Joe: Hello, Miss Penny. Miss Penny: Hi.
Joe: Welcome to Bonnet House. Very good to see you.
Miss Penny: You too. Joe: Are you ready for your tour of Bonnet House?
Miss Penny: I am. Joe: Let's let the tour begin.
Miss Penny: Yes. The Bonnet House was built in 1920 and home to artist Frederic Bartlett.
Now it's a museum that everyone can visit. Joe: Miss Penny, you have come to one of those
unique places in all of South Florida so I'd be glad to help you any way that I can.
Miss Penny: Great, because we want to find out about your job. We'd also like to take a
tour of this beautiful Bonnet House. Joe: My job primarily is to try to
get people to understand what we have here, which is to my mind
is the treasure of all of South Florida. Miss Penny: So I guess the first question
I'll ask you is what exactly is a tour? Joe: A tour is a trip back in time
to understand how this house came to exist. Miss Penny: And how would you
define your job as a tour guide? Joe: Try to help people understand
how this place came to be, what it is, and how lucky we are to have it. And to me, that's my job.
Miss Penny: Why are tours important? Joe: It's so much better when you can
understand what's here, why it's here, and so many different aspects of it. And then if you
don't take the tour you'd never know. Miss Penny: Right.
Joe: You wouldn't understand the essence of everything that this place represents.
Miss Penny: What makes a good tour guide? Joe: A good tour guide has to understand
what's here and really love what's here. And I think it's not counting things and
saying they're six of this and four of that, I think it's understanding the background,
the history, and how it all came to be. Miss Penny:
And what are the ages of tour guides here? Joe: Youngest one would probably be about 16,
and the oldest one 85 or so. Miss Penny: Do they have a specific training
so they make sure everyone is on the same page? Joe: Specific training is generally a three-day
training session that you go through so you'll get the exposure to the art, to the family,
to the grounds, everything about it. Miss Penny: And then does someone go
on the tour with you to make sure that you're on the right track?
Joe: Initially, yes. And it's funny because I haven't ... I started volunteering
I think 11 years ago, and the last time that I'd been here before that
was 65 years ago. And here I am 55 years later and started volunteering at a place where I'd had my
high school yearbook picture taken. Miss Penny: That's great.
Joe: Crazy coincidence. Miss Penny: Has it changed much since then?
Joe: Not really. Not really. And that to me is the beauty of it that the place is still here
and it's just such a unique, special, special place to be a museum. It's a museum but it's not
really a museum. In my mind, it's just someone's beautiful house that you'd love to live in and
run around in. And the funny thing is, everyone on the tour tends to have a different reaction.
Some of them are fascinated by the building, some of them are fascinated by the courtyard outside,
others are fascinated by the paintings. It just offers so much of a variety. I just ... You got
to find something you like in this house, and I think that's what the guide helps you distinguish
once they identify what your particular interest might be. Can I focus you to meet that interest?
And I think that's what distinguishes the guided tour from the self-guided tour.
Miss Penny: You can if you want to just walk through a building, but you get so much more
out of it, it's so much more meaningful, you remember it, you made a connection to it,
and you understand where you've been. Joe: Totally agree with you. Are you
ready for your tour now? Miss Penny: I am.
Joe: Okay, let's do it. Miss Penny: Okay.
And where are we at this moment? Joe: We are in the kitchen.
Got a beautiful old gas range, a refrigerator.
You'll see these stanchions with the ribbons on there because we need to protect everything that's
here because everything that's in here it's really special and a lot of it is very, very old and we
don't want people getting touchy shall we say? Miss Penny: Right. And I think everyone
understands when they see that to stay behind. Joe: To stay behind. And that's the fair
way to do it for everybody. Miss Penny: As we get started
on our tour, I'd like to find out about how people would identify a tour guide.
Joe: The easiest way to identify the tour guide is if they have blue shorts and a yellow shirt, which
are two of the three colors you'll see prominently around Bonnet House. The third color being red.
