When we visited Historic Nauvoo in Illinois last summer (here and here) we had no idea that this year Sara would be returning to work there. She is doing an internship working the landscaping and gardens for all of Historic Nauvoo. Isn’t that such a cool job? Since Sara’s major is Horticulture with an emphasis in Landscape and Design it is perfect for her.
The first week she texted this picture of the sod they were laying. She asked, “Are they trying to make me homesick?” Haha! All the scraps are in the shape of Nevada.
Two other interns are working with Sara as well as some church service missionaries and senior missionary couples.
There are 260 acres of grass that need to be mowed weekly. There are also various flower beds and gardens to take care of. They planted flowers at the Smith Family Cemetery, planted some trees at Carthage Jail, and this past week finished planting all the flower beds in the Monument to Women Memorial Garden at the Visitor’s Center.
The weekends are free for sight seeing. Sara visited the Tulip Festival in Pella, IL.
She also visited Fort Madison, Iowa.
One of the best things about being in Nauvoo though is the temple! Sara lives two minutes away and is able to go frequently.
Another special experience happened on Wednesday, May 9th. The grounds crew were invited to a missionary conference held in the auditorium at the Nauvoo Visitor’s Center. They were told the day before, on Tuesday, to expect some “highly recognizable people”. That evening the two other interns, Bailey and Larissa, were riding their bikes and passed President and Sister Nelson who were taking a walk. They were so excited for the conference knowing who the special speaker was. President Russell M. Nelson and his wife, Wendy, spoke. The other speakers were President M. Russell Ballard, Sheri Dew, and Pres. Nelson’s secretary Brother Staheli. Isn’t that amazing?!
We are so proud of her accomplishments! What a grand experience to work and live where her ancestors worked and lived.
If you happen to visit Nauvoo this summer and see some hard working interns taking care of the lawns, gardens, and flowers make sure to stop and tell them “Hi!”
I have been following your blog for several years. I actually live in Nauvoo and my husband was in charge of landscaping all of historic Nauvoo until he retired 2 years ago. Our children were born and raised here, and my daughter lives across the street from where the interns live. They (my daughter and the interns) have had several activities together as a group of young adults. Such a small world!
Do you own the fudge shop? My daughter was telling us about your family!
How very cool! They do beautiful work… though I do wish the historic areas were fully historic plantings, that’s even harder to maintain most of the time.
Those baby critters, though…. SO SWEET, even for varmints. 😀