Kate Havelin, author Best Hikes Twin Cities, Minnesota Running Trails, Dressing a Nation

Kate's latest book: Hoop Skirts, Union Blues, and Confederate Grays: Civil War Fashions from 1861-1865

www.katehavelin.com

The Best Summer Job

Babysitter, busboy, pantry girl, smorgasbord girl, waitress, housecleaner, mail sorter, midnight shift attendant in a boiler room. Most of my summer jobs have been more mundane than glamorous, that is, until this year. At age 50, I scored the best summer job ever.

For sixty days, as an emergency hire to help cover a staffing shortage, I had the chance to be a National Park Ranger, and proudly wear the green and gray uniform, topped with the iconic wide-brimmed hat. Yellowstone and the Washington Monument may be the most famous spots people envision when they consider National Parks, but the Parks Service has more than 350 parks, historic places, seashores and monuments. The Mississippi River has been part of the NPS, as a National River and Recreation Area since 1988. I worked mostly in the park’s Visitor Center at the Science Museum, an easy bus ride from my St. Paul home.

I spent my days talking to dozens and sometimes hundreds of visitors about the river. Many local people have no idea that the river here is a national park. Visitors from around the county and other parts of the world are curious to learn more about America’s most historic river. I walked people along the visitor center’s floor panorama, which shows the park’s 72 miles of river and much of the surrounding metro area. The knees of my green uniform trousers began to fray from kneeling on the floor graphic with visitors, helping them spot their homes in the big satellite photo.

That floor graphic was one of the best parts of my job. The Google-eye view of the Twin Cities makes it easy for people to see how the river runs through our community. I loved touring the floor, from the park’s northern border in Dayton and Ramsey, where the river is a meandering prairie river, past the Coon Rapids Dam, where visitors can stand in one spot and be in three parks at one time. Many of the river’s greatest stories center involve Saint Anthony Falls, the only waterfalls along the Mississippi’s 2,350 miles. Minneapolis and St. Paul also have the Mississippi River’s only gorge, steep cliffs along either side of the river. The satellite floor graphic lets visitors contrast the murky Minnesota River which joins the Mississippi at Fort Snelling. The satellite picture shows the Science Museum, which is inside the National Park boundaries, as are countless homes, businesses, and parts of many city and county parks, one state park and a national wildlife refuge.

I started volunteering with the Park Service so I could learn more about the Mississippi River. My goal is to write a book about Minnesota’s Mississippi River walking trails. Getting the chance to be a National Park ranger helped me learn even more, and share some of what I’ve learned. Now that I’ve completed my best summer job, I’m back to volunteering at the park, still learning, sharing, and having fun. Stop by the Visitor Center inside the Science Museum in downtown St. Paul, or take a walk, canoe, or kayak along the river. It’s our urban National Park.