The Lehigh Brigade of the Civil War Round Table and members of Whitehall Historical Preservation Society formed part of a contingent of 66 people from the Lehigh Valley to volunteer their services April 21 at the annual Gettysburg Conservation Day.

They cut brush from around the fences on the Henry Spangler Farm site within the battlefield park. The volunteers also dismantled, then rebuilt fences in need of repair, as well as painted posts, pickets and rails.

“We’ve been working with the park for 25 years,” said CWRT Brigade Commander Edwin Root, who organized the Lehigh Valley crew. “We’ve been doing it before there was an official program.”

Root mentioned that since their members are not as young as they once were, other area organizations have been assisting for the last five years.

CWRT member Gary Weaver, who also belongs to WHPS, recruited fellow members from that group.

Boy Scout Troop 89 from New Tripoli and history students from Saucon Valley High School also participated.

While the tired volunteers relaxed after a hard morning’s work, they learned the property had been the staging ground for Kemper’s Brigade before Pickett’s charge from National Park Service Volunteer Coordinator Caitlin Brown.

The NPS Adopt-A-Position program matches volunteer organizations with regimental positions or suggests areas of the park that require attention, according to Brown.