What a great week we had this week! We were privileged to assist with two weddings. One of them was on a day that we worked the morning shift, and the timing was such that in order for us to stay with them until they left the temple, we had to work overtime. I guess that means blessings and a half. Then we saw them the next evening at the “Sunset on the Mississippi” program (They are spending some of their honeymoon in Nauvoo) and they were so excited to see us. They asked to have their picture taken with us. The other wedding took place the day after we had assisted them going through the temple for the first time. They were to be married the next day at 10:00, and since we wouldn’t be arriving at the temple that day until 12:30, we were sure we wouldn’t see them. As it turns out, they were still at the temple with their photographer in the wedding dress and tux, so we got to say “Hi” and “Congratulations” to them on our way into the temple. The attendance at the temple still isn’t as busy as they had expected by this time of the year, and we’re not sure if it is still the effects of the flooding or if the extra high gas prices are preventing people from coming.
Last Sunday we had the assignment to “Host” at the temple for two hours. This involves being at the temple grounds to be available if there are any visitors that have any questions. The weather was a little threatening, with rain clouds slowly passing by on either side of us, so there were not very many visitors to talk with. I think that we counted about 18 or so that came by and we got to spend some time with a man and his wife from Missouri who were just taking a day trip to see Nauvoo. We are provided with several different pamphlets and schedules to pass out if anyone needs them. Just as we were leaving at the end of our two hours, it opened up and rained huge drops on us as we ran for the car. By the time we got home (Two minutes later) it had stopped raining.
Later Sunday evening we went to a fireside at the Visitor’s Center where they presented information to us about the upcoming pageant. It was quite interesting. There were speakers from the Pageant committee, the guy who has been in charge of Nauvoo tourism for the past few years and even the Mayor of Nauvoo. They even went into the financial effects of the Pageant upon the residents of Nauvoo. The Mayor is a real neat guy. He really has the betterment of Nauvoo at the top of his priority list, and is very appreciative of all that NRI (Nauvoo Restoration Inc.) and the Pageant have done here. The Nauvoo tourism guy has been responsible for seeing that several of the special programs connected with the Pageant are performed in neighboring towns and cities as far away as Springfield. Neither the tourism guy or the Mayor are members of the church.
Monday evening was a per- formance of the Nauvoo Community Band. During the four months that the Young Performing Missionaries are here, most of the members of the Old Nauvoo Brass Band joins in with them, making a very large and VERY good band. I have heard the Old Nauvoo Brass Band (Made up of Young Performing Missionaries) several times and they are exceptionally good. I would have thought that they would have easily been the stars of the show for the Nauvoo Community Band, but the entire band was excellent. They gave about 1 ½-hour performance with some great selections. A medley of songs from “Sound of Music” and later in the program another medley of selections from “Pirates of the Caribbean”. Yet another very pleasant evening.
Because we had a trip planned for our Thursday-off day, we made Tuesday (Following our morning shift) our “Clean up the house and do all of that other stuff” day. For our reward, we got to go to the Fun Zone (For Fun Zone information, see “Week 8 Highlights”) and get some pizza. As it turns out, it isn’t great pizza, but it is our first pizza since our Farewell Party at Ball Park Pizza, so it tasted good anyway.
Thursday we FINALLY got to take the trip that we have postponed for the last four weeks due to the flooding. This trip was with our “Thursday-off” group and was to those famous places of Bentonsport Iowa, Bonaparte Iowa and Cotril Iowa. What is in Bentonsport, Bonaparte and
Cotril?? You may ask. Well, in Bentonsport we went to see the shop called “Iron and Lace”. It is run by a husband-wife team. He is an artistic blacksmith (Iron) and she is a very accom- plished potter with a patented process where she uses a wild flower called “Queen Ann’s Lace” (Daucus carota – A wild flower that grows in the summer along the river). She presses this flower into the still soft clay of a pot or some other piece of clay-art, and during the firing process, it burns away to nothing, leaving the impression of the lacy flower in the pot (or whatever). It is actually very pretty (See photos). She gave us a demonstration that made it look VERY easy. Mom purchased a little Snowman ornament with the lace flower imprint in it.
ALSO in Bentonsport is an amazing Arrowhead Museum. A Bentonsport native has spent his entire life collecting arrowheads from the nearby area and putting them in beautiful display cases. He is quite an artist himself, making the cases by inlaying different color and texture native woods. He has created some VERY beautiful cases to hold his THOUSANDS of arrowheads. He knows all about the arrowheads, including how old they are based on the technology used in making them. But the real amazing thing is that all of these arrowhead cases are housed in a building that he has built using the same method that he uses in making his arrowhead cases. He uses only a handsaw and a file. He cuts the wood to reveal the beautiful wood inside, then files it and sands it until it is very glossy, then finishes it with a clear varnish. The ENTIRE building is made this way, as you look up at the rafters they are beautifully finished, then looking past the rafters up to the bottom of the roof boards you can see that they are cut and finished the same way. And of course, the wallboards and dividers in the room. It is NOT a small building. I spent some time talking to him and he’s definitely one of a kind. Very interesting. I would like to go back and talk to him some more, but I don’t think that is going to happen.
Then it was off to Bonaparte. By the way, all three of these towns were at one time booming small cities whose economy was based on river travel and shipping. With the advent of roads and other transportation, they have been reduced to a lot of large, empty, deteriorating buildings. Anyway, in Bonaparte there is a restaurant called (of course) Bonaparte’s Retreat. It is housed in an old Grist Mill and is very authentic inside. We were very pleasantly surprised with the food and the prices. And it was almost filled even though it was a Thursday lunchtime. I don’t know where the customers came from, as there wasn’t anything around.
Our final stop for the day was Catril. The attraction there was The Dutchman’s Store. This is a store that caters mostly to the Mennonites (and tourists). It is mostly a large grocery store that sells a LOT of basic ingredients to those who make everything from scratch. An interesting store. Their homemade Black Raspberry Jam is incredible. It was a very interesting and fun day’s activity.
This week we also went to “Sunset on the Mississippi” again. It’s a fun program and every time we go, there is something new. We also drove down Parley Street again to take a look at the river. If you enlarge the photo of the sunset on the river in last week’s blog (by clicking on it), you can see that the fence down at the end of the road is under water up to the highest rail. This week the entire fence is out of the water and all of the water is back in the river where it belongs. (You’ll have to tell Katie that the river is back to normal, but we can still go see it)
I guess that’s it for another week. We hope that all is going well with you’all.
All is well.
We love you all,
Mom & Dad / Granny & Grandpa
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