Last night I attended Boston By Foot’s “Meet and Greet”
social for prospective new volunteer docents and stayed for the informational
briefing. By the end of the evening I
had decided to sign up for their spring lecture series and guide training. This takes place from April to June and is a
significant commitment. It means
spending nine Saturdays either sitting in a lecture or going on a tour of some part of the city. Fortunately, the lectures are held in the
beautiful Boston Society of Architects
building on the Fort Point Channel. Lecture
topics range from Early American Architecture and Victorian Boston to
Subterranean Boston. I will also have to
read a variety of books on Boston’s history, architecture, topography, and innovations
as well as write several papers.
Finally, I will have to give a demonstration tour before graduation at
the Old North Church in the North End.
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| BSA Building-- Congress St. |
Commercial: @BostonbyFoot, Inc., is a nonprofit
educational corporation. It was founded by Polly Flansburgh in 1976, the year
of America's Bicentennial, with a mission to promote public awareness of
Boston's rich architectural and historical heritage through its guided tours, lecture
series, and other activities. Over the
course of its 33 years, more than 225,000 residents and visitors from around
the world have participated in Boston By Foot tours.
Why am I undertaking this significant effort? Well, there are several reasons. First, I have wanted to volunteer for several
years but working as a Marketing Director for high-tech companies never left me enough time for lectures, reading, research, writing
papers, and going on tours. The
commitment was just too big when measured against the demands of a full-time
job with periodic travel. Second, as a
certified Intellectual Snob with a head full of trivia, being a tour guide just
seemed like a fun way to share what I know with others who want to learn,
whether they are tourists who know nothing about Boston or locals seeking to
know more.
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| Boston's Old North Church |
Third, I have always loved taking
tours. When I was a kid, we went on
vacation every year and went on tours of all kinds of places from the Secret Caverns
to Mount Vernon, from Fort Ticonderoga to the White House. I developed a strategy of sticking close to
the tour guide because that way I heard everything he/she was saying and could
ask questions easily. When we took the
kids to London on vacation many years ago, we did several of the city’s many
easily accessible walking tours. They became highlights of
the trip because they took us into places where tourists would not normally go
and taught us so much about the city.
Finally, I want to keep my brain
nimble. When I planned for retirement, I
thought of all the things I wanted to do. Sitting around the house was never part of that plan. Being a volunteer docent for BBF will give me
the opportunity to learn a lot and the joy of passing that on to others.
So today I will send in my application
and my check and put all the dates for the spring lecture series and guide
training in my calendar. Who knows? If you’re walking around Boston this summer,
you may see me leading a group of eager tourists.
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