It’s true, I shy away from Gettysburg.
In the years I’ve spent at The Evening Sun I’ve covered a number of beats and visited much of the area. But when it comes to the ins and outs of Gettysburg, I readily admit I’m behind the curve.
Good thing that sometimes, the story writes itself.
I’m speaking of course of the day last week a photographer and I spent wandering the battlefield with licensed guide Jim Tate. The Gettysburg native has been giving such tours since 1951.
He turned 94 later in the week.
We were out to tag along with an afternoon tour group in honor of that birthday milestone, and just because it seemed like the kind of thing that could be a lot of fun.
What an honor last week to spend a few hours listening to the stories of licensed battlefield guide Jim Tate.
It was.
There were hours worth of stories.
Tate talked to us and a group of tourists from Colorado about everything from the men who fought on those historic fields to the silent movie he watched in the borough as a boy. He talked about his family, and about the time he spent serving his country in the cavalry.
I took pictures and tweeted much of it under #tatetour.
And I scribbled it all down as fast as I could. When we got back to the office I was faced with one of those nice dilemmas — no way to fit it all in a short story.
But I sorted through it, and chose a few tidbits I thought were particularly unique.
Anyway, most of the story was already written two minutes after I saw him.
Picture us there, a young photographer, and a reporter braving for only the second time that hulking visitor center south of town. We scanned the crowd, waiting, trying to pick out our guide.
Then here was a man in an old straw hat and a shirt with a guide’s patch, walking with a cane across the room. Before we could get to him — before we were sure it was him — the man stopped at the information desk.
As we watched he whispered a few words, took the hand of the woman behind the counter and gave her a soft kiss on the hand.
Boy, what a smile she had.
As he walked on to meet the tour party, I hurried over and asked that woman if this was something new. No, she said, he’s been doing that for years.
Anyway, if you read the story you heard all that described already.
But I remember thinking at the time, that was a first. Never before has a feature been so instantly clear. Never before has it written itself so quickly.
I worried, actually, the rest of the story wouldn’t live up to that moment. But for me it did.
What a honor, I thought later, to spend a few hours with Jim Tate.
And if this is Gettysburg, maybe I could get used to it.