Written by Jody Moritz and Carrie Moritz
Since 1992, Bob and Liz Bennett have been guiding students and adults to historical locations. At first, it was just every two years, but once they retired as educators from the Garretson School District in 2016, the tours turned yearly.
In most recent years, they’ve taken trips to New York City, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. This year, they traveled to historic Williamsburg, Virginia.
Each year, they’ve utilized World Strides, a travel organization that helps students see the world. They organize everything from tour entrances to hotels and bus transportation, and for this trip, it was no different.
“Our bus driver was Glenez Hilton. No one could pronounce her full name so we just called her G,” said Jody Moritz, a participant from Faulkton, SD (and the mother of Gazette editor Garrick Moritz). This was Moritz’s second trip with the Bennetts. “She was a very experienced driver who had driven for Oprah Winfrey, Gorbachev’s security team to Camp David, the Pope’s security team in Philadelphia, Steven Spielberg, and Paul McCartney who sang a song for her. We were in good hands for the trip.”
The group traveled to Jamestown, Va., where they were met by tour leader Sandra (Sandie) Stephans. The first stop was the glassblowing house, a first industry or manufacturing for the Jamestown colonists. The glassblowing trade was what the colonists had thought would be a way to make money since they found no valuable minerals in the area. The artisans there demonstrated how the colonists made their glass lamps, which were also for sale at the gift shop.
The next stop was Jamestowne Island. This is the site of the 1607 English settlement. This colony gave England its first foothold in the New World. The marshy setting and the humidity were unhealthful for the colonists but it was easy to defend.
“We walked across a long pedestrian wooden bridge over a swampy area that the colonists would have had to cross that would have been infested with mosquitos and snakes,” said Moritz. “Olivia was our guide there. She had graduated with a degree in anthropology and was very knowledgeable about the archaeology digs on-going on the island.
(Continued on Part 2- Online subscription required)
