As Colonial Williamsburg looks to grow its youth interpreter program, former volunteers reminisce about their journeys

Over the years, countless youth volunteers have come through Colonial Williamsburg. Some stay for a summer. Some stay for years. And some, like Emma Cross, Adam Canaday and Brodie Adams, stick around for good.

Cross, Canaday and Adams are all former youth volunteers who eventually joined Colonial Williamsburg as employees.

As a kid, Cross visited Colonial Williamsburg a number of times, stopping on the way from her family home in Bethesda, Maryland, on the way to the beach. When the family moved to Williamsburg in 2001, she quickly applied to volunteer, and joined what was then known as the character interpreter unit in 2002 at the age of 11.

“I was like, yes, dream come true,” she said. “It’s only something I’ve wanted to do since I was teeny tiny visiting Colonial Williamsburg.”

After taking a three-year pause due to COVID, Colonial Williamsburg is bringing back its youth interpreter program, which began in the 1980s.

“A lot of our students, youth interpreters, their families have worked at Colonial Williamsburg or volunteered at Colonial Williamsburg for a long time,” said Volunteer Program Manager Jan Bomar, who oversees all of the volunteer programs at Colonial Williamsburg. “During COVID, the entire program was shut down ... so we’re really working to ramp it back up.”

To help fill out its youth volunteer ranks, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is holding its Youth Interpreter Expo on Saturday, the first such event since 2018. The foundation is trying to get out the word in the community, Bomar said.

The event will be held at the Woodlands Conference Center on Visitor Center Drive between 1-5 p.m. Expo attendees can learn more about the youth volunteer programs, submit applications and do on-site interviews.

There are three different volunteer opportunities available. For 12-18 year olds, there is the summertime Historic Area Patriots at Play program as well as the year-round Historic Trades and Skills program. Current fourth graders can apply to Fifes and Drums, which is a year-round activity.

Of the three volunteers-turned-employees, Canaday, who is now a carriage driver, was the youngest when he started at Colonial Williamsburg. He began officially volunteering at age 7, though he had been involved with various programs since he was 5.

“My mom is what made me (start volunteering),” he said. “I really had no choice in it.”

But once he started, he didn’t regret it. Putting on his costume felt like donning a superhero outfit, he said:

“I didn’t look at it as I was portraying somebody of the past. I just looked at it (like) it was a uniform, or like a costume like every kid thinks at Halloween.”

One of the best parts, all three employees agree, was getting to know their fellow youth volunteers, and building friendships that have lasted through the years. Canaday and Cross have known each other for at least 20 years, Canaday said, while he met Adams about 15 years ago when they were both marching in the Jamestown High School band.

According to Cross, she has never really left Colonial Williamsburg. After aging out of the youth interpreter program, she began volunteering as an adult and then joined as a full-time employee around 2015. Now, she is an apprentice leather breeches maker in her fifth and final level of her apprenticeship. When that is completed, she will be considered a journeyman.

“I grew up knowing I wanted to do something with storytelling, with history and making stuff with my hands,” she said. “Colonial Williamsburg was the best place for me to do that. I just decided that that was what I wanted to do.”

Canaday said he was away from the area for less than a year, and then he “came right on back.”

“(It was like), ‘Man, I’m not going back to Colonial Williamsburg for a while, I’m gonna go try and see what the real world is like,’” he recalled. “And then I applied for probably six or seven different jobs and none of them called me back. I put in for Colonial Williamsburg and they called back in like 30 minutes, so I was like, ‘Well, I guess I’m going back to Colonial Williamsburg.’”

Adams, who spent the longest time away, went to James Madison University, where he majored in Italian, before moving to Italy to teach English. When he moved back, Adams, who spent eight years in Fifes and Drums, began volunteering at Colonial Williamsburg, which then evolved into taking on a full-time position as the lead drum instructor.

For prospective youth volunteers, Cross, Canaday and Adams have plenty of advice.

“Be open-minded, number one,” Canaday said.

“You don’t necessarily have to really like history,” Cross added. “You can really like history but it could be maybe you’re into music, or maybe you think drawing is really cool, or gardening is your thing, or you really like to read. Maybe you want to brush up on your public speaking skills. Get some volunteering hours under your belt. It looks good on a resume.”

According to Adams, it’s “a chance to do something that’s super unique.”

“Most places don’t have some opportunity like this where you can learn those hand skills and honestly preserve those different kinds of skills,” he said. “... You’ll meet not only a lot of other people who are really excited to help you learn but you’ll meet guests who might make you even more excited about what you’re doing.”

According to Bomar, having youth interpreters and volunteers provides a “better example of 18th century life” for the guests.

“There were children here in the historic area, in the capital city, working outside, in the countryside,” she said. “It also gives our young visitors someone to relate to. ... It’s a great experience volunteering, learning responsibility, learning how to work with others.”

Bomar’s own kids, Abigail and William, both volunteered at Colonial Williamsburg when they were kids, with Abigail volunteering at the Powell House and William taking part in Fifes and Drums.

Right now, there are about 15 youth volunteers, and the foundation is hoping to bring on 40-50 new volunteers. Costumes for youth volunteers are provided, and the kids who participate get plenty of training to understand program policies and procedures, how to correctly wear the costume and more.

While potential volunteers can apply year-round, Colonial Williamsburg tends to hire right after the expo, Bomar said.

With a new generation of youth volunteers hopefully on its way in, employees like Canaday, Cross and Adams are reminded of their own childhoods spent at Colonial Williamsburg, and what they learned during those important years.

“We’re influencing kids who are going to go on to be ambassadors of Colonial Williamsburg,” Adams said. “... I know that (volunteering at Colonial Williamsburg) shaped me a whole lot at a very pivotal point in my life, 10 to 18. Those are some of your major years for who you’re going to be into your adulthood.

“I find it really gratifying to see these kids start at such a young age and turn into young adults throughout their time here.”

According to Cross, it’s an “honor” to get a chance to help shape the next generation.

“I think the coolest part is that we could potentially be helping further not just our museum but other museums and other public institutions,” she said. “That’s what captures my mind: it’s not just our museum, it’s public institutions across the United States.”

Want to apply?

Applications can also be submitted online at bit.ly/3InPqiT for Historic Area Patriots at Play and Historic Trades and Skills, and at colonialwilliamsburg.org/learn/on-site-opportunities/join-fifes-drums for Fifes and Drums.

Sian Wilkerson, sian.wilkerson@pilotonline.com, 757-342-6616