And, of course, everyone has their little name tag at the same time identifying the name and
that they're a volunteer here at the house. Miss Penny: I like that your colors are blue
and yellow. I appropriately wore the right colors today for the Bonnet House. And I also
see that you have a map. Do you give people maps? Joe: If you pick up a map when you come in the
door because you'll see one side of it, it shows house tour map, and it really gives you a nice
flow plan of stops that you want to go to one after the other to make sure you don't
miss anything along the way. And again, of course, on the other side, it shows
the ground tour map so you can find the building and the grounds,
the waterway in front of the house, how to get over that, how to visit the different areas.
There's just a lot of things to see here if you take your time and really appreciate what's here.
Miss Penny: And it's helpful to have a map to show you around like you said, then you don't
miss anything and you know where you are. Joe: Absolutely, because this is a confusing
place and people aren't sure where do I go next? And this ... These maps are so helpful. Are you
ready to go visit another room? Miss Penny: I am.
Joe: Please lead on. Miss Penny: Thank you.
I love as we walk around the house we see all these different and beautiful paintings.
Joe: But this one is my personal favorite because here's Frederic dancing with Evelyn,
wife number three. Have you ever heard the expression she dances like she has two left feet?
Miss Penny: Yes. Joe: Well, take a look at
Evelyn because she's got a left foot here and she's got a left foot there. He's painted her
with two left feet. And remember when we were back in the studio and you saw the drawings that he did
when he was 20 and 21 years old- Miss Penny: So beautiful.
Joe: And then you realize that over a period of time artists evolve, they keep trying different
things, different things and this is ... I think this is in its own way it's really, really cool.
Miss Penny: It's delightful. Joe: So enjoy.
Miss Penny: Yes. Joe: That's why you've got to wander
the property. You've got to really be looking all the time because every 10 or 20 feet you're
going to see something different. It's just crazy. Miss Penny: Oh, it's true. I see so many paintings
and objects of animals, and it's a treasure. Joe: And the flowers, and the bushes,
and the birdcage, and everything it just goes on and on and on. I think it's ... That's why
I think it's such a special place. Everywhere you look there's something different to look at.
African carvings to go with the ostrich. There's just so much variety in this place.
Everywhere you look there's something different isn't there? It's just that
to me is what's so special about this house. It just ... You've got to find something you like.
You really have to find something you like. Miss Penny: And such variety of different
things from paintings, to mosaics, to murals, to statues. And you're right about the colors. The
yellow just really brings out everything. Joe: Those are the three primary colors
and that's what you work with. You work with blue, you work with yellow,
and you work with red. And I think they did such a wonderful, wonderful tasteful job of doing it.
And welcome to the Orchid House Shell Museum. Miss Penny: Well, I love the idea that he has
some of his favorite things. He has shells collected from around the world. He has
beautiful orchids with a fountain so that you can smell, and see, and enjoy the beauty of nature.
Joe: Absolutely. Miss Penny:
Thank you so much, Joe, for being an excellent tour guide. I understand now that tour guides must
have passion because you have passed that passion on about the Bonnet House. It was a wonderful
tour. I really appreciated it. Joe: Enjoy.
Miss Penny: Thank you. Joe: And tell your
friends to come and enjoy it also. Miss Penny: I will and I'll be back.
Joe: Okay, thank you. Miss Penny: Thank you.
Hi boys and girls, it's Miss Penny. Put on your thinking caps, it's time to learn a new word.
Map. A map is a drawing that represents a specific
area by looking at its physical features from an overhead perspective. What was that word?
Speaker 3: Map. Miss Penny: Good job. Stanchion.
A stanchion is an upright bar with retractable ropes that are used to create barriers.
What was that word? Speaker 3: Stanchion.
Miss Penny: Good job. Tour. A tour is a brief trip through a place for the
purpose of seeing it and understanding the interesting things that are at the location.
What was that word? Speaker 3: Tour.
Miss Penny: Good job. Tour guide. A tour guide is a person who guides visitors around
a tourist attraction giving them interesting and entertaining information. What was that word?
Speaker 3: Tour guide. Miss Penny: Good job. See you next time.