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Short Tales continues with four submissions to the Shining Star Award honoring Leanne Star. These Short Tales submissions are about two categories of guests that docents can encounter. – VIP’s and children/students. Tom Carmichael and Russ Seward, describe special guests. Cynthia Bates recounts her experience with two children while Burt Michaels reports on a student tour. Read and enjoy!

From Tom Carmichael, Class of 2007 – The King and I 

How often do you get a chance to spend two hours with a reigning monarch? In the autumn of 2009, Robert Stuart, Jr., former ambassador to Norway and head of Quaker Oats, requested a private, secret river cruise for their Majesties King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway. Since I was the River Cruise tour director at the time, Holly Agra called to ask whom we should select as the docent. Of course, I volunteered. The cruise was onboard Lady Grebe, the Agra’s vintage yacht, which holds only six passengers. The passenger list included the King and Queen, Mr. and Mrs. Stuart, and two Secret Service agents. The crew was Bob Agra as the captain and Holly Agra as mate. As the royal couple was boarding I realized that I had forgotten to look up how one properly greets a monarch. I settled for extending my hand and saying, “Welcome aboard, Your Majesties.”

Queen Sonja, who is a talented amateur photographer, quickly began moving around the yacht to get the best perspectives for shots. The King sat down with the Stuarts in the stern and turned to me. I began what I hoped was a fascinating explanation of Chicago’s history and the building in view. The good news was that everyone (except the Secret Service agents) was relaxed and ready for an enjoyable boat ride. The somewhat bad news was that the King was very relaxed and soon fell asleep. The Stuarts and I smiled at each other and decided to let the King enjoy his nap as we chatted in whispers. The King awoke about halfway through the cruise. Like most people who fall asleep in public, when he awoke he pretended he had been listening all along. He proceeded to ask about the first building his eyes alighted upon. Unfortunately for me, it was 300 S. Wacker, which was a thoroughly unremarkable building before its graphic was added a number of years later. I knew nothing about it, absolutely nothing. I mumbled a few words about mid-century modernism and quickly directed his attention to the top of the Willis Tower. He smiled royally and we continued on. There’s an old saying, “Never wake a sleeping baby.” That goes for kings, too.

From Russ Seward, Class of 2005 – VIP 

A rewarding surprise began several days before a scheduled cruise, initiated by a voicemail from our President and CEO Lynn Osmond. With some apprehension, I returned her call, during which she informed me a VIP would be on my Saturday cruise and I had passed a required background security test. Despite some internal panic when Lynn asked if I would be OK with the VIP on board, I quickly replied sure. The VIP was a prime minister of a foreign country and I was sworn to secrecy and told to tell no one about it, not even my wife. Lynn ended the call saying we would talk details at the DAN coming up on Friday. At the DAN, we chatted about the next day cruise including our meeting at the dock as she would join us on board.

At our DAN table, next to me, was a man from marketing, who I thought mysteriously kept asking questions about my cruise tomorrow and how often I give cruises. My specific answer was last summer I had done about 45 cruises. He seemed pleased with that answer.

On Saturday at the dock, I asked Lynn if I could or should announce the presence of the VIP to other guests and she responded absolutely not. He was on a personal visit and not an official one. However, to my delight before the cruise began, Lynn took a picture of me with the VIP. The VIP and his entourage had the entire bow reserved, while up top was full of regular guests.

After the cruise Lynn congratulated me on a successful tour. Overall, how Lynn and the staff handled me in this situation was impressive. They gave subtle chances for me to bailout doing the cruise, but never offered that choice directly. Fortunately, I ignored my initial panic and got to enjoy another gratifying tour.

Paraphrasing Forrest Gump, our River Cruises are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get.

From Cynthia Bates, Class of  2016 – Sparkly Things

Oh NO! It was 2018, and the two hour Art Deco tour was completely filled, with two2 young children. Ten year old Ben looked sturdy enough; he said he liked architecture. But Agnes was only six, clutching a glittery pink doll. Her mother said she liked sparkly things, and apologized that she hadn’t been able to get a babysitter. What if they couldn’t keep up? How would I engage them? WHERE WERE THE BATHROOMS??

They were great! Fortunately we saw many interiors with elevators and mailboxes elaborately decorated with images they could study close up. They enjoyed trying to find the Fab Four – zigzags, octagons, flowers and sunbursts – which I turned into a scavenger hunt. Agnes asked lots of questions, like how did Ceres get on top of the Board of Trade? Ben amazed me. Before I even began to talk about the Field Building, he confidently asserted this was the next one, because of the tower and wings. (He even identified the ComEd substation before I pointed it out.) The fabulous buildings and wealth of information supplied in our manual provided a tour experience that engaged and delighted this diverse audience. The gorgeous interior of 1 N LaSalle provided even Agnes with enough sparkle. And Ben, I hope to see you in the docent class of 2035 or thereabouts.

From Burt Michaels, Class of 2019 – Surprise!

I arrived at CAC for a private Walk Through Time tour and – surprise! – found myself facing fifteen very excited secondary school students from Paris. Trouble was, they spoke very little English, and had come to CAC straight from their transatlantic red-eye flight. It seemed like a disaster waiting to happen. In desperation, I offered to dredge up what I could of my high school French, and asked them to try their best with their high school English. Turns out that bridging the language barrier – goofy Franglish bolstered with charades – like sign language – created a giddy bonhomie far beyond our usual notion of engagement. We pitched in together to explore “Paris on the Prairie,” and by the end of our tour, we’d shared a lot of laughs and they’d actually learned a lot about Chicago architecture and history. Afterwards, I headed out through the gift shop, where they were busy spending their parents’ money. But to my amazement, they all paused shopping and struck up a chant – “Yay Burt, yay Burt” – complete with fist-pumping, handshaking, and air kisses. Wow! That’s one tour I’ll never forget.

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