Dear Docent family,
Do you remember the day you applied for admission into the docent class? Do you remember your interview? Do you remember sitting in class thinking, am I really going to be able to DO this? Do you remember how much you wanted to BE a docent? I do, and I am sure you do, too.
As much as you wanted to be a docent is equal to how much the CAC needs us to step up this summer and give tours. The CAC survey on readiness to give tours was generally positive. Now, we must follow through! This summer is critical to the well-being of the organization.
We anticipate that domestic travel will increase dramatically once we reach June, more tours will be added to the schedule. Many docents are themselves planning to travel this summer, and that’s great! Enjoy the grand-kids, see the national parks, enjoy just being somewhere else! But please, when you are back home, sign up for as many tours as possible, which will fill the schedule while others travel. We do not want Caroline to have to beg for docents to fill tours.
Some of you are thinking, “But Kent, wait, I give three tours, two of which aren’t being given at this time.” I understand. Some tours will return in the summer and early fall. Others like building tours and the L tour may not be given for months. But there are tours that need docents, particularly neighborhood tours. So, seek out a new venture; contact Caroline or the tour director and get a new certification, which will expand your options.
Please read the revised tour requirements for 2021 only. Instead of the usual minimum of 10 tours and one of each tour for which you are certified, the minimum requirement is a total of 5 tours. Anyone who cannot meet that requirement will automatically be granted a leave-of-absence. Please let me know if you have questions or concerns after reading this policy.
I hope that everyone was able to attend DAN. Lynne and Larry were a tough act to follow from last year, but Constance and Dick did an outstanding job. So many people worked very hard behind-the-scenes to make DAN happen, and we are very grateful.
50 YEARS—what a milestone! CAC’s development department is inviting donors and the general public to celebrate this momentous anniversary by donating to the Spring Annual Fund appeal. Knowing how our members/benefactors love our tours, I am hopeful for a great monetary response! Click here to read the article. And click here for a second appeal honoring docents.
I have been a docent since 2009, not as long as many of you, but that’s a pretty long time. Heading into the 2021 tour season, I feel like a new docent again. I have a nervous excitement I have not recently felt, and I am so ready to get out on the street and on the boat and share our beautiful city with the summer crowds of locals and travelers!
Kent