in the training or to receive more information, please contact Park Resource Education Ranger Florie Takaki by phone at (828) 497-1906 or by email at florie_takaki@nps.gov. For more information about Mingus Mill, please visit the park website at http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/mfm.htm