Fort Ontario State Historic Site offers people another opportunity to make their mark in local history. Site staff and AmeriCorps members are looking for volunteers to join a sewing bee at the fort at 1 E. Fourth St., Oswego. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 2.

Participants will meet inside the kitchen mess room to help make bedsacks for the hospital pattern bunks in the east squad room. This is part of the restoration of the Fort’s Enlisted Men’s Barracks back to its mid-19th century appearance.

During the summer of 2023, students at CiTi BOCES built 13 bunks to furnish the room in the period of May 1868. They based their work off an original bunk from Madison Barracks, which is currently in the Fort’s collection.

Historically, soldiers’ bedsacks would be stuffed with 12 pounds of straw and refreshed monthly. Fort Ontario staff will stuff the finished bedsacks during the sewing bee with “excelsior” (wood wool) which is more stable for long term display.

Volunteers are asked to bring hand sewing supplies such as scissors and thimbles for personal use. Otherwise, sewing machines, fabric and thread will be provided as well as refreshments.

For more information on the Fort Ontario Sewing Bee, contact Fort Ontario AmeriCorps member Jonathan Kobelia at 315-343-4711 or email  Jonathan.kobelia@parks.ny.gov.

The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation oversees more than 250 parks, historic sites, recreational trails, golf courses, boat launches and more, which are visited by 78 million people annually. For more information on any of these recreational areas, visit www.parks.ny.gov, download the free NYS Parks Explorer mobile app, call 315-474-0456 or connect on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

SEW YOUR WAY INTO HISTORY – Come to Fort Ontario State Historic Site at 1 E. Fourth St., Oswego, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 2 to help make bedsacks for the hospital pattern bunks located in the east squad room. The event will help with restoration efforts of the Enlisted Men’s Barracks back to its mid-19th century appearance. Pictured is New York State Parks and Recreation Aide Christina Goettel creating patterns for 1840s haversacks at a past sewing bee.