From Caboose to Dr. Seuss

The Museum of Transportation has many needs. Foremost is our need for people.

We need effective employees. We are so fortunate to have a small group of staff members who are as dedicated and adaptable as they are skilled. We are seeking another one, by the way: a new weekend gift shop manager who is responsible and enthusiastic with retail experience, customer service and computer skills, and the willingness to work Saturday and Sunday. (Anyone interested may send resumé to sloveman@vmt.org).

We need people with large vision and resources who will give to VMT. This is a critical time for us financially.

And we need people who give of themselves in other ways. Over the 45 years of the museum’s existence, volunteers have been as vital to us as coal and water are to a steam locomotive. Without them we would get nowhere.

We can utilize volunteers in so many areas, including some that surely match your interest and ability. To help you understand the ways you can serve the cause, we offer in the spirit of Dr. Seuss this poetic volunteer job description. You remember Dr. Seuss? He wrote The Cat in the Engineer’s Hat. Or was it Dr. Seuss Hops a Caboose? Whatever.


This Cat Can Do That

Our fine museum could use loads of cash.
If, though, like lots of us, you lack a stash,
That is quite cool—you don’t need to despair.
There are so many ways you can still share.

Since we’re short-handed, short-handed by half,
Lacking a fully-stocked roster of staff,
You can donate a resource we hold dear:
Give us your time, lend a hand, volunteer.

How many ways could we put you to work?
How about being a gift shop sales clerk?
Sell nifty merchandise, take up the dough
While shoppers chat with you, tell what they know.

You could help maintain the building and grounds
Inside and outside while making your rounds,
Patching, attaching, and catching up stuff,
Fixing the broken and smoothing the rough.

Maybe your thing is conducting a tour,
Leading the tourists around, making sure
They see the biggest, the brightest and best—
Railyard and car gallery, all the rest.

You could help learners—you know—educate,
Touch them and teach them, inspire, innovate;
Guiding the grownups and little ones too,
Transporting them to a world we once knew.

You could be artsy and make spiffy signs,
Do fancy lettering, create designs,
Or you could write about trails, rails and flight;
Read and research, dig up facts left and right.

You could share elbow grease: scrape, clean and scrub;
Keep the exhibits in shape—polish, rub;
Clean ‘em up, preen ‘em up, shake off the dust;
Fend off the fingerprints, cobwebs and rust.

You could help tidy the many displays,
Giving attention in various ways
So all the guests who explore the museum
Will be impressed by the sights when they see ‘em.

You could restore items in our collection
If you possess the right skills and affection,
For these are treasures both old and quite rare
Needing devoted and delicate care.

You could greet people at special events
At booths or tables or even in tents;
Be the museum’s warm face for a while,
Share information, an ear and a smile.

You could help organize, plan and promote
Shindigs and happenings, moments of note:
Easter egg hunts, birthday parties and such
That need ideas and the creative touch.

And though your work brings no wages your way,
We offer perks that are sort of like pay:
Admission that won’t cost your family a cent;
Gift shop discounts at a healthy percent.

If you can talk or walk, listen or learn;
If you’re still breathing with free time to burn;
There is, we guarantee, something to do—
Something that just fits the person who’s you.

(To find out more about volunteering at VMT, call Susan Loveman at 342-5670 or e-mail sloveman@vmt.org)