The day starts off which a church service in the Deutche Kirche on the premises. One of the local pastors will step in and conduct services for the day. The place is very small, but it was fun for us to read the history surrounding the church.
Then, you head over to the barn where all of the cars and tractors have been moved outside, tables and chairs are set up, and you can take a look around at the items for auction - whether the silent auction or the live auction items.
The event was started with a prayer. I have to admit, I'm still surprised when it's announced that so and so will say a prayer. I had that on my first Staff day at school, and it caught me off guard here as well. I find it awesome and cool to be back in America, but it's still going to take some time to get used to it all.
We lined up for our food and found a non-reserved table to sit at.
Mandy and Jordan had the hot dog meal while Ken, Taylor and I enjoyed the steak dinners. I have to admit, it was weird being there and not knowing anyone. I'm used to walking around a room and knowing everyone and talking, but we were the newbies, so I sat and soaked everything in.
Ken and I made the rounds for the silent auction items. Sadly, we did not win anything, but we just couldn't get ourselves to spend $40 for $25 items, etc. We knew it was going to help the Museum, but our fiscal responsibility won out.
We enjoyed watching everyone chatting and enjoying themselves. I have to say, the next time I see a stand for fresh, sweet corn, I'm stopping and buying it. This was the most incredible corn on the cob I have ever eaten!!! However, my children are definitely So Cal natives and they wanted to know if there was mayonnaise and Tajin to put on the corn. HAHAHA!!!
The girls started hanging out with the kids they knew and running around outside. There were kids' games going on and Jordan was having a blast.
Before the live auction started, the auctioneer sang the National Anthem. What was cool is everyone stayed respectful during the entire thing and saved their cheering for the end of the song rather than interrupting the singer. The US Flag was on one side of the stage and the Montana flag was on the other. Holy wow!!!
There were only a couple of items that Ken and I were interested in: The Romantic getaway night and the Pendleton blanket. Once the getaway hit $300, we were done. For that amount of money, we could pull off the trip on our own! The blanket became mine, however. It's the first time I have ever participated in a live auction, and it was fun. I do not know how the auctioneer can talk like that, but it was fun to watch everyone participate and have a great time. I have no idea if I got a good deal on the blanket or not, but at $150, it seems pretty good to me.
After winning the item I wanted, we went outside to take a look around and to check up on the girls. Jordan was having a blast playing the games: tractor races, sack races, egg race, cow milking competition, etc. She gave it all she had in everything and took it well when she didn't win.
We were able to chat with a few people. As it turns out, one lady who had invited us to her church is on the School Board, so I was certain to be nice to her when she was chatting with us. Unfortunately, I was having a difficult time with the heat. It got upwards of 90*, and I was finding it difficult to concentrate and enjoy myself.
Ken had been to the museum before, and he wanted to show me everything. There are a ton of outbuildings to look at:
The post office
Trading Post
Railroad Station
Schoolhouse
Doctor and Dentist Office
And those are just a few.
Of course, the schoolhouse had my total attention. I loved that they had set it up just as it was in the day.
There was so much more to see, but I was losing steam fast. I even caused Ken to miss the tractor parade - well, most of it - at the end of the day. The teacher's contract was from 1927 and for $1,000 per year plus room and board. I didn't read all of the stipulations to see if it had any of the "funky" requirements, but I'm definitely going to go back with Ken and check everything out more fully.
What a difference one month makes!! We are surrounded by greenery and learning to plant flowers and lawn care, and we are entrenched in local history. There is so much more that we have to learn about Custer and the Battle at Little Bighorn - which is only 20 miles away, but most everyone here has grown up with the history. I'm nervous about the Winter, but I think that all of this summer will remind me to enjoy everything there is about Montana.
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