August got off to a great start when I attended the State Arrival Ceremony for the President of Singapore to the White House. This is now the 4th State Arrival Ceremony I've been to and they never cease to be an amazing experience.The beginning of the month meant the end of the season for the park's youth staff, which was marked by a youth summit, a gathering I helped to put on. This year's youth staff shirt sported a design created by yours truly :)
Also near the beginning of the month my friend Joseph stopped by while on a road trip. Always great to see friends and spend some time together, even if just a few hours.
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| Myself with my Park's leadership |
Believe it or not, I went to two baseball games this month, one as a SCA networking event and one to celebrate the 100th birthday of the National Park Service. More on the birthday celebrations in a moment...The Student Conservation Association (SCA) hosted a summit here in DC to bring the new generation of the workforce together with senior leadership of the NPS and give feedback on how things could be better. While the opportunity to give feedback on a topic I care about was great, seeing my friends was even better! SCA paid for some former CVAs to attend, meaning lots of my friends were in town! I had a great time showing them around and hanging out :)
And then it was birthday time! On August 25th the National Park Service turned 100 years old! This is the whole reason my position was created over a year ago. There were many celebrations associated with the centennial, including a music festival in Harpers Ferry, tons of social media attention, a Nats baseball game, and a world record broken for the largest NPS arrowhead! I got the opportunity to be a part of largest arrowhead event on the Washington Monument grounds, where we each held colored umbrellas and stood in position. Read more by reading a blog I wrote specifically about the event!
And after a week of birthday celebrations, including some for my birthday, the month of August came to a close. I finished out the month by having the Pechmans visit me here in DC. Again, always great to show folks around and see familiar faces.At work, while most of the focus this month was on the centennial, I have also been actively working away on the Ornaments Project. You may remember this from last year, but to refresh, I lead the effort to find artists/groups to create the ornaments for the National Christmas Tree Display. This involves reaching out and creating partnerships in every state and territory with the state's art agency, having them go through a selection process, and then working with the selected artist/group to create 12 ornaments to then have shipped here to DC for the Display. There are a lot of moving parts to the project and lots of deadlines, but the excitement of seeing the Display look great for the President to light during the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in December is great motivation. It would be remiss of me to fail to mention that I have 7 volunteers helping me with this project this year. They are fantastic individuals who deserve the credit for making the project happen!
Lastly, I want to wish my sister Angela good luck as she begins her freshman year of college at UW-LaCrosse. I also want to insert a special note for my sister Kayla, who began the journey to become a Catholic nun this month. She has joined the Franciscan Sisters, TOR in Toronto, Ohio. With these changes, Mom and Dad are empty nesters and the family now lives in five different states (ND, MN, WI, OH, and MD). It feels weird to have us all be so far a part, but I know we will stay as close as ever :)Alright, that brings us to September. This month holds the potential of lots of great adventures! Look forward to a travel blog...
Side note - My friends and I were unexpectedly and unknowingly placed on the backside of the new nation-wide NPS map!
