Tourism Proclamation

Photo of me receiving the proclamation from the Governor

The alarm goes off at 5:30 because it takes John a looong time to get ready - unkink muscles that kink up even during a "short" night. We actually left the house on time! I wanted to be at the Capitol by 10 because John is not Speedy Gonzalez and for once did not want to be the usual "late" Kathleen.By 10:15 we are in the Governor's Press Room. Once we establish who we are and why we are here - "can we get you anything? The Governor is running late so it may not be until after 11." I put 3 hours on the meter so no problem. About 11:30 we are about to start and suddenly WAH- Wah-WAH, dang! The Fire Alarm is going off. We kind of just stood there waiting for it to shut off (we are on the ground floor and there is a bank of windows if it actually is real). It keeps going. Then the Governor and the 2 troopers come out and say we are going outside. We will do it there. Great! Here is DH with 2 crutches and we have stairs. We manage to get outside - the risers of the stair are not high so he was able to use the mesh of the heat duct with one crutch to get out - no railing.The State Trails Coordinator came over for the ceremony from his office. He was trying so hard to help John (he was worried John was going to fall), but I have learned it is best to just leave him to it. Bill took my camera and took some photos for me. Unfortunately, he was at the side most of the time. Tourism is going to send me some - will post a better photo when I get one.Anyway, here we are all outside the Capitol and just then the WAH-WAH stops. That is OK. We will do it right here. (So much for ceremony.) So the Governor talked about the impact of Tourism in the State and in the Country, read the Proclamation and presented it to me, I said thank you on behalf of the entire Tourism Industry, the Tourism Commissioner told the Governor and everyone a lot of the stuff I am involved in, and the Secretary of Commerce said a few words to close. Photo op. Shake hands and he is off to the next appointment.Here is the best of the photos I have

Gillum Housekpanek