First Day of Training, Saturday, 5/17/14

Saturday, May 17, 2014

We had a much better night on our new king size bed, so we were ready for our first day of training.  Our class didn’t start until 10:00 a.m., so we had time to take a walk around town and get our mail.  We rented a PO Box here for the summer, and they still have the very old boxes that open with a combination lock.  Outside the post office we saw a running truck with three dogs in it and they looked like they were driving.  We took a picture of the dogs and met their owner when she came out of the post office. 

The director of the Montana Heritage Commission spoke during the first part of our training and introductions were made all around.  (More later on the personalities that we will be working with.)  He said that he has asked the Montana legislature for an additional five million dollars to help keep the place running and he is expecting the governor and several congressmen to visit Virginia City this summer.  He warned us to always provide exceptional customer service so we didn’t mess up his plans for the extra money. 

We were provided with pizza for lunch.  It was take and bake pizza from a grocery store in Ennis which is about 15 miles from here.  It certainly wasn’t Belleview Pizza, but it was OK. 

After lunch we were split up into groups to go and train at various sites.  We went to the gold panning site and had lessons with Duel.  Duel is a college student.  He already has a degree in history and is continuing his studies to become a lawyer.  His father has a doctor’s degree and is the living history coordinator for Virginia City.  Duel said that his father is much in demand and has worked all over the world.  Duel is very knowledgeable and said he has been panning for gold since he was five years old.  He is an only child and grew up working with his dad and dressing the parts for living history exhibits. 

We met up with the rest of the group and learned which buildings we will be responsible for opening and closing in Virginia City.  The director told us that they own 44 million dollars’ worth of buildings and historical inventory.  This place is truly amazing!