127 Cherry Street

Job Description
Eufaula Heritage Tour
Homeowner

The Homeowner is responsible for preparing and displaying their home during the tour in the most favorable manner.
Duties:
• Have a meeting with your House Chairperson in your home as soon as possible after your House Chairperson is appointed.
• At the meeting, review with the House Chairperson your responsibilities as Homeowner and the responsibilities of the House Chairperson. Give the House Chairperson a copy of this job description and get a copy of the House Chairperson’s responsibilities. If your home was on the tour in the past, review the prior evaluations from the home. Discuss relevant comments and suggestions received from other homes.
• Insure that you and the Homeowner have a clear understanding of who is doing what and when it is going to be done.
• Take the House Chairperson on a tour of your home, out buildings, yard, etc.
• Discuss, with the House Chairperson, and agree what portions of the home, out buildings, etc. will be open during the tour.
• Discuss with the House Chairperson, what to display, what should be rearranged, what should be put away, etc. In rooms that are furnished in period furnishings, many homeowners, for the tour, put our of sight modern items such as TVs, stereos, electric clocks, etc.
• Decide, with the House Chairperson, how many hosts and hostesses will be needed per shift to staff the house. In addition to the hosts and hostesses for the various rooms in the house, each shift should have a “greeter” on the front porch or front walk, a ticket taker and one “floater” to fill in for people when they take a break or need to use the bath room. The House Chairperson should not work as a tour guide. The House Chairperson should be available to answer questions, to solve unexpected problems and to walk around the house to check on the hosts and hostesses and to determine when they need a break.
• If your house has been on the tour in prior years, give the House Chairperson a list of hosts and hostesses that worked in your home house in prior years.
• Give the House Chairperson the names of any hosts and hostesses that the Homeowner can recommend to work at the house. The House Chairperson is responsible for recruiting, scheduling, coordinating, training and following up with the hosts and hostesses.
• Each of the hosts and hostesses will need a written script for the area of the house they will be working in. If you have a scripts from prior tours, review it and make any needed additions and corrections. If you do not have a script for your house, work with the House Chairperson to develop a written script for each host. Write-up for the hosts and hostesses answers to questions they might be asked that are not covered in their scripts. – Note that these are two separate items.
• Decide if a written handout about your house will be given to the pilgrims. If so, and if you do not have one from prior years, work with the House Chairperson to write. If a handout is available from prior years, review it and make any needed additions and corrections.
• You are responsible for having the scripts for hosts and hostesses and the handouts for pilgrims printed.
• Discuss and agree with the House Chairperson how many runners, stanchions, and ropes will be needed in the house.
• Approximately three weeks before the tour, the House Chairperson will schedule and conduct one or more meetings at your home for all of the hosts and hostesses. At the meeting, distribute the scripts and walk the hosts and hostesses through your home. The House Chairperson will explain the rules and expectations for being a host and hostess and answer questions. You and the House Chairperson should encourage the hosts and hostesses to wear appropriate period attire.
• As the Homeowner, you should be setting the example for many volunteers working in your home by wearing appropriate period attire during the tour.
• During the tour, provided a break area with light refreshments and a bathroom for the hosts and hostesses.
• Check and replenish the refreshments before each shift.
• Provide the number of rugs and standards needed to the House Chairperson.
• During the tour, provide a table and Chairperson on the front porch for the ticket taker.
• Arrange for and provide flowers for your home during the tour.
• On Sunday, after the tour is over, place the rugs and standards on the porch for pick-up on Sunday evening or Monday. The volunteers can help before they leave at 5:00 PM on Sunday.
• Approximately two weeks after the tour, sit down with the House Chairperson and do a written evaluation of the tour. Include good points, items to be improved, lessons learned and suggestions for future years.