Tales from the Vault: Things You Never Thought You Would Do As A Museum Professional

Ever since I started working at the Museum three years ago, I have had duties I never imagined I would have when choosing this field as a career. This was especially obvious this month as there have been several events we were involved with that don't fall under your regular Museum work, which I love!!

To start with, let me mention that three years ago, I had to dress up in a witch's hat for the launch of the last Harry Potter book. Downtown Georgetown turned into J.K. Rowling's world and there were witches and warlocks walking around the square waiting for Hill Country Bookstore to release the book. The Museum, I mean Gringotts (the Wizarding Bank), had flashlight tours that night. It was so much fun!

Coming back to October, here is a brief list of the events we were a part of this month. Notice they do not include our regular monthly events (First Friday, The Salon at Wildfire, Hands-On History or Books for Texans) or our educational programs (Field trips and trunk shows).

First of all, earlier in the month, I created big pink bows and pink ribbons for the Museum's facade in honor of the 2010 Pink Heals Tour. Our Visitor Services Coordinator was up on a ladder attaching the bows to our columns. We were pinked out!
That same week, I decorated a table (place settings, centerpiece and all) for the Georgetown Garden Club's Tea Party to celebrate their 70th anniversary. It was a delightful event.
The day after the tea party, a volunteer and I maned a booth at the first Jonah Harvest Fest, while the rest of the staff worked a craft booth for Art in the Square in Georgetown while keeping the Museum open. We can do it all!
Last weekend we hosted the registration tables for the Taste of Georgetown for the second year in a row and our Educator got a taste of how our courthouse rentals work. (We rent the 1911 Williamson County Courthouse)
Finally, the Brown Santa program asked us to decorate a jail cell for their Nightmare on Jail Hill Haunted House this year. This involved shopping for headstones, creating dead bodies, and a trip to a pecan orchard on HI29 to get branches for our fake cemetery inside the cell. Let me tell you that jail doesn't need much decorating to be scary.

Usually, when you think of a Museum you might think of exhibits, artifacts, and educational programs. Right? Well, The Williamson Museum is definitely no exception, but make no mistake, we do more than that.