This past weekend while many of us were enjoying Easter egg hunts and family dinners, a group of 16 volunteers braved low temperatures to spruce up an historical site.

Old Cahawba Archeological Park was part of a national volunteer effort known as Park Day.

Park Day, held Saturday, is a project that cleans and repairs the grounds of more than 100 Civil War sites.

Now in its 11th year, Park Day remains vital to the upkeep of Old Cahawba, according to Jonathan Matthews, Old Cahawba assistant site director.

Volunteers included members of the Sons of the Confederacy, the Selma-Dallas County Preservation Society and Selma Boy Scout Troop 46.

Last year, volunteers removed one ton of trash from an historic house, along with 36 tons of scrap metal surrounding the house.

This year’s group of volunteers removed debris from a lot on Oak Street.

Old Cahawba – which was once the state capital – is now much of a ghost town.

Currently, a group of students in the Auburn University Rural Studio program are rebuilding the historic St. Luke’s Episcopal Church at the site.

You can help be a part of this effort to preserve an important part of Dallas County’s past.

For volunteer information, call 334-875-2529.