Bell Tower Theater
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One Friday morning, I received a surprise phone call from my cousin urging me to come to Minneapolis the next morning to apply for a job as a waitress in Yellowstone or Glacier National Park.
The trip was fun to be with my cousin that made everything worth while. Yellowstone had finished hiring, so we walked across the street to Glacier National Park’s Office. One more waitress was needed so he agreed to give me a try out. He cautioned “If this doesn’t work out satisfactorily this little trip will cost you a lot of money.” Two weeks later I was at the Great Northern depot in Minneapolis with hundreds more waiting to start on the trip to Glacier Park. I was somewhat uneasy, as I had never done waitress work before. My first experience in sleeping in a sleeper found me wide-awake watching my purse all night. The first glimpse of mountains looked like vicious thunderclouds ready for a storm. Most of the group had worked there before and lead us all to our cabins and made us aware of our duties, privileges, and restrictions. After two days of adjusting the tour of Eastern Stars was scheduled for supper at six. My waitress costume made me feel comfortable in taking the first orders of food. The ladies at my table wanted their coffee demitasse. I had no idea what that might be but tried to remember the word. It meant a very small cup of very strong coffee with rich cream to sort of quiet it down. The three-course meal was served to the crowd of happy travelers. They would be there again for breakfast and dinner for two days. One day a week was spent in hitching rides to many areas. No one was afraid to travel with strangers. There were no special buses to travel in the park. Many park workers were happy to take us with them. Some guests had private cars that made it possible for us to see the park. The Black Feet Indians had their teepees close by, where we could visit and observe their way of life. Every other day they had a pow-wow in the hotel that we could observe. They had rituals of thanksgiving done rhythmically in appropriate costumes. It lasted over an hour. Both children and adults danced as they sang sort of a liturgy. There were many glaciers formed that lasted all summer. Some melting took place each sunny day, that flowed down into the valley. September forced me on the Great Northern train on my way back to Iowa to teach. 
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