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16. "That's an odd answer."
The three morning interviews went well. Too well in fact. Mr. Krendel told me that he had been very impressed with all three of the candidates. All three of them answered everything wonderfully. It was not going to be an easy decision. Then I began to wonder if I could offer one of them the assistant PD job as well.
It was worth considering.
I went to lunch and thought about it. I still had the afternoon interviews to go through. Maybe something would come up there. Then I had an idea. I'd offer each one the assistant position until the candidate chosen to be the PD moved on and see what they said. If I was right, one of them would consider the offer an insult and decline it, which would make my final decision much easier between the two that accepted it.
After lunch I bounced my idea off Mr. Krendel and Dad Gilmore. They both agreed that Mrs. Duffy would probably decline anything less than the full PD position. Then as we discussed it they both agreed that Mr. Benjamin would be out of here in short order, but he would be very good at getting the place up and running. That would leave Ms. Harvey as the permanent full time Program Director, after she'd had time to learn everything Benjamin had picked up in school and been able to apply to the job.
"Sounds like you got it all planned out Mr. Michels." Dad Gilmore said.
"You think they'll go for it?"
"Yessir." He nodded confidently.
"You know something." Mr. Krendel said.
The old man grinned with shining eyes. "Well sir. See. Last night at dinner they talked about why they'd come down here. Mrs. Duffy thought it'd be closer to a city, she wants to retire to a city and…" He looked out the trailer window to the valley beyond. "This ain't it. And Mister Benjamin, ya'lls right. He's looking for a 'steppin' stone' to a better job and he's hoping this is it."
"And Ms. Harvey?" I asked.
"She wants out of where she's at so bad she can taste it." Mr. Krendel said.
I nodded. I had gotten something of that impression from her in the first interview.
"Yessir." Dad Gilmore said. "She told us she was going to resign and go to work at a Realtor's office where one of her friends worked if she didn't get this position."
Mrs. Duffy was the first afternoon interview.
"Thank you for considering me Mister Michels, Mister Krendel. But please remove my name from consideration."
Dad Gilmore was right on the money.
After the other two interviews I asked Mr. Benjamin and Ms. Harvey to join us in the trailer. I explained my plan and asked them what they thought of it.
"Is it that obvious?" Mr. Benjamin said. I nodded and he fessed up. "Yes sir. I've got my eye on a couple of positions in the home office. I've always wanted to be VP of Field Operations."
"Mr. Salmon may have a few words to say about that."
"He'll retire one of these days. Then…" He grinned.
"How long do you expect to be here?" Mr. Krendel asked.
"No more than two or three years." Benjamin said.
"You've got somebody looking at you from inside the home office." I said.
He smiled a half smile and almost nodded.
I looked at Ms. Harvey. "So how's it sound to you?"
"Will I get a housing allowance to cover the difference?"
"Well, I'm leasing a good sized house in town right now. We could continue the lease and…" I let it trail off.
"Wanna share a house for awhile?" Mr. Benjamin said to her.
Ms. Harvey grinned. "Sure."
"But I've got one question Ms. Harvey. My assistant GM-to be has no experience. Will you assist in Walt's training since you have a great deal of experience in the job?"
"It would be my pleasure." She nodded to us.
It had worked out better than I had hoped. I now had a full senior staff. The roster of those from the work crew that were staying on as everything from grounds crew to cooks was fairly full. Supplies and fixtures were being delivered daily. The computer network connections had been installed and tested. The server and other equipment would be in next week.
All in all, we had almost performed a miracle of construction and outfitting. In just under six months we'd gone from nothing to almost ready to open.
All things considered we were over two months ahead of our Fast Track schedule.
Sometime in the next couple of weeks me and Alice would be moving my stuff into the apartment and setting it up. Then there was a wedding in our future, and shortly after that, her and Robby would be moving in with me.
We wanted to wait until the apartment at the center was livable before we set the final date for the wedding. She had been making all sorts of plans, and had a dress picked out and altered that I had heard about but hadn't seen as it was probably the most closely held secret in the country.
Mrs. Krendel had been an intricate part of the wedding plans as well, and had managed to drag Mr. Krendel and Walt into it as go betweens between the female side of the arrangements. One of the chief concerns was how many bridesmaids she was going to have, which would dictate how many groomsmen I'd have to have.
