Blog

BOO!

I understand it’s “spooky season.”  I’ve heard this term multiple times over the last few days.  And my response is…..”what?!”  I realize Halloween is coming.  I really can’t forget as I walk through our neighborhood, filled with 16-foot blow-up ghouls and witches.  My strand of orange lights along our front fence feels extremely understated.  But spooky season?  Really?  Has it not been “spooky season” since March 11, 2020 when the whole world shut down?

Despite spooky season, CAC staff, docents, and volunteers soldier on.  I am so pleased by everyone’s response to our new reality.  Looking back, I think many of us feel sheepish for not quickly grasping the magnitude of this pandemic.  As things crumbled in March, I never dreamed travel would essentially end for the foreseeable future!  But the CAC quickly pivoted to this new reality.

You heard Lynn Osmond, President & CEO of CAC, discuss our current situation during our recent town hall.  We are going to be a leaner organization for the time being.  But we are Chicagoans, and we will persevere and survive.  Docents will keep doing what we do….give tours.  But I’d like to reiterate what I said at the recent town hall:  Docents should be ready to step in to help however and whenever staff needs us to keep our organization viable

As you read this, Open House Chicago will begin.  When it’s over, we’ll enter an unusual winter.  The River Cruise will hibernate for the winter, but we’ll be adding walking tours, reintroducing some tours that were early victims of the pandemic.  Neighborhood tours will continue deeper into the offseason.  My best guess is that tour attendance will exceed a normal winter.  Folks are going to brave the elements to do SOMETHING, and that something will have to be outside. So—why not an architecture tour?  I love giving winter tours; anticipating 90 minutes outdoors, I’m investing in some additional wool socks and long underwear!

But for now, Halloween.  I love seeing the kids in their costumes.  I hope to sit on my front stoop with a bowl of candy by the sidewalk for kids to choose their treats.  (Please, no snow this year).  Happy Spooky Season!

Kent