Thames River Heritage Park seeks interpreters for its public and group tours during the 2021 tour season. The season begins on Friday, July 2 and ends on Sunday, September 12, 2021. Interpreters must be excellent storytellers, enjoy and care about people, and possess superior communication skills and enthusiasm for the Park’s partner heritage sites and the history of the Thames River estuary. Interpreters also need to be able to create a warm and welcoming environment for guests, capture their attention, and make them feel like they are part of the ongoing story of the heritage of the Thames River.

A stipend of $40 for 1 tour per day and $70 for 2 back-to-back tours per day will be made available to non-volunteer tour interpreters. Tours run for 75 minutes.

In support of the Park, TRHP Foundation operates 2 refurbished surplus U.S. Navy “liberty” utility boats that were used to shuttle sailors to shore from larger ships for liberty or free time. While the boats are interchangeable, during the season one boat typically serves as a water taxi and the other boat is used for regularly scheduled public narrated tours. The Park also offers private (group, chartered) narrated tours.

INTERPRETIVE PUBLIC BOAT TOURS: 

Interpretive TRHP Public Boat Tours: During the summer season, the Park will offer 4 rotating interpretive tour options (see below). The tours will be on Fridays @ 6:30 PM; Saturdays @ 4:30 PM and 6:30 PM; and Sundays @ 4:30 PM.

1. Suffragettes, Puppeteers, and Patriots – Women of the Thames
2. Submarines, Battlefields, and Betrayers – Military Stories on the Thames
3. New London – The Whaling City on the Thames (title and tour outlines in development)
4. The River Lives – Stories of the Mohegans of Massapequotuck (title and tour outlines in development)

Interpretive TRHP Special Boat Tours: The Park also plans to offer a couple of special tours in conjunction with the 240th Anniversary of the Battle of Groton Heights:

1. Revolutionary Ghost Stories, which will be narrated by a member of the Seaside Shadows team.
2. Battle of Groton Heights and the Burning of New London (title, tour outline, and guides TBD)

INTERPRETIVE TRHP PRIVATE GROUP (CHARTER) BOAT TOURS: In addition to the public tours, TRHP offers private group tours during the weekdays for which interpreters are needed. The tours include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. In Defense of Our Country – Military Stories on the Thames
2. The Well-Heeled and the Wannabees – Summering on the Thames in the Gilded Age
3. From Pioneers to Playwrights – Three Centuries of Daily Life Along the Thames

Our interpreters’ creative talent and artistic interpretation of our local history and heritage add greatly to guests’ experience of Thames River Heritage Park, its partners, and our region.

For more information contact:

Catherine Foley
Group Tour and Waterfront Coordinator
Thames River Heritage Park
[email protected]
(860) 443-3352