That's it folks!

Now I know this blog is late this week, but I was so nervous last night that I couldn't even think about writing my blog. Also, I wanted to include todays events while they are fresh in my head. But before that, lets look back at this week at DeBary!

On Saturday we have two events, Master Gardener and Hunter Safety.  Only one person came for each event so it hasn't very busy in the morning. We had some tours during the day as well and those went very smoothly. All in all Saturday was a good day.

On Tuesday though I was starting to stress about my presentation and completely thought I was going to fail at it miserably and then fail my class. Luckily for me, everyone was telling me I would be fine and that I have nothing to stress about. I finished my power point and was writing out note cards to use just in case I forgot what to say. I also decided to bring along for my lecture was one of the Disaster Relief Kits to show what was inside. I didn't do any tour that day because Dorothy took mine since she saw how much I was stressing about. #Dorothyisthebest

Now comes the big day, the one that I have not been looking forward to since the beginning of my internship; Presentation Day. For me, I don't like to talk in front of people and I started to stutter and then I forget what I am about to say. This presentation I was very nervous about since I was not confident in myself in any way. But I knew I couldn't get out of it so I just had to suck it up and do it. I can now confirm, as I stand (actually sit) that I survived my presentation and I didn't not die like I thought I would. Did I sweat and probably have a red face and stutter? Oh you betcha  but I made it thought and came out as a winner. I talked about how I learned how to give tours and also a little history about the site and then I went into disaster relief at DeBary. Once I started to talk, I calmed down, but only a little bit. I think that it also helped that only 3 people were there; Kayce, Dr. Lindsay, and Amber. If it had been anymore I would have definitely been in worse shape.

I'm really happy that the presentation is over and that I survived. I really didn't know how much I had actually learned until the end of my presentation. I think that I have just enjoyed being on the site and learning that I didn't feel like tired or that it was a chore.

Until next time!

Turtle day

This week at DeBary has been super exciting. On Saturday Ponce Inlet had an event called Turtle day and it was to help bring awareness to turtle nesting season and also for people to look out for them on the beach. Kayce told me that we had a table at the event to bring awareness to DeBary Hall and hopefully get people interested in history. I will say this is one of my favorite things about working at a historic site. I love going to these events to get the people interested in history and preservation. we set up out table, which I don't have a picture of since I left my phone in the car, but it looked great. The only problem was is that Lyonia Conservation and the National Park Service were on either side of me so they got most of the attention from people. Oh and Lyonia brought some animals so I couldn't compete with that. Although I had fun at the event, it did bother me that we didn't have more people come up to our booth. We were like the awkward step-child and we didn't fit in because we were history while every one else was more environmental. But this also pushed me to think of better ways to get people interested in the booth for any other events. I was thinking about having coloring pages for the kids that were of some of the animals you can find on the grounds and also one of the house. While getting the attention of the kids might not make the parents want to come, it makes us known and thats what is important. To thank me for helping Kayce took me out for lunch at a laid back restaurant that looks over the river, which was beautiful until the sky opened up and it poured for the rest of our meal.

On Tuesday I focused more on my presentation. I'm still worried and I don't want people to think that I don't know what I'm doing. For me it is just a hard topic because I'm a history major and I don't know anything on Disaster Relief.  If it was just on the history of the house and about why it's important then that would have been perfect but its not and I'm getting very frustrated with it all to be honest. I know I will get everything done but I want to look like I know what I'm talking about and answer questions if I'm asked and be confident in it. Right now I can tell you, I'm not confident at all in this presentation at all. But the show must go on.

Until next time
( and hopefully more positive!)

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a...fighter plane?

So this week I decided to do more on discovering DeBary and and went on a little drive. Across from Gemini Springs is a part called DeBary Memorial Park. It's not hard to miss because there is a GIANT fighter plane that you can see from the road, so being the curious George that I am, I went to see why it was there. That's when I found out it was a Memorial Park. Is not big, but there are a lot of trees and some picnic tables that you can sit and eat at.  Later that day we had a wedding, so it was a quiet day for me to work on stuff around the site.