Alice had discussed it with me on a couple of occasions. She had one friend that she had been close to when she was living in the city. But they had lost touch over the last couple of years.
"I got a call from Teri." Alice said with a big smile. "She'd been wondering what I'd been up to and when she got the call from her mom with my new phone number she couldn't wait to call."
"Good." I said.
Alice and Teri spent several hours on the phone and on the computer over the next few days. They traded pictures and stories and I got to meet Teri in a video chatroom and we discussed Alice's secrets for awhile.
"So what all did she tell you?" Alice prodded me later.
"All sorts of things." I said.
"Like what?"
I looked at her and grinned and maintained my silence.
Finally she resorted to torture to find out what I had been laughing about. She sat on my lap and kissed me and told me that would be the last one I got until the wedding unless I told her.
"Well." I grabbed her and kissed her hard and deep.
"I mean it." She put her hand between us. "No kissing, no nothing." She looked at me seriously.
"OK. You're sure you want to know." I looked at her. She nodded. "She told me about when you two used to play tennis."
Her eyes got wide.
"And the time at the country club with her boss, and you and Teri were cutting up in the locker room before the match."
Her face got red. "She didn't tell you about that."
I nodded. "Did you really do it?"
She tried to play dumb.
"Did you really go out and play tennis without the shorts under the skirt?"
"She dared me. It was her fault."
"My my Miss Alice. Aren't you the wild and daring one?"
"I was a lot younger then."
I grinned at her and chuckled softly.
"I'm going to kill her." Alice said and tried to get up.
I held onto her and pulled her into a very hot and passionate kiss.
Neither of us knows how long Mrs. Krendel had been standing in the office door watching us before we felt her presence and looked up and she told me that I had a phone call.
Ms. Harvey was moving down as soon as she could pack.
I talked to her manager in Cincinnati about it and she said that there was no problem with letting her go.
Something didn't sound right with all that so I checked my scuttlebutt source with the Secretaries Newsletter - Unofficial Offline Edition. Namely Shirley in Mr. Salmon's office.
"I don't know. But you're right, that doesn't sound good. Let me call around." She said.
We had one of the rooms at the center readied for her to move into until we could make the great house swap move when my apartment was done.
A couple of days later the office building was done and we made arrangements to say goodbye to Jimbo's trailer.
I had Mrs. Krendel figure out how long it had been up there, and then we worked out what would be a fair rental for a unit in its condition for that time.
Jimbo wasn't expecting it. He had told me several times that he was grateful for the work and the overtime he'd been earning as one of the rotating night watchmen crew and besides, the trailer wouldn't have been doing anything besides sitting in his pa's back yard waiting for deer season anyway. So when I handed him a company check for just over three thousand dollars for six months of trailer rental he couldn't believe it.
We talked about where they could put it for the time being and we all agreed that a gravel area off the old road up would be out of the way.
"Thank you sir." Jimbo said and went to get his tractor while we packed everything up and moved it to the offices.
Then we packed up some more stuff and moved more of it to the offices.
Then we unhooked the video and alarm equipment for the alarm company to pick up, they had already installed the permanent equipment in the office and we'd been testing it.
Then Dad Gilmore pronounced the trailer cleaner than it had been when it'd been brought up there. It had been pretty rough and I'd had my doubts, but it had served, and served well.
"So ya'lls just about ready to go." Dad Gilmore said looking around the office.
"Yes sir."
"Then I's is about ready to go."
"You've got to be here for the grand opening."
"I will be Mister Krendel." He smiled. "This has been the best job I's ever had. I got to meet the Govn'r, and that Princess and be on TV and all. And see all that stuff from the war, and get ta know ya'll." He smiled broadly. "Likes I said, this has been the best job I's ever had. But it's 'bout done. And I'm happy wit it."
I looked at the old man. That was the about the most I'd heard him say at one time since the day we met. "Well. Thank you very much for your service sir." I put my hand out and he shook it with enthusiasm.
Then I handed him an envelope as well. He opened it slowly and looked at it.
"Mister Michels?"
"A gift from the company for helping to bring this project in ahead of time and way under budget."
