Don Schmidt, shared this wild story from his time in the parks:
"I was very fortunate to make an amazing connection while working as a tour guide at Vikingsholm this past summer. Back in 1986, I was fortunate to work with Helen Smith as a tour guide, and it was common back then for many of the Stateline casino performers to come over to Emerald Bay to swim, hike, or take a tour.
During one tour, as we got into the house, I noticed Liberace standing in the back corner. At the time he was a very popular and frequent performer at the casinos. One of the special pieces of furniture that Lora Knight put into her summer home is a 1929 Steinway baby grand piano. I knew we weren’t allowed to let anyone play the piano, but Liberace was there, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. He gave everyone on my tour a 10 minute concert, and they loved it! Helen, who was finishing up a tour outside, came running in and about fainted, as she was a huge fan. Liberace was very gracious to everyone, and Helen gave him a special tour, and was beaming the whole rest of the day.
Fast forward 40 years. I’m was in the middle of a tour when I asked a young woman (who was obviously part of a bridesmaid party) why they had decided to tour Vikingsholm. She said that they came because the father of the maid of honor had been telling a story throughout her life about the day he was on a tour with a blond tour guide who let Liberace play the piano at Vikingsholm. The father owned two of these special pianos, and loved telling the story to anyone who would listen. When I told her that the “blond tour guide” was me, she about fell over. I was incredulous, though I had hoped that, at some point this summer, I would meet someone who was there that day. It was such a fun, special encounter for both of us, and she couldn’t wait to tell her father what had happened. I had another fun tour encounter in 1986 with Linda Ronstadt, but that’s for another time…"