Some of the stuff at the park

On Tuesday I had a tour when I had a lady ask me why the house is called DeBary Hall and not DeBary Mansion. To be honest, I never thought about that and I didn't know the answer. So after the tour I went to Kayce and Amber and asked what the difference between a Hall and a Mansion was. They told me that a Mansion is a large, luxury home while a Hall is a main house on a large piece of land. Amber told me that we actually have a letter from a relative of the DeBarys that tells us the difference between the two and also goes on to correct some people who had some wrong information on the matter of the DeBary family. I don't have a picture right now, but I'll get one of the letter to show you what is says. This is also another great piece of information that I can use in my powerpoint presentation for my lemonade lecture. I'm still working on my presentation and I'm still a little nervous, but not as much. I still have more time to get prepared, but I should probably stop adding more information because if it's too much people will get bored and I might get flustered with so much.

Until next time!

Summer time

In the state of Florida there is only two seasons, spring and summer, and right now we are transitioning from spring to summer. This means that its getting hotter and just stepping outside causes a waterfall of sweat, but it also means that people are coming to the site on their free time. The summer time is a great time for historic sites because we have visitors come and we also have summer camp events for the students. At Debary they do events an games that were around from 1870-1940, the time that people lived in the house. We also do stuff for the Echo Rangers as well. To get read for the summer time, Amber is having me put together a board about Debary and the things that we do. Its going to be on display at an Earth day event on April 16. The board will have some history about the site, but will also have pictures and displays about what the events that we will be doing during the summer. I have to get together with Kayce and find out the events, but it shouldn't take to long to put together.

On Saturday I gave a tour to a mom and 5 kids. I've given a tour to a family before but not to this many kids. The oldest child was actually doing a project on the site so I tried to help him as much as I could. I told him the basic history of the house and let him take pictures of the outside of the house as well. He wanted to take pictures of the inside of the house but we don't allow that, and he was fine with that. He got all the information that he needed and the mom really liked the grounds and even asked about the stable to rent out possibly in the future.

I'm still working on my power point presentation on disaster relief at historic sites and to be honest, I'm feeling nervous. There isn't a lot on the subject of protecting historic sites. We do have a book at the visitor center from 2009 that Volusia County came out with that talks about how to handle disasters that I have been using as a guide to my power point, but I still feel like I don't know the topic enough. I still  have time to learn the topic more, but its getting to crunch time for my Lemonade Lecture and I also not a big fan of talking in front of people. Then I have to worry about people asking me questions that I might now know on the topic. I know this is probably nothing to worry about and I'll be fine in the end, but if there is one thing I'm good at, it is stressing out about something tiny.

Next week will be a little more exciting then this week, we have another wedding on Saturday, which are always exciting. Until next time!

Warm weather

 

This week at Debary was nice and sunny. The weather was warm which I was very happy about since I was tired of the cold weather. On Saturday we had a busy day. We had a wedding scheduled, a Lemonade Lecture, and Eco Rangers. When days get busy like this, we split up into groups so cover everything. I went with the Eco Rangers, which is a program for young kids to get them interested in history, preservation, and doing out door activities. For this event, we had a lady from the Florida Public Archaeology Network come and talk about clay, pottery and how we can learn about people and cultures by looking at pieces of broken pottery. She also brought clay with her so that the kids could make their own pots.

Making pots

Some of the tools the kids used



I think this is a great program. Now a days, most kids are interested in their phones or going on computer and they don't go outside much. Through the Echo Rangers, we get the kids interested in preservation and what's around them so they can be more aware. The lady from the Archaeology Network also brought history into the program by tell them about certain groups or tribes and how they would make pots and what they would use them for. I was a little nervous when I was first helping with the program because I don't have a lot of experience with teaching kids, but it went very well. The kids really enjoyed making pots and they also learned about what you can find out by looking at a piece of pottery. I also think its great that we have some of the programs at Debary because it brings in people and they might also want to learn about the site. Even if the event of program doesn't have to do with the site, it still brings attention to the site which is always a good thing.

 

On Tuesday it was a slow day, but still nice. I gave two tours which I can say is getting easier and easier to do lately. I have my own groove and know what to talk about when giving the tour. One of the tours I did had two kids who did not look like they were interested since they had been there before. I took this opportunity to get them involved by asking them questions on different things in the house such as what a bed warmer was, a chamber pot, and also the servants bell. This seemed to help them get through the tour a littler easier and the mom seemed happy that her kids where getting involved. This is important because you want you guest to not only feel like them learned something but also enjoy the tour.

