On Sunday I packed up my stuff, said goodbye to Clay and Cindy...they'll always be my home in South Dakota. Then me and the cuzins hit up the Corn Palace for all of 10 minutes before heading to Cabela's. Molly and Jax both got pistols last summer and Molly bought a holster for hers so when they go shooting she's got a holster.
A long drive to Spearfish, and really gloomy. I've never seen thunderheads like that...not even in Illinois. I pulled off the interstate to get a bite to eat just in time for nickel-sized hail to cover my car like snow! In 10 minutes, it turned to rain, and by the time I was done eating, the sun was out. But sadly it didn't last long. Arrived at my apartment, moved in, and made a grocery run all in the rain.
But today was SUNNY! AND WARM! My first day at the Spearfish Historic Fish Hatchery. The museum is near the city park, so they get lots of visitors. The Hatchery is very different from DD…Renee is in charge of community events and the volunteer schedule, John does the archival research, Randi (my mentor) is in charge of collections, cataloguing, and Rehousing, Carlos and Delores run the administrative and business side of the museum, and Caitlyn does the media and advertising. There’s also a historic house on the same property as the museum, but Rachel works with the Booth Society and they’re completely separate from the museum itself. And when they’d all introduced themselves, I thought, “Wow. Lori does ALL of that.” I don’t respect the Hatchery staff any less, but I sure respect Lori even more than I did before.
I spent most of the day reading up on museum safety and collections policies. It all looked pretty familiar, but different because the Hatchery is run by the Fish and Wildlife Service, which is neither nonprofit (like DD) nor does it really fall under the same category as the National Park Service. It’s a government-run museum and it uses a lot of the same guidelines and software as museums under the National Park Service, but the FWS really is a separate department when you get to Washington. Carlos is head of the whole operation and he reports directly to the office in Washington.
After lunch I went to the basement of the office building with Randi, and it looks like I’m going to be spending most of my time down there over the next 3 weeks. The basement is not nearly as fun as the DD basement because most of their artifacts are properly housed in file cabinets. Since the Hatchery is funded by the government, it can afford all that expensive storage equipment. Compared to DD, it’s pretty small as far as artifacts go, only 7,000, but in the archives department, the Hatchery is much bigger, with over 167,000 prints, photos, and blueprints that increase by about 500 linear feet each year. Not quite as fun as the DD basement, since it's all properly stored in hanging folders and cabinets.
I'm hoping to find some way to enjoy the lovely scenery here. Not going to see much of it if I'm spending all my days in the basement, but on a positive note, I get to handle some pretty old blueprints! :)
Now that I have a permanent internet source in my apartment, I'm hoping to keep in touch with people more as well, which will make staying here a little less lonely. Enjoy the pics! :)
My AMAZING host family...Clay and Cindy Gregg
Jax, Molly, and Me at the Archeodome...golly they're getting tall...did I mention that Molly was DRIVING when I met them in Mitchell??
Hello Black Hills. <3
Casey -
ReplyDeleteI have so enjoyed reading all your posts. I was behind a few days and just got caught up. I am so happy that you your first experience was so awesome and I hope all goes as well at the Hatchery. Loved the pictures with Beach Boy singer and John Stamos. Very cool.
Shari