He was literally speechless for a few minutes.
The next couple of weeks flew past.
Mister Benjamin had received a counter offer at his current position that involved a promotion in a few months, so he stayed where he was. Which made Ms. Harvey the PD after all.
The computer network came up and broadband internet service came to the top of the old mountain. The conference center equipment was tested and some minor adjustments made to various things. Then the furniture and appliances for my apartment came in and were installed and we got our final certificate of occupancy and other releases to begin operation.
The next weekend we alternated moving the office and moving my stuff out of the house and Ms Harvey into it.
Walt had already taken over the regular maintenance office in the basement of the housing unit. The other offices were assigned and the respective computers and equipment set up.
We firmed up the rest of the staff including hiring a couple more of the original work crew as help for when we had functions doing everything from helping guests with luggage to busing tables for banquets. Many of them took a couple of positions so they'd have more regular work. Guys like Ricky would be part time except when something was going on, then they'd be full time and more.
Our highway sign even arrived and we had a little ceremony to unveil it.
Then it was time to announce a wedding date.
"Her friend Teri as maid of honor and Carol."
"My Carol?" I nodded, he thought about it for a second. "Well, ok."
"Mr. Salmon will be my best man, so…"
"I get to stand up with my own wife." Mr. Krendel said. "OK, at least I'll know what she likes at the reception."
The Grand Opening was to be the week after our wedding, so an actual honeymoon trip was postponed for awhile. Our wedding night would be spent in the apartment while Robby was at his grandparent's house. Then he'd come stay with us after we made arrangements with the school to have a bus stop at the bottom of the hill.
I made some plans to make our first night together as husband and wife somewhat special including a nice dinner with candlelight and all the rest.
The Wednesday before the wedding we moved Alice's stuff out of her place and into the apartment. She would stay with her parents for a couple of days and try to keep her mom from talking me to death.
Then the tape arrived from the Countess. It was a preliminary version of the program about the bunker. I set it aside to watch over the weekend with her as a diversion if we needed one.
We met with the preacher again and went through the service. The ceremony wasn't going to be anything special, and the reception at the community center would be fairly simple as well. The only thing we weren't sure of was the number of guests. We got together and estimated the total attendance to be about a hundred and fifty, so I added fifty to it for the luncheon at the community center just for insurance.
Thursday Mr. Salmon came in. He had two missions for this visit. One, to try on his tuxedo and see if it fit. The other was to do a final inspection of the center and issue us our certification from the company.
The suit we had ordered to his sizes mostly fit so it was OK. Mr. Krendel's fit just fine and mine only needed some minor alterations. Robby had been wearing his tux off and on for the last week. The lady at the shop had let them take his early so he could get comfortable in it. He had, including wanting to dress his army of warriors in formal wear.
We went to the rehearsal and did a quick walk through. Then we went out to dinner. Since the wedding party consisted of six people and the preacher and his wife, as well as Alice's folks, it wasn't a big production either. We went out to a small restaurant on the highway and had a nice dinner.
Then Friday morning Mr. Salmon came over from the motel where he was staying, we went to the church. And I got married.
When Alice walked into the sanctuary in her wedding dress, not a bridal gown true, but I don't think I've ever seen a more beautiful bride nonetheless, she took my breath away.
She was gorgeous.
And that light was in her eyes as she walked up to me and took my hand to stand between me and her step-father.
"I love you." I said to her.
"And I love you." She whispered back.
"Good. Let's get married."
She smiled at me.
"Do you, Alice, take this man to…"
"Oh yes. Of course I do." She didn't wait for him to finish the whole speech.
The preacher smiled at her. "OK." He said and just moved on.
I guess Alice was every bit as nervous as I was.
I don't even remember what happened at the reception for the most part.
We ate some chicken, and somebody handed me some gifts, and the DJ, who had worked at the site as an electrician, dedicated a song to us. But that's about all I know that happened for about three hours.
Then we were sneaking out to my car and leaving.
Except somebody had done a spectacular job of 'detailing' my car. The back tires were gone and replaced with some sort of truck tires. It was covered with foam and toilet paper and God only knows what else. And above it all was a flashing sign that said 'they's hitched'.
