Friends of Carl Sandburg at Connemara’s Support Work Celebrated

For more than 25 years, the Friends of Carl Sandburg at Connemara have supported programs and activities at the National Historic Site in Flat Rock, North Carolina.

Now a new video produced by a Friends’ volunteer sheds light on the many ways the organization contributes to the Sandburg home, part of the National Park Service.

Richard Labunski, a Flat Rock resident, produced the eight-minute video as a gift to the Friends. The video explains that many of the programs and maintenance projects that the Friends support would otherwise not take place.

The Friends’ board of directors, who are all volunteers, meet regularly to find ways to increase contributions and membership. They have had success when applying for grants and are always looking for new grant opportunities. Unlike some friends groups at national parks, the Friends of Carl Sandburg have no staff.

The Friends also set up information booths at events, raise money through memberships and a Name our Goat Contest, as well as volunteer at the Sandburg home.

Carl Sandburg was one of the nation’s most revered and prolific writers. The two-time Pulitzer-prize winning author spent the last 22 years of his life at Connemara.

The video features an interview with Paula Steichen Polega, Carl and Lilian Sandburg’s granddaughter. Paula lived at Connemara for seven years while growing up. She says volunteers are essential to making the Sandburg home the place it is today – where her grandfather’s legacy is preserved through programs celebrating literature, music, and farm life. In the video, Paula also reads one of her grandfather’s best-known poems.

The National Park Service is celebrating its centennial this year, and the Friends will contribute to those celebrations.

“The video comes at a great time as we celebrate the founding of the park service,” said Nancy Pew, president of the Friends. “We hope many people will see the video and get involved in the programs and activities the park service and Friends undertake for both children and adults.”

The link to the video can be found on the Friends’ website at
www.friendsofcarlsandburg.org