 

Until next time!



Spring time, sunny shine

 

     This week at Debary was fun and full of events. On Saturday Matt and I went do Gemini Springs for the day to participate in the Gate Way Youth Festival of the Arts. It happens every year and a bunch of booths for educational sites, vendors and food come to Gemini Springs. They also have children come and perform for the crowd. We partnered up with Lyonia Conservation and Blue Springs. It was a beautiful day at the spring and a lot of people seemed interested in coming to the site. 

 



Our poster we had displayed at Gemini



View from our spot at Gemini Springs

     
     On Tuesday we had a very busy day ahead of us. Betty, Dorothy and I all had tours before 2PM. At 3pm we had a large group of about 70 people from an church group come and tour the house. This was a great experience for me since I was able to see how to handle large crowds. At first we were going to split the group up into 5 and do separate tour of the house but after much thinking we decided that would be a bad idea since the house would be too crowed. Amber came up with the idea to split up the tour to two, and then have the house open up for people to walk around and while also having us in the house walking around to assistant anyone who had questions. It ran smoothly and the group left with smiles on their faces.

Until next time!

Wedding bells

     This week at DeBary was very interesting. I only went on Saturday since I had a emergency to attend back at home. But even though it was only one day it was an exciting day. There was a wedding at the site and it was my first one that I got to experience and learn how to handle it. It was fairly easy since we don't do anything, we just rent out the space.

     DeBary had become very popular for weddings since the rustic barn look is very in. Just go on Pinterest and you'll see. Although they can not get married inside the house, many choose to get married on the front steps of the house. The bride on saturday decided to get married right outside the theater, since there is a covering just in case it rains. It was a very beautiful ceremony and the couple looked very happy, but I'm not gonna lie, I started to panic when the guest first came. many showed up early and were walking around and I was nervous that someone would try and get into the house or break something. Thankfully that didn't happen, but we kept our eye on the guest to make sure.

     Even though there is a wedding, we still have to operate as a public site and people can still come and tour the house if a wedding is going on. Since the wedding cannot be in the house, we can still do the tour and the wedding can still go on.

     This weekend we don't have a wedding but after we have a wedding every saturday for four weeks if I remember correctly. I'm still continuing on my presentation and powerpoint for my own Lemonade Lecture.

Until next time!

Lets Explore

     This week at DeBary was quite, which is never a bad thing of course. When things are going slow you get to catch up on things that you need to do, which is what I did. I worked on my power point some more for my final project. We only had one tour on Saturday since the weather was not pleasant at all. It was a big group, about 6 so I decided that I would take them to get more experience. They people were great but they did ask questions that I did not know the answer to, such as how many fireplaces are in the house (there is 15 by the way).

     On Saturday morning I got to Debary early again since I wanted to take a trip to Gemini Springs, which is just down the road from the site. It was very quite, not too many people there since it was 8:30 am so most of them were still asleep. The park has not only the springs but also a place that you can fish, trails for walking, and a dob park. I also think people go there to kayak but I can' be positive. Also if you are into camping, they have places that you can set up.

This talks about the Springs a little more 

     The park has two springs and is situated between the town of DeBary and the old town of Enterprise, which was a bustling town back in the day. The 210 acre property was purchased with the combined effort by the County of Volusia, the Trust for Public Lands, the St. Johns River Water Management District, and the Florida Communities Trust in 1994.  There was also some early farming in Gemini Springs in the 1800's that included citrus growing and timber. On the property there is still an old farm house that was believed to be built by John H. Padgett.

      There is no swimming allowed in the springs anymore but that okay, it's still a nice place to just sit and relax and enjoy Florida's beautiful scenery.

Here is the County website to learn more
http://www.volusia.org/services/community-services/parks-recreation-and-culture/parks-and-trails/park-facilities-and-locations/ecological-nature-parks/gemini-springs-park.stml

& the award for Best Tour goes to...

ME!!!!!