We couldn't even get in the car let alone drive it anywhere. Mr. Krendel told us to take his truck and he'd have the car brought up tomorrow.
One advantage of spending our honeymoon up at the center was that we had a full active security system to keep people away.
Another was that I had the key to the housing unit, with its 'presidential' suite. Which had a full kitchen and a great view of the valley and mountains beyond.
One great advantage was that I had made good and for sure that the pool in the building was filled and working and the heat turned on in it. And I also forgot to pack our swimsuits.
We had music, food, wine, a private pool, a wonderful view... and each other.
I wouldn't have wanted my honeymoon to have turned out any other way.
17. Opening Day
Saturday morning somebody dropped off my car, minus the sign and truck tires, but still with several layers of tissue paper and shaving cream on it. We ignored it and walked around the center, hand in hand, until we met Pauly who had seen the car come and Mr. Krendel's truck go.
"Howdy folks."
"Have you been up here all night?"
He acted a little sheepish. "I spent the night in the trailer. I didn't want ya'll to be up here alone all night. You know, some of the guys might have had an idea to come up here and make a mess of it."
"Thanks."
"Ya'll want a beer or something?" He gestured down the hill to where the trailer sat.
"Ah, no, we're fine."
We started putting her things away in the apartment, but soon we gave up and went back to the other building for 'some more honeymoon'.
Then Sunday we got up and went to church after I hosed my car off and Jimbo helped me get rid of some of the other debris.
Sunday afternoon Alice couldn't be content until we'd cleaned up the suite and moved our overnight cases to the apartment.
I talked her into one more swim while the sheets and towels were in the washer.
"Somebody's got plans." Alice grinned at me.
"Who me?" I said tugging her in the direction of the pool. "And I did double check the doors. Nobody can get in without setting off the alarm."
"You must have big plans." She closed the door on the washer.
"It's still our honeymoon." I said.
We didn't get to the historical video until late Sunday night.
The final work on the center progressed quickly and we were able to confirm the date a couple of weeks from now for our first function with the cabinet secretaries and the Governor's office.
With that date set there was now a serious push for the final bit of decorating and testing, including the hanging of some three hundred framed copies of historical images. We had lithographs of Civil War maps, photographs, sketches and posters. There were only about thirty different designs, so we had to spread them out between all the rooms and ensure that the same designs weren't hung next to each other, or even in adjoining rooms.
Mr. Salmon started his inspection Monday morning and made a few suggestions about some things he noticed that he thought should be changed. But other than those ideas, we passed with flying colors. He congratulated us on everything and said his goodbyes and left.
For all practical purposes, we were open for business, although it didn't seem like it until Tuesday when the mail truck drove in and stopped in front of the office building and the mailman came in and said hi to Carol. Then it felt like we were really open.
Everything was ready. We went ahead with the grand opening as scheduled for the next weekend and put ads in the paper and all.
The opening chef arrived Wednesday and got the foodservice side of things set up. We hired in more kitchen staff and got even more equipment delivered.
"I know the papers say you only need so many of these and so many of those." Chef Terrence said with a slightly arrogant edge to his voice. "But trust me. You need at least twice as many. For some, three times."
"I know. I just hadn't had time to order them yet."
"Oh, that is good. Your first function is with the Governor of this state and you don't have time to order me my pans. What should I tell His Honor, 'Oh, we're sorry sir, your dessert will have to wait until we wash the pans so we can fix it'?"
"They'll be here before then." I said trying to stay patient and calm.
"And the deep freeze. I like it cold. It is just barely cool." He said.
"It's at ten below zero now..."
"CELSIUS!" He almost shouted. "The gauge is in degrees Celsius."
"Oh." I said feeling really stupid. I had noticed the large C below the numbers but it didn't register.
"For that scale it should be twenty five below."
"I'll have it reset as soon as I can get Walt over there."
"Very good sir."
Walt was absolutely in love with his job. He got to play with everything we had from the computers to the spillway on the pond. Even though everything was brand new and most of it had full warranty there was still plenty of things that needed adjusted or monitored or, in the case of the automatic watering system for the landscaping on the hill, major damage control and emergency repairs.
