NPS at its finest...

...The newspapers, the radio and the local coomunity tv station advertised this past Monday (President's Day) as community day at the GNMP Visitor Center, promising free admission to all Adams County residents until 6pm. Lori and I went around 5pm, after our ill-fated trip to the Wills House (described previously). We got into the building and went to the information desk, where we were rudely told by an EN employee that "The place is closed. It closed at 5pm."


Lori asked about the 6pm that was mentioned in all the advertising, and the woman said, "Oh, yes. That's a mistake. We don't know how that happened. You'll have to talk to the park service."

"We will!" Lori told her. We will talk to Dr. Latschar.

"Oh, yeah, sure. You do that!" the employee said smugly.

Guess what? We will! Lori and I both have come to know Dr. Latschar over the past few months, so we definitely will be asking him what happened?

I do truly hate to sound negative all the time, though when the GNMP, the Gettysburg Foundation or even the town of Gettysburg is concerned these days, it truly seems hard not to. They have so many opportunities to do so much good, and they seem to miss it. Sometimes they don't miss by much, while others they are way off target! I don't get it.

As we were leaving the VC, we passed several other people on their way in who were headed for the same disappointment we had just experienced. Because it wasannounced as being that way, I think something should have been done.

They should have bit the bullet and stayed open until 6pm as advertised. Ok, so the presentations and movies in the VC may be on timers operated by computers and it may have been a major effort to change this. Fine! There are other things that could have been done.

Knowing ahead about the advertising, and thinking about the fact that people may have been expecting the place to stay open until 6pm, they should have had 'free coupons' for Adams County residents who arrived at 6. I don't expect them to have been good forever, and I don't even expect them to have been good on weekends. They could have had a coupon for free weekday admission until the middle or end of March.

That way, community residents would have been happy because we can easily come back, weekend traffic wouldn't have been overburdened, and it would have been done and over with before peak season would have started.

I don't think it would be asking much, and I don't want a 'free lunch'! I did expect more than a simple, "Oh yes,well talk to the Park Service!", however!