     Well probably not, but I am proud to say that I, Robin Dunn, gave my first tour of the house and I didn't completely blank out during. It was even the first tour of the day! I'm still proud of myself because I was so nervous. Luckily the couple that I gave the tour to were so nice and were also very interested in the history of the house. All in all, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

     The rest of the week was very busy. On Saturday we had three events, Hunting safety, a Master Gardener lecture and also a lemonade lecture. Since DeBary mansion use to be a hunter retreat and Mr. Fredrick DeBary was an avid hunter himself, it makes sense to have that at the site. The Master Gardener is a great lecture that talks about how to take care of your plants and he comes about four times a month. But the most anticipated lecture was for the Marcia Meara, author of "Swamp Ghost."

This is her first book that she wrote and it's on the St. Johns river. Since Debary is right next to the River, it was a perfect choice. She also has another book called "Wake- Robin Ridge."  I personally haven't read either of the books, but they are on my list of books to read. She had a great crowd show up and everyone really seemed to enjoy the lecture. Since she did have such a great turn out, we are hoping to have her back again soon when her new book " A Boy Named Rabbit" comes out.

On Tuesday it was good as well. I gave my first tour (go me!) and worked on my powerpoint presentation for my own lemonade lecture. I need to do some research on Historical sites during emergencies. I have an outline about what I want to talk about all ready, now it's just actually putting in words. Hopefully my lecture works out just like my tour and goes smoothly.

Until next time!

Rain rain go away

     On Saturday for some reason I decided to get to Debary early. What the reason behind this decision I can't tell you since I don't even know. So I got to Deabry early and decided to drive around, since I don't know much about the town. Plus this blog is called Discovery Debary, so why not. Unfortunately, I did not think to have my GPS on and got lost. I ended up on a very nice road though that the trees were over grown and had moss hanging from them. During this adventure (I guess you can call it that) my stomach awoke and demanded food. Luckily for me I remember hearing that there was a bagel place in Debary. I love bagels so this was a big plus for me.

     By the time I was done with my breakfast, it was time to go to my internship. Since it's a Saturday we usually are pretty busy. Not this Saturday though. The weather was awful and it started to rain around 1:30 pm. We only had one tour but they didn't come in till 3. Even though the weather was bad, I was able to finish up the rest of the Emergency Recovery boxes for the rest of the building on the site. Now we just need to get rid of the expired stuff and replace it. I also need to read up on how to handle emergency situations at historic sites as well so I can make my power point.

Until next time!

A storm is brewing

     It was another fun week at DeBary. On Saturday we had another Lemonade Lecture that was about how to survive in the wildness of Florida. Now, I like to walk on trails but if it's more than 4 miles, then it's not going to happen. But the lecture was very informative when it came to what you should look out for, trail markers, and even how to dress and what to put in your backpack if you are planning a long walk or hike. Around lunch time Kayce's husband and kids came to have lunch and Kayce asked if I would like to try and give my first tour. I was nervous about it but I said sure. I will say I didn't talk as much as I wanted to since I felt like I had to cater to the kids and I kew they wouldn't be interested in everything I would say. Her husband was interested though and I talked to him about the house and I even answered some questions he had. Although it wasn't exactly a full tour, it gave me a feel of it. I'm pretty sure I'm just going to have to suck up the courage and just do a tour one day, no matter how nervous or unprepared I am.

     On Tuesday Amber decided to give me another job to do and what I will be giving a powerpoint on at the end of my internship. I was to go through the emergence boxes that we have for every building on the property and categorize what's inside and what we need. Now I know I always make a comment about the weather, but living in Florida you have to take great care with it since it's always changing. Since we have hurricane season, we have to be prepared just incase the House gets hit and there are damages to it. While I'm making sure the emergences kits have all the necessary items, I will also be getting some information together to explain how to keep a historic site ready for any weather and what to do.

One of the Emergence Kits to organize

     It's going to be interesting to say the least since I know nothing on the topic, but that also means that I'm going in with a clean slate and it might be easier to learn the information. I will say I never thought about this aspect of preservation before so it's going to be a great thing to learn. We'll see how it goes.

Until next time!

An Old Discovery

     Saturday started off pretty slow. The weather has been absolutely amazing at DeBary so it's hard to stay inside and do research when it's so nice out.  Since the site is very popular with brides, we sometimes have meetings with them to discuss renting out the barn. We had three brides come in on Saturday to deal with some things for their wedding. Most of the brides have the weddings on Saturday so I will probably see one sometime during this semester.