Dad Gilmore had stopped by just to drink coffee and chat Thursday morning as he usually did. We all saw the Uni pull in to the parking lot. But then he actually jumped out and came running in shouting. "Mister Walt! Mister Michels. Ya'll's gots a flood out there!"
I jumped up and ran out just ahead of Walt.
"Where?" I asked the excited old man.
"Over yonder." He pointed to the front corner of the hill next to the new road.
We ran over there and it was a flood all right. A large stream of water was spouting from the ground, running across the flowerbed and out into the road.
"I'll shut the water off." Walt said and set off for the control box for the irrigation system.
We watched but the water didn't stop.
"The valve's stuck. It won't cut off. I'll hit the main." Walt shouted.
After a few more minutes the water stopped and we inspected the damage. A lot of the plants downstream of the rupture had been washed out, some of the sod was loose, and there was an ugly streak of soil down the road for some distance.
"Thanks Dad." I said to the old man.
"Yes sir. Thank you. See, we still need you." Walt told the man who smiled and nodded. "This wasn't there when I came in."
Dad Gilmore spent the next couple of hours with the two guys from the original crew who had been hired on as the grounds crew replanting flowers and the one tree that had been knocked loose.
Walt went to work isolating the irrigation system so we could have water for the rest of the complex.
I was on the phone to the irrigation system company explaining what happened and trying to get them out there as soon as possible.
About noon we were back to usual.
"Well. That was fun." I said handing Walt the note about the repair call.
Mr. Krendel was sorry he had missed it. He had gone to Scottsboro to file the final version of some paperwork for us.
"Well then, you should come to work on time sir." Dad Gilmore smiled at him.
"Yessir."
The grand opening extravaganza was one for the books.
Compared to the party we had when the site work was done, this one was a state fair.
We had the kiddie rides. There was food and drink a plenty. There were tours of the Confederate bunker and screenings of the Countess's program up in one of the classrooms. We had games of skill and games of chance and prizes for everybody. There were several tables of crafts and things from local churches and civic groups. A credit union had a booth set up giving away can coolers and signing up new accounts, and a local health clinic was testing blood pressure with even more freebees. Then there were displays from a couple of local schools and one from the community college that Alice wasn't happy about, but she'd live with it, as well as the fire company and a display by the TVA's local office. And over on the stage right near where Walt's flood had been various singing and performing acts took turns doing whatever they did, right now the middle school chorus was singing a movie tune with more enthusiasm than skill.
Robby had already won his fair share of the prizes, and was working on another set for one of his friends that couldn't make it today.
Everywhere I looked was people having a good time. I had to admit it, in spite of some drizzling rain early that morning, the day was a resounding success.
"Mister Michels?"
I turned around. "Yes sir. Can I help you?"
"I'm Sam O'Bannon." He stuck out his hand.
As I shook it I tried to come up with why the name sounded familiar.
"The district rep for the county commission." He said to help me out.
"Oh, yes sir. We've met before."
"Yes sir." He looked around. "This is great. Wonderful."
"The best thing to happen to the county in a hound's age." I said.
"Something like that, yes sir. But I was wondering one thing."
"Yessir."
He smiled a politician's smile. "What would it take for you to make this an annual event? You see, we don't have much of this kind of thing around here."
"'For Jackson County, we're on the wrong side of the river.'" I said. "Somebody told me that some time ago."
"Yes sir. There is that attitude in places."
"Well. We could do something like this next year... Maybe if the county helped out a little."
His smile didn't fade at all. "Well, I don't know how much help we can be, but...."
"Loosen up the parking restrictions so my assistant doesn't have to spend half a day in Scottsboro filling out forms."
"Oh. Well, yes sir. We can help with some things like that."
"Let's get through today then, stop by the office sometime next week and we'll talk. My secretary makes great coffee." I nodded to Mrs. Krendel as she walked by.
"Yes sir." Now his smile was more genuine.
We had said the event was going to run from ten until four knowing full well that some people would be there around nine and some wouldn't leave until five or after. And that was the way it worked.
But by six that night all of the people and most of the booths and tables and even the stage were gone.
I thanked the last of the people that had helped for their time and retreated to the apartment with Alice.
"You look exhausted." She said to me as I collapsed on the couch.
