Plans
for the ships Grand Opening have finally been announced. On Sunday,
October 14th there will be a by invitation only Grand Opening Celebration
held onboard the ship starting at 1:30. Then she will officially
open to the public for tours on Monday morning October 15th. For information
about tour hours Click Here. With this
in mind I took a day off from the regular grind and came onboard to help
put the final touches on before the opening ceremonies. I was also
motivated by the fact that there was a party scheduled for tonight at a
local restaurant for all volunteers, that was something I didn't want to
miss. I arrived onboard at the usual time and went in search of work
at the Brass Shop. In preparation for the tours I was again assigned
to Mount 55 where I have spent a number of days previously. The goal
was to finish polishing and cleaning inside the Mount itself, inside the
Upper Handling Room and along the Tour Route leading up to the
Mount. To accomplish this I first polished about a half dozen
portholes along the Tour Route and adjacent to Mount 55. Then I
moved inside the Mount itself and then finished off in the Upper Handling
Room cleaning grease off the deck and doing some final cleanup. We
even installed red light tubes in the fixtures so they can be turned on
giving the inside of the Handing Room a nice red glow. I spent most
of my day working in the area of Mount 55, then at the end of the day I
roamed around and snapped some photos. Today she looks so great, the
transition that has occurred over the last 9 months is unbelievable!
Take a few minutes to look back at the work progress photos from back in
April and compare them to those below and you'll see what I mean.
For those of us that were there on a regular basis and took part in the
effort, it is certainly a dream come true, I can't wait until
Sunday. But, for now it's off to the volunteers party, hope to see
you onboard this weekend for the Grand Opening, you won't want to miss it
that's for sure!
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