     Around 3:30 Kayce took Dawn and I on a little field trip to the old pool. I was excited to see this since many of the other items or building from the house are not around anymore. Kayce warned me that it wasn't in the best shape and she was right. 

  The pool was first built Fredrick's time at the house.  The pool was actually spring fed with wood sides and the bottom was made from sand. The sand actually ended up filtering the water. It's not know if Fredrick did that on purpose, but this wasn't the first time that Fredrick did something that was ahead of his time.

Later on the wood sides where taken off and cement was put in. There was also a pump that got added to control house much water was in the pool at one time. There was one pool house when Fredrick was at the house, but a second one was added later one.  Seeing the pool really sparked a nerve with me. Something so old should be taken better care of. But the sources for it aren't around and it upsets me to see something just fall to disrepair.

On Tuesday was a little slow. We didn't get a tour till almost 2 in the afternoon. I worked on my tour and Amber actually suggested that I put it into powerpoint to help myself and then print it out onto notecards. It better actually because my notes have so many lines through them and I started to have a hard time knowing what to use during the tour. Around 3:30 we had one tour come in. Though it was later and Kayce told them they would get a shortened tour, they wanted to take it. Kayce asked if I wanted to come and possible do part of it, just to see how it is. I not gonna lie, I panicked, I didn't think I was ready yet! But she said that I knew more than I believed. I didn't do the whole tour but I talk about the Florida freeze during the 1894 and also about some of the rooms upstairs. It was great way to start off, but I don't think I'm ready to do a whole tour by myself yet.

I need to work out...

Tuesday at DeBary was a nice, beautiful day. The weather was a little cold, but no rain so that is always a plus. First thing of the day was to get the house nice and warm for the visitors. After that I decided to go with Betty on her tour of the house to see how she does the tour. The tours usually last from 45 to an hour long, depending on who is giving the tour. Betty's tour was very informative while also not being tiring.

After the tour I went back to my research. I took notes during Betty's tour on what room is what and also certain things that everyone talks about and is important to the tour. I had started on a basic outline when Kayce and Dorothy asked if I wanted to move some furniture in the house. Of course I said yes. We moved some chairs around the bottom floor and trying to make it look natural. It was this that I learned that I should probably tart working out since I was winded after moving them. I wish I could take pictures of the inside to show the chairs we moved but sadly I can't.

Tomorrow I will continue working on my tour and hopefully I will be able to go see the old pool (crossing my fingers!)

Who is who

     On Saturday I was getting ready to go to DeBary with a hanging head; it was cold and raining and I don't like either of those. Luckily for me though by the time I got to the house, the rain had cleared up, but it was still cold. I can handle the cold.

     I was starting on my final project of being able to do a tour of the house by myself. This meant doing research on the house and also the members of the DeBary family. The only problem was I had no clue where to start. I felt that there was so much information and I was lost at what to do or how to come by it. Should I just write a page full of notes or maybe bullet points would be better? 

At time of confusion, caffeine always helps.

     With the help of some food and caffeine I was able to decide what to do. I would do note cards for each room with information that I would want to say on it. Now it was time to go through all the information I had. But as I started to read the notes I had, I was getting confused yet again. My trouble? I didn't know who was who. Luckily Kaycee had a family tree with pictures on it to help me.

Although the DeBary family is bigger than this, these are the members we discuss during the tour the most.  The pictures really helped me, since I'm more of a visual learner, plus we have some of these pictures hanging up in the house so I'll be able to make a connection better. 

Tomorrow I will be continuing my research and hopefully have most of my note cards done. Until next time!

Welcome to DeBary!

     Oh, hello there, it seems that you have stumbled across my blog. Since you are here I will tell you about what this blog will be about. I am interning with DeBary Hall Historic Site this semester and will learn not only the history of the site but also how to give tours of the house on my own. On this blog I will be talking about how my final project is going and also talk about the history of the house.

Entrance to DeBary Hall.

     On the first day of the internship, I went on a tour with Dawn, one of the tour guides, and listened to how he presents his tours. Every tour guide does tours differently and it's good to see  the differences between them. This will help me figure out how I will end up doing my own tours of the house. Later on I helped set up a lemonade lecture that they hold twice a month. These lectures touch on many different topics and plus, you get free cookies so it's a win-win deal really. 

     Although it's only my first week, I can feel like this is going to be a great semester!