Volunteers
Dorris Ranch Living History Farm in Springfield, Oregon needs volunteers for the 2008 season. There are many fun and interesting volunteer opportunities.
Event volunteerism is great for high school students who need to meet community-service-hours requirements for graduation.
Volunteer Living History Guide
Learn and live local history through volunteering as a living history guide for school programs. Dorris Ranch has been offering educational field trips to Lane County students since 1988. Become a costumed living history guide and lead students through a historical adventure around the Ranch, our two tours emphasize relationships between people, the environment, and history. Volunteer for one or all of the following programs.
Lewis and Clark: A Voyage of Discovery
Enlist your students in the Corps of Discovery and embrace the challenges of life in 1805. Explore the woods, sketch scientific finds, and learn from the Clatsop Indians. We provide a journal and compass to all new recruits.
People of the Land: Kalapuyas, Trappers, and Pioneers
Who lived in the Willamette Valley before us? During this educational tour, students experience the lives of Kalapuya Indians, Hudson's Bay Company Trappers,and Oregon Trail Pioneers. Learn the traditional hunting methods of the Kalapuya. Visit the HBC trading post and examine furs. Lend a hand with chores at the pioneer cabin.
Pioneer Homestead: Life after the Trail
Experience the life of a Oregon Trail immigrant at the Masterson homestead. Step back in time to 1852 when William, Eliza and their five young children settled their donation land claim on what was to become Dorris Ranch. Visit their log cabin, help tend to the crops, grind grain, bake corn bread, split firewood, pump water, and more. We provide poke bonnets and straw hats to the children.
Special Event Volunteer
Stone-Age Day
Calling All Cave Dwellers! Join us as a volunteer for the third annual Stone-Age
Day at Dorris Ranch Barn/Cave! See what life was like for humans during
the last Ice Age 12,000 years ago when mammoth, bison, camel, and giant
sloth roamed the Willamette Valley. Help teach visitors to throw a spear
with an atlatl, or assist them at cave painting, or demonstrate various
Stone Age survival skills such as fire-starting and stone tool-making.
Haunted Hayride
This unique event offers a hayride through Dorris Ranch. Brave
orchards hunted by historical figures, dancing scarecrows, and Skelton jokesters.
Visit Dr. Frank's Lab where he is always brewing up trouble. Warm up after
the spooky ride with some hot apple cider in the Barn. Then have some fun with
crafts and games. This family-friendly event is fun and not too scary for even
the smallest ghosts and goblins.
Other Volunteer Opportunities
• Adopt a garden patch in our heirloom garden.
• Build a garden shed.
• Sew a costume for our living history guides.
• Maintain a trail, or restore native habitat.