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amblin’
through albany
By Larry Bell
Printed in The Albany News (November 8, 2002)
My Quilter-in Residence and I recently had a fun
trip with a bunch of wild and crazy guys. No, it wasn’t the Lions or Kiwanis
or the bank’s coffee group. They were the docents of the Old Jail Art
Center, and the trip was to San Antonio by chartered bus. More about this
trip down the page a bit, but first things first.
What the heck is a “docent?” The word docent comes
from the Latin verb “to teach.” In actual practice, a docent at any museum
is a combination greeter/host, teacher and auxiliary security guard.
Amazingly, the OJAC now has over 80 of them and they are a lively bunch
ranging in age from the low 30’s to the high 80’s.
A docent at the OJAC agrees to serve a few hours on
a weekend at least once per quarter and some voluntarily serve more often.
Additionally, they attend monthly meetings which combine some pleasant
socializing with what school teachers call “In-service training” of
“professional development.” These are interesting programs on art-related
topics. Docents are also often called upon to assist at special OJAC events
such as exhibit openings, the recent auction, or the Children’s Art
Festival. And they must occasionally provide food of some sort for a
meeting. Plus, they serve on committees for various purposes – including
special trips.
So, what does a docent get paid? Would you believe
they pay for the privilege? First, of course, you must be a member of the
OJAC, but that’s a very modest annual fee. Then to be a docent, there is an
additional annual fee and some required orientation and study. (But there is
no exam!) So a docent contributes money, time, energy, ideas and food.
Now you might be inclined to think that there’s
some Tom Sawyer type flimflam going on here. “What will you give me if I let
you whitewash this fence?” But not at all. There are all sorts of rewards
and advantages to being a docent at the OJAC. You get to meet and make
friends with some folks you might not have otherwise. You learn a lot more
about art than you had previously known. You get to eat a lot of wonderful
homemade food. And you get to schmooze with some very intelligent, vivacious
and attractive people. And from time to time there are special trips to
interesting and fun places.
Recent evidence suggests that more people are
seeing the advantages. The chairperson of the OJAC’s recruitment committee
is Ann Jones, and this dynamic little lady just reeled in ten or so new
docents. ATTENTION, MALES! Being a female is NOT a requirement. There are
several of us docents of the male persuasion and we would welcome others. To
revive a 70’s expression, “It’s a real trip.”
Now speaking of trips: On Tuesday, November 12, 35
docents aboard a chartered bus departed the OJAC at “7:00 a.m.” Albany
standard time (which is 7:20 a.m. regular time) bound for San Antonio. We
were not even out of sight of the courthouse before food began to flow up
and down the aisle. First there were wonderful sausage and egg biscuits from
Prairie Star, followed by sweet rolls, orange juice, fudge and pralines.
And, lest anyone be worried about their next meal, the menus for both lunch
and dinner were immediately passed out. There is apparently an underlying
assumption that a fatter docent is a better docent. We all got better on
this trip.
Before long we were in the mood for a song. Without
excessive prodding, the inimitable Harold Law came forward and led the group
in two most appropriate songs; “San Antonio Rose” and “Crazy.” Both songs
were quite timely and relevant to this group.
Then Bob Green came up and gave a brief talk on the
early settlement of Anglo Texas. This provided us with the historical
context that led to the battle of the Alamo. Professor Green did his usual
excellent job. In fact, it was so good that the group spontaneously took up
a “love offering” of one dollar each and gave it to him. Now someone else
may tell you that he actually won a little lottery. That, however, would
have been illegal; so this is my story and I’m stayin’ with it.
Bob was no sooner through than R.P. Mitchell got up
and told a few jokes and some great stories of Albany people. He had a very
receptive audience. Now that he is leaving the county commissioners court,
he may want to consider going into stand-up comedy.
Throughout all of this activity, the other
travelers were full of wisecracks, witticisms, heckling and lots of
laughter. This caused me to realize another fundamental principal: the
zaniness and unpredictability of this group is directly proportional to
their linear distance to Albany. If you think docents are a dull bunch,
think again.
In San Antonio, the group stayed at the Drury Inn
right on the Riverwalk and we all had a fine meal together at the Texas Land
& Cattle Company restaurant. The steaks were great; and if there was a
vegetarian among us, he or she kept mighty quiet.
The main business of the trip involved wonderful
visits to the McNay and Witte art museums where, in both cases, the staffs
laid out the “red carpet.” There were also visits to the Alamo, the Market,
the Riverwalk and other sites. Our shoppers, of course swarmed the shops and
helped the local economy.
This trip was yet another triumph for the docents’
travel committee, which is very ably chaired by Josie Robertson and Virginia
Lowe. It was back to the OJAC on Thursday evening, November 14; and they had
a great trip to add to their list of things to be thankful for.
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