Every business site says that a business should have a blog, so here I am! The last few weeks have been a whirlwind for me, trying to get the third part of my Historical Tours started. I started working on the Riverside Cemetery "Ghost" Tour in November of last year and having worked it all out with the insurance requirements, I finally caved into to the city's demand to charge me a percentage of my gross profits and I signed the contract.
The weather has not been very cooperative. There have been several times that the winds were so high that it would have been dangerous for us to be out in it. So since the start of the cemetery tours, I have only been able to do 3, with another one tonight.
The very first cemetery tour was a really large group with a lot of prominent people ranging from city organizations to law enforcement. They were really hard to read, but I believe that they had a good time.
The second group was a small group. Barry Levy, the City of Wichita Falls Public Information Officer wanted to film the tour so that we can eventually do a whole show about the tours for the public information channel. He brought along six kids ranging in ages from 9-12. I was really worried about having six kids on the tour, thinking that they would really be disruptive. Well, I will have to tell you that they were the best group of kids I have ever met in my life. After I would tell a story while at a headstone, they would ask questions and really challenge me. They really wanted to learn! I was so impressed with them
My group last week wanted to do more "Ghost Hunting" and they came prepared with their equipment. They too were very inquistive and asked a lot of questions along the way. They found an app on their iPhones where you could download an EMF meter and it kept going off at some of the stones.
Tonight, we have a group of Hirschi High School Alumni. A group of about 15 men and woman. This tour ought to be fun because they all know each other and might be more apt to interact then a group of total strangers. Some are coming from Amarillo and the DFW area to attend the tour tonight.
My reason for starting this blog today was because I have one person who is completely upset with me because I have started giving tours in the cemetery at night. I tried to explain to her that it is done all over the country with the more famous one in New Orleans. Not to mention Austin, Galveston, Ft. Worth, San Antonio and all over Georgia and Alabama. But, she is still upset saying that "it is a sacred place and should be treated that way." What she doesn't realize is that every time I tell a story at a gravesite, that the whole group is paying their respects to that person. We thank them for what they did for our town, or we say how sorry we are that they died.
I just don't handle negativity very well and writing is my way of release. I don't want to upset anyone by giving these tours. I wanted to start a business to earn an income to pay the bills just like every other person on this earth. I wanted to do something that I enjoyed doing. I LOVE Wichita Falls history and started my Darkside Downtown Historical Tour last year. This year, I have added a daytime tour and the cemetery tour. The downtown tours don't allow me to talk about the same people that I talk about at the cemetery. I truly love my new job and I hope that it doesn't offend anyone by what I am doing. If I can teach just ONE person something new about Wichita Falls, that they can in turn teach to someone else, than I feel like I have done my job!
Be sure to visit our website at Historical Tours of Wichita Falls, TX
Watch this blog for more topics of interest to come!
