Teddy Roosevelt history hunt at Sagamore Hill for ranger badges
Ryan Blume, 12, of Mastic, checks his answers while completing the Junior Ranger history hunt at the Theodore Roosevelt Museum at Sagamore Hill National Historic Site in Oyster Bay. Credit: Daniel Brennan
Sophia Gibson comes face-to-face with a bust of former President Theodore Roosevelt at the Old Orchard Museum of the Sagamore Hill National Historic Site in Oyster Bay.
They stare at each other as Sophia, 8, a third-grader from East Northport, tries to figure out the answer to this question: “What is missing from the bronze sculpture of Theodore Roosevelt in the entrance hall?”
The question is part of a scavenger-hunt quest through the museum dedicated to Roosevelt, during which kids answer 20 questions about the former New York governor and 26th president of the United States. If they complete the hunt, they earn a Junior Ranger badge, a replica of the badge National Park Service rangers wear.
“His body is missing,” Sophia writes in her “Theodore Roosevelt Museum History Hunt” booklet. But the question wants a specific answer about Roosevelt’s face. “His glasses!” Sophia realizes.
She moves on to Question 2.
Kids can earn a Junior Ranger badge at many of the United States’ 400-plus National Park Service sites, says Julia Washburn, associate director of interpretation, education and volunteers for the National Park Service in Washington, D.C. “The Junior Ranger program is a place-based program. Each individual park has its own set of activities,” Washburn says. “The activity booklets are designed to encourage the child and people with the child in creating a connection and learning about the park itself. It provides some guided, fun exploration and learning experiences.”
FOR AGES 5 to 13
The activities are geared to children ages 5 to 13, and most are free with admission, Washburn says. Last year, the park service gave out more than 800,000 Junior Ranger badges across the country. “We have kids we call Super Junior Rangers who have gathered over 250, 300 badges,” Washburn says. There are two national park sites on Long Island: Sagamore Hill and the Fire Island National Seashore (see box).
At Sagamore Hill, kids earn a badge in one of three ways, says park guide Isaiah Frater: the activity booklet at the museum, another specific to the tour of Theodore Roosevelt’s house on the Sagamore Hill estate, or one that covers the nature on the grounds.
Younger kids can opt to earn a Bunny Ranger button; that simpler activity booklet at the museum asks them to circle or draw pictures for answers. While Sophia is working on her Junior Ranger badge, her younger sister, Emma, 5, is working on a Bunny Ranger button. The hunt takes 30 to 60 minutes.
‘PRETTY UNUSUAL’
On the same day, sisters Ariana and Alana Foreman of Armonk work as a team to earn their badges.
“Gold ring? Gold ring?” chants Ariana, 8, as she and Alana, 11, carrying a clipboard, scan the museum’s glass cases.
They’re trying to answer “What makes the gold ring unusual?” The sisters find the ring and description: The ring has a clear circle in the center holding a lock of another president’s hair and was presented to Roosevelt in 1905 by U.S. Secretary of State John Hay on the eve of Roosevelt’s second presidential inauguration. “It has a strand of Lincoln’s hair,” says Alana, who is in sixth grade. “That’s pretty unusual, right?” Third-grader Ariana agrees.
Alana especially enjoys seeing the medicine case containing little bottles marked “migraine” or “cholera” or “diarrhea” that Roosevelt took with him on his safaris to Africa. “It’s not like the medicine we have today. It’s an artifact,” she says.
Ryan Blume, 12, a sixth-grader from Mastic, arrives to earn his Junior Ranger badge carrying his national parks passport guide, which details which sites offer badges. He’s already earned a badge in Boston, one in St. Augustine, Florida, and another at the Fire Island National Seashore. Ryan, his younger brother Collin, 9, in third grade, and their cousin Kai Oakley, 7, a first-grader from Glen Head, each take a booklet.
When kids finish the hunt, they report to the ranger or volunteer on duty to receive a certificate and their Bunny Ranger button or Junior Ranger badge. On this day, it’s Frater who does the honors.
Sophia immediately pins her badge to the front of her pocketbook with scenes from the movie “Frozen.” Ryan’s dad, Matthew, pins Ryan’s badge on his backpack. He’ll add it to his three others when he gets home.
PARK SERVICE’S 100th birthday
2016 is the centennial of the National Park Service. To mark the occasion, the park service will soon offer a commemorative Junior Ranger badge kids can earn through the end of the calendar year. That badge is earned by answering questions about the park service overall, says Julia Washburn, associate director of interpretation, education and volunteers for the National Park Service in Washington, D.C. “It’s a complement to the existing place-based program that’s already in the park,” Washburn says. “It’s kind of like a birthday celebration for the park service.” Sagamore Hill and the Fire Island National Seashore are each finalizing details about the program.
National Junior Ranger Day on Fire Island
On April 16, Fire Island National Seashore is participating in National Junior Ranger Day, with free activities at the Fire Island Lighthouse, including a two-mile hike and other ranger-led activities and crafts, says Irene Rosen, supervisory park ranger at the Fire Island National Seashore. Advance registration is required for the hike only by calling 631-687-4780. The seashore also offers its own Junior Ranger badge program, which is most easily accomplished between May and October because it can involve visiting places such as the beachfront Sailors Haven and Watch Hill, Rosen says.
Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.
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