West Virginians on Baltimore St

Baltimore St 6/19/06

When I see that I have a group tour on the schedule, I naturally assume that it is school children. Monday night, instead of having students, some very tired teachers from all over West Virginia came along for a Baltimore St. tour. I have a lot of family in WV, so I was pleasantly surprised. This tour didn't get started until around 9:30 and it was still very humid out there. I thought I was getting a break on the weather, but it was just one of those warm Gettysburg nights.

As a former museum educator, I love dealing with teachers. Not that all of these folks were history teachers, but there is a lot of common ground between a tour guide and a teacher. Dealing with problem children, trying to present information in a manner that your kids will understand, and hopefully give them something they didn't have before you talked to them. There was a lot of nods when I brought up some references that they would understand. We laughed, I don't think anyone cried, and all had some fun.

Guide's Tip... I brought up an interesting, borderline cruel, demonstration last night. My good buddy Tom and I used to do this at the Historical Society when we gave the Civil War program. We made some hard tack and gave it to all of the students to try. Then after they had it in their mouths for a minute, you tell them about the worms that would be in the crackers and how the soldiers would eat them anyways. This demonstration is best done outside because there is going to be a few kids that will spit it out. Good stuff.

Still "planning the slaughter of the innocent"...

"Rick Saunders"