History Camp

The unexpected takeover of 2016 was History Camp! In February I saw a tweet about History Camp Boston and I was intrigued. I went home and started looking into it and found that it was really inexpensive for a full day of history lovin' classes, lunch and a t-shirt. I sent Dave a text and said, "I've got a bee in my bonnet. We have to go to Boston. Next month." He said ok!  So that night we bought tickets for History Camp, bought airline tickets and booked a hotel.  I was going out there with the intention of seeing how it's done so that I could create the same thing in Denver. 

While I was there I spoke with Lee, the found of History Camp, and told him my story and he was amazed that I had come all that way for History Camp. He said he'd help me set one up in Denver and at first he kept saying things like "if this really happens" or "once you decide whether you want to do this or not..." I told Dave that Lee just doesn't realize that my mind was mostly made up before I even made it out there. ;)
  

So, we got home and I got to work. And didn't stop until November 12th. And it was so much fun. I loved the planning, the learning, the connecting, the growing, being part of something that's just beginning to take off. My mind has never felt so alive and engaged before! It was invigorating and energizing.

So, as I said, there was lots of planning - this is at a tour of the Tivoli where we were holding HCC (History Camp Colorado):

Lucky Dave got to go on this adventure with me. Whether he wanted to or not. He was such a good sport and great support! I couldn't have done it without him. And there were many times when I'm sure he felt like I'd forgotten him because HCC was basically all consuming. We did try to take breaks and make sure to reconnect - like going to see the symphony:

They even had an alp horn which was fun to see and listen to:

After all the months of planning, not sleeping, working and hoping, the big day was finally here. Here's the RAV - just a little full with all the stuff we had to bring. Good thing we have a bigger car than the old Sentra now. Hee hee!

We had delicious food for breakfast from Biscuits and Berries:

The crowd waiting for it to start: (Lee had me set a goal of 50 people in attendance. I knew that for me that would never suffice so that was my goal out load when people asked. My real goal was 100. We had 120 there - it sold out two weeks early and I had a wait list!)

On the left is Lee and I'm on the right. It sort of looks like I'm being impatient but that wasn't it at all. It seems I just put my hands on my hips often. I may have to work on that.

This is Dr. Richard who was one of my favorite professors at Metro. She sponsored the event through Phi Alpha Theta so that we could use the Tivoli at Metro for free which was a HUGE help.

We had 26 presenters and 26 sessions, running 3 or 4 concurrently. We had a great variety of topics and I really feel like there was something for everyone. People had to choose which session they wanted to hear and moved around from room to room as desired. Here are a few of the presenters:

This is Janet Kalstrom who was my event planning mentor and friend who helped me get this off the ground. I worked with her at the Molly Brown House where we did the Day in Old Denver event together. When I came back from Boston I knew just who to call to help me get started. She was fantastic!

The day was a huge success!! There were things that didn't go according to plan but that's always how events are and now I've learned lots for next time.

We were both so exhausted. In fact, we went to church as usual the next day and when we came home we realized that we had left our front door wide open. Neither of us noticed one bit. I had some wrap up to do over the next week or so and then I promised to take a break from all things HCC until January. I needed the time to recover and rejuvenate and Dave was really read to not hear about it every minute. ;)

Throughout the process I kept reminding Dave that he did the Single Adult conference with me so knows how I am. He says this was a whole new level and that was nothing compared to this. Isn't he lucky to have such a talented wife? 😏

I did pretty good and stayed away from HCC and guess what? It's January! And I'm right back in the swing of things. I feel rested and ready to go again. I'm working on a venue and tying down a date and I'm feeling just as excited as last year. 😄

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The Problem with the 1880s...

I started training today as a docent at Rock Ledge Ranch in Colorado Springs (summer gig) and the house I'll be working in is interpreted in the 1880s. Rock Ledge requires period costumes so we (all of us trainees) were looking through their supply today and trying to find ones that fit. The problem with the 1880s is that apparently they did not have busty women. Hippy women - no problem! Big flowing skirts are very forgiving but tight fitted bodices, not so much. So I had to "rent" a couple patterns to see if we can adjust one of them and whip up my own costume instead of renting one. 

Ok, now seriously, has this never come up before? Or do the bustier girls just have to make their own? And then since they went to all that work maybe they keep them rather than donating them to the museum for future busty docents? I did feel better knowing that 5 of the 6 in docents training today had a hard time finding clothing that fits. I would've felt a little sad if it was just me. Good thing we (notice I keep saying "we" - that's because mom is 100% tied to this project with me) have until June 6th to get it finished. That's enough time right? Right?

Molly Brown

I am officially a docent at the Molly Brown House Museum in Denver and I led my first tours this morning. I was worried about what I'd forget but it turned out really well. And my first tour of the day only had two ladies which really was perfect because it allowed me to get into a groove and feel comfortable. In case your wondering, your throat is really dry after talking non-stop for 45 minutes. I think this might be more of a problem when it's summer and I'm in long sleeves and there's no AC in the house so I'll have to figure out a way to deal with that... Anyway, it was really fun today. And I think it'll be even more enjoyable after my foot is happier. ;)  

Volunteers are invited to various meetings and lectures and so forth so this should be a great networking opportunity for me into the world of museum work.  I'll also be interning this summer at Rock Ledge Ranch, which is near the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. The Molly Brown house is a Victorian era home and one of the buildings at Rock Ledge is Victorian, so I have to come up with a Victorian costume to wear. "Come up with" means sew. And let's be honest, that's not my speciality but I'm about to dive in head first. Wish me luck with the sewing thing (don't worry, Mom has been assigned to be by my side throughout the ordeal). 

I have to share this picture of my birthday cake while we're on the subject:

It's kind of hard to see in this picture but this is a Victorian woman and this cake was so darling! You can check out Becky's cake blog to see better pictures of it. Thanks Becky!! 

AWOL

Where did I go?  Well, I've been a little overrun lately so I fell off the blogosphere but here's a little update.  Not in any particular order, I've been...

1. Writing long papers!  Only 2 left to do.  (That doesn't sound good to me yet...)  Here's my stack of reference material from paper #1:

And here's the aftermath of the post-it tabs when I have to return the books...  (Have I blogged about post-it tabs yet???  They're just about my favorite thing - best thing since sliced bread for sure!  If you haven't tried them, you should!!  If you need an idea of where to use such wonderful little things let me know and I'll help you.)

2. Worrying about J.  Who, by the way, just turned 16!!  Eeehh!

3. Working on a great service project with the RS and of course enrichment is coming up... on finals week...

4. Keeping up with political campaigns

Ok, I'll stop with the list.  But, I can't promise to be better about blogging for a few more weeks - I still have 1 1/2 projects in one class, 2 papers, 2 math tests...........

Oh, I tried to upload pics of J - much more interesting than piles of books but it won't work so maybe I'll try again later.