When I was an employee at SDC, there was nothing like getting to work early, well before the park opened. The sun was just coming up, a few of the street crew guys would still be hosing down the streets, or in the fall as the leaves turned, they would have their leaf blowers going, cleaning everything up. A few fellow citizens would be red eyed and a little sleepy yet, and headed toward their shops and other work locations. If I had time, I'd go to the employees lounge and get a breakfast...biscuit and gravy, scrambled eggs, bacon, a milk or soda pop, and eat. Then I'd walk on down to a time clock and enjoy seeing a few chipmunks or squirrels rush around before the people got out on the streets. Enjoyed the quiet, when everything was still moving slowly, and yet, a big rush was on to have everything cleaned, stocked, swept up, and looking good for those first people who stood at the ropes on the town square and rushed down the hill into the city after the brief opening ceremony. It was a great time of day, still cool from the night, but the sun heated things up the later it got. The duties of the Dugan boys included cleaning Grandfather's Mansion and the Treehouse, so I would get a broom and dustpan, go through both of those attractions, make sure all the special effects were working and were turned on. I must admit, both the mansion and the treehouse were a little creepy early in the morning...you never knew if some critter in the night had gotten in the places...sometimes I'd turn a corner and a maintenance guy would be in their fixing something...and both of us would have to catch our breath as we both would be startled! It was fun having both those attractions all to myself at that time of day. If I had time I would pause to look at the old time photos that hung on the wall of the mansion, and read the humorus captions under the photos. I loved the attention to detail the park had 25 to 30 years ago. Then, it was time to go to the diving bell, help the other early guy finish cleaning and sweeping and testing the diving bell capsules, checking the effects, and so on. About the time we got done, we would walk out in front and sit down for a few minutes, to survey our immediate area and then...by that time...the first few visitors were exitedly rushing down into the Deepwoods area (Riverfront now) and were exploring and pointing and chatting away...Ahhhhhhhh another day had started at Silver Dollar City...and my work partner and I would get up from where we were sitting, put those big smiles on our faces, and as the first few people approached, we'd say "howdy, folks!" Again, the search was on to find that elusive silver in the depths of the lake!
