Appreciating Volunteers

Bob Pilkington & Fred Atkinson, in costume

Tomorrow, April 12, is once again our "Volunteer Appreciation" party, an annual rite of formally thanking our volunteers, all 100+ of them, for their service during the year. We count up the hours, issue certificates, offer recognition pins to those who pass certain milestones. In some years we award our highest honor, the Audrey Pilkington award, and we've also created some other awards for such accomplishments as surviving the "Most Unusual Visitor Experience", and the self-explanatory "Saves-the-Day" award. We eat, drink (open bar!) applaud, and go home.

Tobe Penny, Visitors Center volunteer

And then the next day, the volunteers show up again, and we carry on. But I hope that for that one evening, everybody does really recognize and understand just how much our volunteers ARE Locust Grove. We could not in any way do what we do without the participation of people who just want to be here to share their skills and their time.

Jeannie Vezeau, Gazette Editor & so much more

That's the magic of volunteers. They choose to be here, want to be here, give up other opportunities to be here. Some love the study of history, some love this neighborhood, some enjoy meeting people, some are big fans of George Rogers Clark, some love the opportunity to imagine for a few moment that it's 1811, not 2011.

The Hillbrechts: some whole families volunteer!

In our circles of community, we have our staff, Board, committees, our volunteers, our Friends members, and the people who come to participate in events and tours. It's not unusual for one individual to fit at once in all those categories (we even have staff/volunteers). We're always looking for more volunteers, and looking for ways to make it fun and worthwhile for those who choose to do so.

So, while it could be seen as just pro forma, Volunteer Appreciation  is anything but. We truly are grateful and lucky to have the people that we have, volunteering here at Locust Grove.

Oushak!

Here's an image of the Oushak rug, for those of you who were wondering. The Great Parlor room has come together in stages, so we don't yet have professional-quality images of the room with the wallpaper and the curtains AND the carpet. But really, you have to see it to appreciate it. Colors that seem as though they would clash, don't. It works.

Back to Reality

Eight months is long enough between blog posts! We're back.

The Locust Grove blog was originally set up to keep people up-to-date with our re-restoration of the historic 1790s House. Well, we're done! Even the long-awaited Oushak rug has arrived from Turkey for the Great Parlor.

Now we're moving on with a plan for the grounds and outbuildings, with the intention of learning more about this land as a farm, and more about the natural history of the site. Last weekend was our first "Slave Life at Locust Grove" weekend, with tours and performances based around the lives of the enslaved African-Americans who lived here and did the work of the farm. We plan to extend this programming through the year.

With Louisville Metro Parks, owners of the site, we've begun creating a Master Plan for the next 25 years. What can we do with all 55 acres? What do audiences - tourists and local - want from this site, now and later? What will keep us relevant to a changing community?

We've just started getting organized for this process. Phase 1 is a physical survey of the 55 acres, and a mapping of the boundaries of the original 694 acres of Locust Grove (fun with map overlays!). Phase 2 is archeological research. Both phases will be started in 2011. At a later point, there will be community input in planning, and we hope that you'll add your thoughts to the mix.

We're Open!

Finally. With about 95% of the work completed, we "opened" to the public last week. On Thursday evening we had a reception for Locust Grove members and friends, and on Friday we hosted our symposium on the restoration, "Arabesque and Verdigris", with presentations by Samuel Thomas, Gwynne Potts, Rabbit Goody (textiles), Steve Larson (wallpaper), Carol Ely, and with wrapup by Scott Erbes, Speed Museum curator. The Powerpoints all worked! Except for the remote control mouse. It's always something. Usually something technical.

But we do have it all on tape. Videographer Brent Humes is editing the footage of the symposium, and we will copy it to DVD and have it available in our library in case you missed it, or just want to relive the experience.

To introduce the renewed House to the public, we had an open house/free day on Saturday the 26th, and about 750 people showed up. That was fun, and very gratifying to know that that "general public" really does care about history. We had the band "Whistling Rufus" on the porch, and a good time was had by all.

We capped off the weekend with our Antiques Fair on Sunday, which will go down in legend as "the hot one". It was really, really, hot. Upper 90s, humid. People came anyway!

And now we are tired but happy. We have a few more components of the House coming in the next few months, so there will still be surprises.

And now this blog will become the general Locust Grove blog, with all happenings and commentary about the site (including restoration updates) that we can find the time for, so we hope that our readers stay with us.

It's so pretty!

The wallpaper we've been going on and on about - it's finally here! Wallpaper hanging genius Marva Hereford will be working all week to put up the main paper and the border, or frieze. It's not easy - this complex pattern has to fit around 2 doors, 5 windows, and a fireplace. The light, bright green color is miles away from the muddy colors of the more than forty year old paper that it replaces. Here's a sneak peek - the work is behind closed doors right now to let the paperhangers concentrate. But next week it will all be unveiled to an eager world!