SAUGUS — A rain shower wasn’t enough to deter members of the Future Leaders Essex Heritage program from enjoying their day at Saugus Ironworks National Historic Site last week.
Normally the park’s busiest time of year, the youth jobs group was one of only a handful of visitors to the facility Thursday, which allowed uniformed rangers to patrol the grounds for the first time all season as the site eases into a slew of changes meant to make guests safer during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“They told us our job descriptions had kind of changed,” said park ranger Peter Hoge. “(They said), ‘answer questions and just be there to help people out. That’s about it. The buildings won’t be open.'”
As pandemic restrictions across the state are cautiously lifted, national parks are among the many organizations quickly learning what a “new normal” actually looks like.
While grounds to Saugus Ironworks are still open for casual strolls, no ranger talks, programs, or tours are being offered; all buildings are closed; and employees have been asked to enforce state-mandated social distancing and mask-wearing measures.
“We’ve had our share of difficulties with attempting to resume any type of normal park operations this summer,” said Susan Russo, a Salem-based program manager for the National Park Service. “We have very limited visitor services and are only able to bring back about half the staff we normally would have during the summer in order to maintain an environment that slows the spread of the disease for our staff and visitors.”
Hoge, who has been a ranger for five years, said that although the tough restrictions mean his day-to-day duties have changed, he’s excited simply to be back doing what he loves.
“It’s my nature to be talking (to people),” he said. “This job is an opportunity to come out and talk about history and talk about the environment. Everybody wants to do that deep down.”
While they sat in a socially-distanced circle in the middle of the lawn, some Future Leaders students also said they were just happy to be working after spending months indoors due to the global public health crisis.
“I love working here,” said St. Mary’s senior Marina DiBiasio. “There are a lot of important life skills we learn, including landscaping and maintenance and carpentry, stuff like that. Things I probably wouldn’t learn anywhere else.”
Counselor Lauren Jenkins added that the group, initially uncertain as to whether or not the program would even be allowed to happen this year, is still careful about staying safe.
“Everyone was very excited,” she said. “We had an orientation and safety training, and then last week we got here and went over how to be safe around each other. We have masks, we have hand sanitizer. We keep each other safe, and it’s just great to be outside and working together.”
The pandemic hasn’t been all bad for National Parks, however.
According to Russo, many sites have taken advantage of the downtime to finalize a number of projects, some of which have been years in the making.
“Although it’s a (struggle) for us to restrain ourselves from doing the things we came here to do, we’ve really amped up our virtual programming, and this (pandemic) has actually given us an opportunity to work on other things,” she said. “Before, we were so busy on-site.”
In nearby Salem, the organization has already launched its new interactive program, “Pathways to Freedom,” which explores life for Salem’s African American community after emancipation from 1783 through 1808.
A similar concept is also in the works for Saugus Ironworks.
Above all, Russo said that she hopes the pandemic will reignite a love for nature in families who have taken advantage of their time at home to get outside.
“We’ve found that people are valuing and connecting with the outdoors and nature even more so these last few months,” she said. “Our spaces have become a place for salvation, reflection and tranquility during the pandemic.”