I nodded and kicked off my shoes. "I am. But, I think it went over great."
"It was a wonderful day." She smiled and kissed my forehead. "Sit there and I'll bring you a glass of tea."
Two hours later I woke up and drank it and watched her sleeping half curled up on the couch next to me. I took her left hand and inspected the brilliantly shining ring that looked so at home on her finger. Then I went to get a quick shower.
The next project was the Governor's Conference.
The grand opening celebration was over, now it was time to get to work.
A representative from the Governor's office came up and we went through my checklist of client requirements that I had borrowed from a journalist friend several years ago. The 'Five W's': who, what, when, where and why. It was a little simplistic, but it worked. And Ms. Harvey liked it so much she told me she was going to steal it for the next client.
We started with Who. An actual head count and special requirements of everybody that was coming. It was then that I found out that one of the cabinet officers kept kosher and that one of the others was a vegetarian. That information I relayed to Chef Terrence immediately.
"Oh yes. Mr. Mortess uses one of those power wheelchairs. He's the Assistant Secretary for Veterans Affairs."
I nodded. We had a note that one of the attendees would need one of the handicapped accessible rooms. I made the note with the name and highlighted it.
What came down to a list of what they needed for the various conferences and workshops. And combined with When as to the order of battle. We went through the schedule and Ms. Harvey and I wrote down everything from white boards to extension cords for laptop computers. We had everything they'd need, but it would be a chore to get some of it from one room to the other during breaks.
"We could use another portable white board." Ms. Harvey said.
"We're supposed to get two more, but they're not here yet." I said.
The representative nodded. "You've got a lot more equipment than we're used to working with. This is a better facility than some state conference centers."
I thanked them for the compliment. "But I want to make sure you tell me that next week about this time."
Thursday evening two of the speakers from out of state arrived and became our first actual guests.
Ms. Harvey escorted them to their rooms and Ricky pushed the baggage cart for them.
"Well. We're going." I said as they vanished into the other building.
Friday morning things really got to swinging. The majority of the ranking politicians of the state arrived, one of them not being on the guest list.
"He was a last minute addition." The contact from the Governor's office said. "I'm sorry the message didn't make it through."
Ms. Harvey never even flinched. She wrote the name of the Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives down and went to assign him a room.
The only other misfire came when a second guest showed up in a wheelchair.
The contact hadn't known about this one, and as it turned out, the wheelchair was a last minute addition to the guest as well. They had just had surgery on the veins in their legs and were still dealing with surgical dressings, but they didn't want to miss this conference. Ms. Harvey saw to their room, I left a message for Mrs. McGill, who was our on site nurse for functions, that she might want to stop by just to check on how they were doing. It went off without a hitch.
The Governor arrived and we greeted him with enough pomp and ceremony to make it official and at three O'clock they started their first seminar.
At five there was a formal dinner.
At seven thirty they all gathered in the main conference room for some speechifying. Then they broke up for the informal reception me and my wife were hosting in the lobby of the Summit Building to welcome them to our facility.
"First impressions?" Mr. Krendel asked me as we watched the guests filter to the housing unit for the night.
I looked around. The staff was cleaning up the glasses and serving dishes from the reception. The last few stragglers were just leaving and nodding good night to us. Alice yawned and reminded me we had an early morning of it tomorrow.
"First impressions." I repeated. "We did good." I looked up at the wooden inlaid sign above the entrance to the main conference room. "To the Sand Mountain Executive Conference Center. Summit Building." I read the full name and saluted it with my glass.
"Hear hear." Mr. Krendel said. We touched glasses and drank.
18. Year One
Some functions went off as smoothly as you could please.
Some didn't.
I got to where I hated wedding receptions. But they were also part of the business and had to be dealt with.
The Camera Eye on History show was on cable a couple of months later. Of course we all had watched the tape multiple times, but to see it on actual TV with commercials and all was still a thrill. We taped it to prove to ourselves that it had been on.
Then the day came when Mr. Krendel turned in his two weeks notice.
I looked up from the neatly written document and the signature on it.
"It's been a year since we opened." He said. "And it has been one heck of a year."
I glanced at the calendar. "Oh. It has."
