By Erin Carlson Mast
A planned electrical outage Saturday, March 28th, resulted in a shift to the typical operating hours. Staff planned around the outage by posting notices on the website and notifying visitors who had purchased their tickets before the shift in schedule.
Unfortunately, the electric company did not turn the power on at the scheduled time, and the site was left in the dark a full two hours later than scheduled. Cottage staff and visitors had to navigate the site without artificial light, no orientation video, media, phones, or a working cash register. Staff made the best of the situation, using the high levels of natural light, artwork, and exhibits on site to give visitors the best possible experience. Shops sales were made the old fashioned way, with sales tax added manually.
Despite these obstacles, a tour leader shared this enthusiastic feedback from several visitors.
Hi Katie,
Scott Ackerman made the day, and none were disappointed after the end of his tour. He was working under a handicap, but we were delighted to listen to him, more than watching a video. Make sure he gets a BONUS for all his wonderful tidbits and knowledge of the period.And, the 2 gals in the office are to be commended. Cash register didn’t work, and they had to do all computations by hand. Slower, but they worked quickly. Thank them, too, for a job well done.
I am enclosing some of the comments I heard on the way home, or were e-mailed to me:
SIMPLY FABULOUS.
A DAY WITH FOG AND DRIZZLE AND NO ELECTRICITY WAS SIMPLY PERFECT.
FABULOUS…EVEN WITHOUT ELECTRICITY.
ANOTHER REASON TO GO AGAIN.
THANK YOU
Pat said that she thought today’s guide was the best she ever had.
THIS IS A MAJOR TERRIFIC TOUR!!
And although “rain and thunder” was predicted, it held off until the evening.
So thank Scott and the girls, for a good day.
M. Rubin
We hope all of our Saturday visitors enjoyed their experience at President Lincoln’s Cottage and would like to thank all of our Saturday visitors for being patient and understanding.
Ms. Mast is the Curator for President Lincoln’s Cottage.
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