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Following in her footsteps
Meet Donna Chilton and her 15-year-old daughter, Alexandra, from Lamar, Mo.
Every year, during the first weekend in December, this mother-and-daughter team dress in vintage gowns, and drive to the Fort Scott National Historic Site in Fort Scott, Kan.
They volunteer as tour group followers with the park's Candlelight Tours. Volunteer Followers walk behind the tour groups and try to keep them together The tours include a dramatic play performed in six scenes. Everyone who helps with the tours, including the actors, wear costumes according to their assignment.
Donna said, "I don't know how many years we have helped with the tour. When Alexandra was little, we went as part of a tour group. As we walked from building to building, she looked at the pretty candles, while I watched the scenes of the play unfold. When Alexandra got big enough, we volunteered to work as tour group Followers.
"Tour group followers not only follow the tour, they remind guests to watch their step on the stairs, and answer last minute questions. Group leaders walk in front of the visitors and guide them from building to building, room to room. Before they enter a building, the leader explains the historical facts behind the scenes they will see, and asks them to remain silent until they have exited.
Alexandra explains her and her mother's outfits. "We wear dresses like those worn during the time period highlighted in that year's theme. As tour followers, we are out in the cold as much as we are inside. We don wool capes, pull scarves over our heads, put bonnets over the scarves, and wear wool gloves."
Tour leaders carry lanterns that contain lighted candles. The fort's electricity is shut off during the tours. The lanterns illuminate the edges of walkways and the rooms in the buildings. Today, we seldom see lanterns like those used during the tours. They are similar to modern day luminaries. Use of candlelight helps create the ambiance that sets the stage for the plays enacted during the tours. The dramas are set in the 1800s -- long before the invention of electric lights.
Donna continues to work as a tour Follower, but a year or so ago, Alexandra excepted a different position. She entertains the children under a giant Christmas tree in the Grand Ballroom. All tours end in the brightly decorated, candlelit ballroom that is on the second floor of the Infantry Barracks building. Alexandra plays games with the little ones and helps them make Christmas decorations while adults enjoy music and light refreshments.
Donna and Alexandra Chilton plan to continue serving as volunteers during this year's Candlelight Tour. Alan Chilton, Alexandra's father, is Fort Scott's Museum Technician. He often appears, fully costumed, as an actor in one of the tour's scenes. The 2008 theme focuses on the year 1858, the 150th anniversary of the most violent, turbulent year in the fort's history.
Anyone interested in volunteering for this and other Fort Scott National Historic Site events, Call Galen Ewing, (620) 223-0310.
Fort Scott National Historic Site annual Candlelight Tour 2008
Theme: 150th anniversary of the most violent, turbulent year in Fort Scott's history, 1858
Take the 2008 Candlelight Tour. Don't miss any of the six scenes in this year's drama. See them as you tour the fort. Listen for the stories of mystery and intrigue that traumatized Fort Scott in 1858.
Dates for the Candlelight Tours coincide with the city of Fort Scott's Christmas Lighting festivities.
Tour Dates: Friday and Saturday, Dec. 5 and 6
Time: Friday, 6:30 to 9 p.m.; Saturday, 5 to 9 p.m. with a break at 7:15 p.m.
A new tour starts every 15 minutes and all tours conclude in the Grand Ballroom.
Reserve your tickets now.
Tickets must be purchased in advance. They cost $7 per person, and are free for children under age 5. Be prepared to state the night and the time of the tour you prefer. To purchase a reservation or ask questions, call Fort Scott National Historic Site: (620) 223-0310.