He nodded. "I'll stay on through the carnival. But then..." He smiled and saluted.
"Yes sir. And thank you." I paused and thought about it.
I had just given Alice an anniversary gift. And Mr. O'Bannon had become a regular in the office about once a week as the date for the now yearly carnival got closer. Since we had hosted several large county functions at a reduced rate, he had become one of our biggest fans.
Almost every week saw some sort of function at the center. Many would book the housing unit full and spill over into the two small motels nearby, something the motels hadn't expected but definitely appreciated.
We had hosted church services in the center for a month or so when the Nazarene church had a small fire and needed to remodel. Then there was the University Extension service class twice a week for two months.
The usual practice was to charge Bargain Basement rates for the first year of a center's life, then gradually work into the normal rates. But with the publicity we had received from the TV show and the rest of the coverage of the Bunker our name had gotten out there enough that we never actually went with that plan after that first Governor's conference.
The Bunker drew school field trips and others in almost constantly. Now during the school year we had a groups coming through a couple of times a month.
Ms. Harvey had enlisted Dr. Junie and the State Historical office and had developed a whole program for schools from the middle school grades up to college, and at a very attractive price for what they got as well. They would assemble in a classroom in the conference center, then watch the Camera Eye show. Then one of our staff would do a presentation, sometimes in costume as a Confederate Sergeant with some of the actual items from the Bunker and a few careful reproductions that the kids could touch and hold. After that they would break for lunch with some of the food from the program and other period recipes that Alice and the other staff had perfected. Later they would tour the bunker in small groups for a more in depth presentation depending on age and interest. After that they would walk around the parameter of the property along a marked trail that documented other artifacts that we'd found since then, including two piles of several cannon balls each, a few wagon wheel parts from the time, and a garbage pit that had yielded almost as interesting material as the original bunker had.
The pit had been discovered when Jimbo and some of the others were digging a new sewage line so the trailer could use the center's waste water processing plant with the addition of a pumping tank. At first they didn't think anything of it, then they found a metal box with CSA stamped on it.
"I think we'd better go get Mister Chet." Jimbo said.
A month of excavation ensued and we had another display for the bunker.
After the pit played out, the archeology team even helped them bury the tank and lines just in case another find was in the area.
The self guided tour did not mention the trailer's sewer line's part in the drama.
The walk ended at the Guardian statue which had had some lines from a letter that had been found in the Colonel's desk added to a plaque on the base.
Good sir, I beg to differ with you. Even though our cause is lost, we have made a statement that can never be ignored by the other side. Good Men will fight for what they believe is Right even when Fate has decided against them. If for no other reason than because it is Right. In your service, Colonel A. Samuels CSA
I put Mr. Krendel's letter back on the desk and looked up.
He was still standing there, waiting on my decision.
"It has been a most interesting year." I said.
"I wouldn't trade it. But, I've already retired once."
"How about Carol?"
"She wants to stay on a little longer. At least until Sandi is more comfortable with everything. And you know you can call us both up here when things get really out of hand."
I nodded. Carol's assistant was going to be every bit as good as she was, but it was going to take some time before she was ready to fly solo.
During major functions Alice and Robby worked the office as well as everybody else we could find. Dad Gilmore even came up when the place was turning into a real circus and directed traffic and answered questions. The difference was that Robby accepted tips for carrying messages and bags, Dad Gilmore just enjoyed the people and a good handshake once in awhile.
"Well. That was the agreement." I said to Mr. Krendel.
"Walt's got your back. He's already doing my job more often than not. And his own."
"If he's going to be Assistant GM, who's going to take Walt's job?"
"Jimbo and Pauly are fighting over it." He said with a smile.
Of everybody I had hired from the initial crew, and their wives and children and even parents that were now in housekeeping, wait staff for banquets, seasonal grounds crews, and all the rest, Pauly and Jimbo had proven to be real assets to the team.
Both were hard working and knowledgeable, if a bit unrefined and at times almost too folksy to be as professional as the company would want.
But aside from the Krendels, and Walt as well, they were as much the core of my staff as anybody. And when review time came around, I couldn't put as many good things on their sheets as I wanted to without making it sound stupid.
"Who would you suggest?" I asked Mr. Krendel.
