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Don Williams writes:
Don Williams adds:
Never in my wildest dreams did I think when I started working
34 years ago as a furniture store janitor and "touch-up man in
training" hoping to some day become a refinisher that it would
lead to a day like today, during which The Hon. Dennis Hastert,
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, greeted
me warmly and offered effusive praise and thanks for conserving
The Mace of the United States. But that's exactly what
happened this morning, as Conservation Fellow Corey Smith
and I were the guests of The Speaker and Sergeant at Arms for
the convening of the House. (The Groopsters who came to visit
me in DC this past summer had the opportunity to meet Corey,
who thinks what we do is really neat).
Our day began with a drive downtown this morning, a reserved
parking space inside the Capitol grounds awaiting me! With
great satisfaction I pulled my shabby little truck past the Cadillac
stretch limos to my space, then we walked in the back door to
the office of the Sergeant at Arms, the place where we got in to
see The Mace last summer.
After a little chit-chat, the Deputy Sergeant at Arms removed the
newly conserved Mace from its case, and we accompanied him
up to the House chamber. Since we were early, he gave us a
really terrific tour of the backstage areas, and then we were
escorted up to The Speaker's box in the gallery. There is no
way to really express my pride and the tingle that ran through my
entire being as the presiding official instructed everyone in the
chamber to stand, and then watch The Mace take its place aside
the dais. Especially outstanding was that I could actually see the
whole show!
Mr. Hastert then pounded the gavel calling the chamber to
order, and the ceremony was over. Security men hustled us
down to meet The Speaker in the hall behind the chamber, and
there he was heading toward us with a big smile on his face and
his huge hand outstretched in greeting, swallowing up my own.
He is a gentle giant of a man (he makes about two of me, and
I'm 6', 225 lbs.) who was extremely gracious and generous with
us, all the more impressive when you consider what his last week
has been like. We spoke for a couple of minutes (both Corey
and I were astounded that he knew who we were, what we had
done, and why we were there!) while he lavished praise on us
for the work on the magnificent object. And then in a moment,
he was gone and we were on the move again. Unfortunately, it
all occured in a photography-free zone.
We went back to the SaA office for one last interview with C-
SPAN, said our good-byes, and drove back to the lab. Not a
bad day's work, if you ask me (I spent the afternoon prepping
for tomorrow's filming for the pilot episode for a potential
series). Corey was joking about her first big project after
graduating, and she gets to meet The Speaker and get on C-
SPAN! I tried to tell her it was SOP, but I'm not sure she
believed me.
To top off everything, I got this hilarious Letterman-like note
from my daughter, who had sent it to all her friends.
***************************************
My dad is going to be the star of a documentary about the Mace
of the United States, which he is preserving as part of his job
with the Smithsonian. This documentary will be part of a longer
documentary on the Capitol.
Reasons to watch this:
1) You think the mace is pretty cool.
2) You have no idea what the mace is or why you should think
it's cool.
3) You think history, government, science or art is cool.
4) You think the Smithsonian Institution is cool.
5) You think my dad's cool.
6) You think Caitlin and Alyssa are cool, and you want to see
where their coolness factor comes from.
7) If you're Caitlin's facebook friend, you still want to be her
facebook friend after Thanksgiving break (She probably won't
eliminate friends in real life, but makes no promises...;-D).
8) You will be tired of shopping, and your hometown library is
closed on Friday nights, so you just don't know what else to do.
9) You don't get C-SPAN, and need an excuse to hang out with
someone who does.
10) You'll be missing Caitlin so much by the end of Thanksgiving
break that it will make you feel better just to know that you're
doing the exact same thing that she is.
Hopefully one of those reasons applies to you, and hopefully
you'll watch it!
***************************************
I found out today that the actual broadcast schedule is for the
documentary to be Thurs-Sat of Thanksgiving week, but my
segment is still definitely Friday evening.
My friends, life is very good sometimes.
DonLibro
