For three ladies from different parts of the globe, serving as hostesses at Rosewood Manor during the 70th annual Spring Pilgrimage in Columbus provides them not only with the opportunity to continue improving their English speaking skills, but also to learn about their new environs.
Learning more about the history of Columbus and its antebellum homes is another thing that Seonjyoung Longest, Marichu Casmus and Kamila Jedrzejczak are gaining from this new adventure.
The trio are in Columbus courtesy of their husbands, who are serving at Columbus Air Force Base or working with an area industry. They are also enrolled in an English for Speakers of Other Languages, or ESOL, at the Greater Columbus Learning Center.
Linda Barnes, an instructor at the Greater Columbus Learning Center, took these ladies to Rosewood Manor, which is owned by Dewitt and Grayce Hicks.
“I just wanted them to see a part of Columbus they have not seen,” Barnes said.
Hicks said when they came through her home, she thought they possessed good looks and the ability to speak proper English.
“I had them to try on some of the period dresses, and they looked so nice in them, I decided they should serves as hostesses during Pilgrimage,” she said.
Each one is assigned to give a tour of a specific room of the house to tourists.
Longest, of Korea, an artist whose husband is Tech. Sgt. Jacob Longest, is assigned to give tours in the green room.
“Along with meeting the people, I like the furniture,” she said. “The furniture in the room has an Oriental motif to it which I like, being from Korea.”
She said she enjoys being a hostess at Rosewood Manor because she is learning about the home and its history.
“This is a fun thing for me, and a great opportunity to learn more about this beautiful place,” she said.
Marichu Casmus, of the Philippines, said she has been in Columbus for 10 years with her husband Joseph, who is a relief foreman at Tronox LLC, a plant in Hamilton.
A nurse by profession, Casmus said she has been to California and Colorado as well as Mississippi.
“My stepfather is in the Army and is preparing to retire,” she said.
Casmus is assigned to give tours of the master bedroom at Rosewood Manor. She said she enjoys interacting with tourists and answering their questions.
“Sometimes the children ask questions about the house, or about me and where I am from,” she said.
Jedrzejczak said during the time she has been a hostess, she has met a few tourists from Poland. She is assigned to give tours of the gold bedroom.
“I was able to speak with them in Polish, which was interesting. I am a dentist, and I found out that there were dentists among the group,” she said.
Her husband is Capt. Krzysztof Jedrejczak, a member of the Polish Air Force and a student pilot at CAFB.
“We have been here since January, and we enjoy the friendly people of Columbus,” she said.
Hicks said having these ladies at Rosewood Manor has been a great experience for her.
“This is a broadening experience for me and for them,” she said. “I have had the chance to travel to other parts of the world, and I feel I have learned something about each place. I think these ladies are getting to learn about Columbus and Mississippi.”
Allen Baswell was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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