Double Celebration at Theodore Roosevelt National Park as Park Service Turns 100

By John Corley

Published August 25, 2016 at 6:02 PM CDT

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John Corley

It was a double celebration at Theodore Roosevelt National Park on Thursday. The National Park Service and the United States Mint released the park’s America the Beautiful Quarter. On top of that, Thursday was also the official 100^th anniversary of the National Park Service.

“Happy birthday National Park Service!” declared Wendy Ross, Superintendent of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, speaking at the park’s centennial celebration. Across the United States, National Park Service sites honored 100 years of their mission to preservation. But for Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the centennial celebration was extra special.

Wendy Ross (Right), Superintendent of Theodore Roosevelt National Park speaks as (From left to right) Historian Clay Jenkinson, U.S. Congressman Kevin Cramer, and U.S. Senator John Hoeven look on. The podium was superimposed with a makeshift replica of the actual Theodore Roosevelt National Park Quarter. The National Park Service celebrated 100 years of service to preservation on Thursday.

Credit John Corley

“We are here today to celebrate the release of the newest America the Beautiful Quarter honoring Theodore Roosevelt National Park,” said Ross.

The U.S. Mint’s America the Beautiful Quarters Program honors selected national sites throughout the country, including national parks. The program is similar to their 50 State Quarter Program, with each coin being released in the order of when the site was established. Theodore Roosevelt National Park’s turn for it’s quarter to be released happened to be at the same time of the National Park Service’s centennial celebration.

Rhett Jeppson is the Principle Deputy Director of the U.S. Mint, and he said “we’ve been doing the coin program for awhile now, and we’re pretty excited. It’s always neat to be out here where a park (is) named after the man who really started the National Park system as we know it today.”

Rhett Jeppson, Deputy Director of the U.S. Mint, speaks during the National Park Service centennial celebration at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The National Park Service celebrated 100 years of service to preservation on Thursday.

Credit John Corley

While the centennial celebration honored the previous 100 years of the National Park Service, the day was also a look to the future. Eileen Andes is the Chief of Interpretation & Public Affairs at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. She says “In the next 100 years we also want to be a reflection of American culture as a whole and reach out to the younger generation because they are the next generation of park stewards.”

A Theodore Roosevelt impersonator was on hand at the celebration of the National Park Service centennial at Theodore Roosevelt National Park on Thursday.

Credit John Corley

Honoring the past. Looking to the future. Releasing a coin that honors a president and a park. All were part of the centennial celebration in the Western North Dakota badlands.