"It's a shame you can't hire both." He said with a smile. "It worked once before."
"Let me work on that. I've got an idea."
I called the home office and explained I wanted to split the maintenance chief's position in two. One would handle the Summit Building and be on call for the other units. The other would handle the office building and the housing unit, and be on call for the conference center. The maintenance staff, such as it was, would answer more or less equally to them depending on what needed done, I said we'd work it out as we went. Both with equal title and pay.
After some hemming and hawing about how my center seemed to be charting its own course through company policy and procedure, they agreed to it.
At the dinner for Mr. Krendel's official retirement, I announced the promotions and tried to explain it.
"Don't worry Mister Michels. We'll make it work for ya'll." Jimbo said.
"Yes sir." Pauly added.
"Thank you."
Then I spent a weekend holding Alice and crying with her.
We had suspected she was pregnant, and were going to get a home test to confirm it. But before we could she had a bout of terrible cramps and started bleeding. So we spent a long afternoon and evening in the medical clinic.
She had been pregnant. She wasn't now. The doctor wasn't sure, but from his initial tests, she might not be able to have any more children.
The news devastated her.
My questions were about her and was she in any danger from this episode.
The doctor explained everything carefully including that while she would be fine this time, he wouldn't recommend we try again for some time, if ever. Then he gave me a handful of prescriptions.
I got them filled, then went back to the clinic and took her home and put her to bed and held her as close to me as I could.
There was a function the next day so Mrs. McGill just happened to be there. Of course word got to her and she was knocking on the apartment door before I had even remembered what day it was.
Alice found it a great relief to have somebody she knew go over everything with her with a compassion and understanding that the doctor just didn't have.
"Mister Chet, you go on and see to things. I'll stay with her for awhile." The nurse said.
I looked at Alice. She was still emotionally drained, but she nodded. Some inner voice told me that she needed some 'woman to woman' time. I picked my pager up off the night stand, "If you need..." I said, they both nodded.
After the emotional train wreck of the last day, it was a relief to sort through messages and deal with the day to day stuff of the center. But my heart wasn't in it, and by noon I was sitting on the bench by the Guardian statue staring out at the valley.
The rest of the day happened without me.
The function went off smoothly. The awards banquet was reported to be the best one the organization had ever had. Everybody loved the Bunker. And they booked next year's meeting before they left and requested information about having an officers training session up here in about three months. Of course I didn't know any of that until Monday morning when I wandered into the office and talked to Carol. That afternoon, I don't know where I was.
"She's asleep." I heard Mrs. McGill say to me.
I blinked and realized I had tears running down my cheeks.
"Now. How are you doing?" The nurse asked me.
"I'll be OK."
"Are you sure? She said you were more excited about it than she was."
I looked at her and started to say something, then I looked at the statue and followed the soldier's gaze out to the valley. All I could do was sigh.
"Things like this happen."
"I know. That's what the doctor said. But..."
"When it happens to you it's not 'one of those things'." Mrs. McGill's voice was soft and understanding. "Come on. Margaret made a special dinner for you and Alice. She's keeping it warm up in the main kitchen. I'll walk with you and help you bring it back down. Alice will be hungry later when she wakes up."
"Yes ma'am. Thank you." I got up and took a step. Then another.
Just as we got to the top of the path I looked back.
I could read the inscription below the statue as it gleamed in the setting sun.
'Good Men will fight for what they believe is Right even when Fate has decided against them.'
Maybe Fate had decided against us in one area. But we had been blessed in many areas and were unbelievably fortunate and blessed in others.
"OK." I said to Mrs. McGill. "I'll get her dinner, and pick her some flowers, and tell her I love her, and ... we'll be OK."
End Sand Mountain
[Note: All rights reserved, including the right to further publication. Distributed copies to proofreaders and editors remain property of the author. No infringement of copyright is intended. All persons and situations are fictitious. This story was written without any intent to disparage any City or Institution. "Beneath Bright Texas Stars" Words by Diane Pierce, ©1994, 2005 Diane Pierce. Used by permission of songwriter.
Note to Bryant, AL, Thank you.
Email- dr_leftover{~at~}themediadesk{~dot~}com Selah ]
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