Docents are flexible, patient, and accommodating in all kinds of tour situations. Ellen Shubart (2006) showed tremendous flexibility and quick thinking in her unusual circumstances. Bill Page’s (2001) patience is extraordinary in a situation many of us can empathize with and understand. Jeff Zurlinden’s (2015) lucky accommodation added a new dimension to his tour.
Short Tales ends with two celebrity sightings by Leslie Clark Lewis (2009) and Linda Winke (2000) that show the magic that can appear unexpectedly on any tour.
MOSH-UP ON MAG MILE
by Ellen Shubart, Class of 2006, Exhibit Host
What happens when you sign up for one tour but the tourees arrive expecting another tour for which you are not certified? Happened to me January 5, when I showed up for a Mag Mile tour but the tourists had been signed up for What’s New.
The board said Mag Mile, the sign-up sheet said Mag Mile, but the tickets read something else. Obviously, we had a problem.
CAC staff did the best thing they could do: refunded the six women’s ticket fees, gave them free passes for another tour and date of their choosing and then there we were.
I am not certified for What’s New, but I have a vague idea of what’s on it, so I combined Mag Mile’s southern end with talks about St. Regis, the Hovey Buildings and the proposed 100-story skyscraper behind the Tribune Building.
It was a mosh-up: What’s Mag. But we had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs. I hope these tourists come back again. I’d love to have them on a tour I really know how to give.
TARDY TOUREES
by Bill Page, Class of 2001, Exhibit Host
A few years ago, probably shortly before Covid, I had an afternoon tour with a particularly patient group. Right at tour time, a woman came running up wheeling a bicycle. She said she and her husband had reserved tickets and traveled to Chicago for the tour, but he lagged behind and would be right with us. The group agreed to wait. “Right with us” turned into ten minutes, and when he arrived he asked where they could park their bicycles. That led to a brief discussion, with the two of them taking their bikes outside – somewhere – and “rushing” back while the rest of the group was still there waiting patiently. By the time we got going it was twenty minutes late. Nobody complained – to me, anyway – and the tour ran smoothly. How, fellow docents, would you have handled it?
MEZZANINE ACCOMODATIONS
by Jeff Zurlinden, Class of 2015, Education Guide, Exhibit Host
It was a Riverfront Deco docent’s dream come true. In the lobby of the Carbide and Carbon, I asked my guests to look at the ceiling and admitted that I couldn’t yet look up because of back surgery. An employee from Pendry Hotel overheard me and said, “Please join me on the mezzanine balcony. The view of the ceiling is amazing.”
She was certainly correct.
I thanked her for her kindness that day as well as being so patient with the students I had previously brought to the hotel. She was curious about how the students reacted to the lobby, and she was very pleased that they used words like “special,” “jewels,” “jazzy,” and “fireworks.”
She also shared that the hotel receives letters, sometimes including memorabilia, from people who have stories about the building passed down by family members who once worked there.
Stories filled with pride.
FUN ON ASTOR STREET
by Leslie Clark Lewis, Class of 2009
Mary Haffenberg and I recently led the Gold Coast: Astor Street tour with a total of twenty guests. A fun thing happened with my group. Four of the guests were French; they all seemed to speak English very well. When we got to the C. D. Peacock house, after giving a line or two about the long-time jewelry company, I asked the French guests if they felt our description of the house as “chateau-esque” seemed right to them. They all said yes, and one of the women pointed out some of the confirming details. We continued on our way. Just after I finished my conclusion, one of the French guests handed me his business card. The front said C. D. Peacock Jewelers; when I turned it over, I saw a name, followed by the title, president. Yes – the gentleman is the president of C. D. Peacock Jewelers. He reiterated that the Peacock was Chicago’s first business. He proudly noted that the firm has the original business license, and the license number is 1. He gave a little background about its current ownership; seems he was brought in two years ago to expand the business. Wouldn’t it be great if he could expand it back into the city?
So, yes – fun on Astor Street.
SURPRISE ENDING IN UPTOWN
by Linda Winke, Class of 2000
Halfway through the Uptown neighborhood tour we stop near the Riviera Theatre, where docents point out features of the streetscaping on Broadway completed as part of the Red Line modernization project from 2014-2018. One of the best changes was making Racine a one-way street from Wilson to Broadway, which allowed for the creation of a paved plaza in place of the former maze of crosswalks and concrete. Local artist Lowell Thompson was commissioned to design a public art piece for the plaza, and in 2019 “Uptown’s Colored Wheel” was installed; a sculpture consisting of multiple color wedges (representing diversity) within a 17-foot-tall circular form (representing unity). As I ended the tour at the Uptown Post Office, a man approached the group and said, “Hi there; it looks like you’re on some sort of tour?” I replied that we had just finished looking at the architecture of Uptown and he said “Did you see the Colored Wheel? That’s my project.” Astonished, I said “You’re Lowell Thompson? You’re part of our tour! We talk about your sculpture as representing Uptown and it’s great location on the plaza.” He had a big grin and said “That’s me! You even know my name!” He talked about his inspiration for the design – he’s lived in many other areas of Chicago and the US, but when he came to Uptown he felt it was different from everywhere else – “all colors together”, instead of the very segregated neighborhoods he had lived before. Every time he completes a project he makes a card about it. He gave the tourees a card about the Colored Wheel, and his current project – D-Day buttons, promoting voting and saving Democracy. The tourees were delighted; everyone shook his hand and said they were honored to meet him. Best wrap up to a tour ever!
We are always looking for Short Tales to share. If
you have one, please send
it to Jill Carlson who coordinates this regular
feature on The Bridge.
CLICK HERE for more stories on The Bridge.
Flexibility, adaptability, creativity … its what being a docent is all about.
Tardy tourists should be required to donate to CAC as a penalty to them and a gift to us. The issue is difficult, Bill. I have no solution, but think you did the best you could.
Wonderful stories! Thank you for sharing them.
Such lovely stories. Some amazing run ins with celebrities! Thank you for sharing.
Loved these amazing stories!