Tuesday, July 11, 2017 – Rain & Indoor work, Scovil Bakery & Cultural Hall, “Sunset by the Mississippi” Cancelled

We had another rain storm that had us working indoor for the first couple of hours this morning. First we trimmed up the “Elephant Ear” plants and pulled the dreaded “Oxalis” weed from all of the pots. When you add sweeping and deep cleaning all of the greenhouses there is enough work to keep the whole grounds staff busy for days. Fortunately the rain only lasted about two hours so we didn’t finish all of the work there is to do in the greenhouse. There will always be lots of work to do indoors during the next storm.

Midway through our greenhouse cleaning Sis. Van Horn and Sis. Gibson came by and asked all of the ladies for help in the Visitor’s Center. On a regular basis all of the statues in the Visitor’s Center need to be cleaned and buffed so the more helping hands the better. Sis. Johnson reported that first they washed all of the statues with a damp cloth then they used a dry towel to buff the statues to bring back the beautiful luster and sheen they have. The ladies did a great job.

After it quit raining we were all back outside working on the grounds. We started by driving the roads picking up downed limbs again. As usual we had a trailer full of broken limbs and branches from the storm.

Our first cleaning stop was at the Scovil Bakery and Cultural Hall. These were two sites we didn’t get to last week so they were top on our list for this week.

 After lunch our final cleaning site was the Pageant office and flower beds. The building has planters and flowerbeds that border three sides of the building so there is a lot to weed and clean. As usual I am always on the lookout for rogue trees to pull out by the roots or cut down and poison. Either way they have to be dead-dead or they will just keep coming back where they are not supposed to be. I was really surprised that the flowerbeds around the Pageant Office were full of rogue trees. In fact I killed a total of 32 sapling trees in the flowerbeds there.

This evening it was the Emma Hale Cast’s turn to perform in the “Sunset by the Mississippi” show on the Outdoor stage. However When we arrive at the Sunset Outdoor Stage for our pre-show meeting we were told tonight’s show was cancelled. The National Weather Service had issued a “Heat Advisory” because the “Heat Index” this evening was up to 106 degrees. At show time it was going to be 105 degrees. They even stop the wagon rides and put the horses in the barns when the “Heat Index” gets over 104 degrees.

 This was the first time a show Sis. Johnson and I were scheduled to perform in had to be cancelled. Last night’s “Sunset” show was also cancelled because of a Tornado Warning and a very bad thunder storm that moved through Nauvoo right at show time. So we have had some bad luck to have two shows in a row cancelled. Unfortunately tomorrow’s “Heat Index” is forecast to be just as bad as today.