Position: 2024 Bakery Tour Guide - Historic Reher's Bakery Tours

The Reher Center for Immigrant Culture & History seeks engaging and dynamic storytellers from all backgrounds to bring historic Reher’s Bakery to life during our 2024 weekend tour season. Accessible only via guided tour, historic Reher’s Bakery is a rare preserved working-class space that brings to life the complex histories of immigration, urban renewal, and community building that characterized the Rondout neighborhood of Kingston in the first half of the 20th century. Guides welcome and engage visitors each Saturday and Sunday, from July through December 1st. This part-time position for tours pays $19/hour.

Historic Bakery Tour Guides bring visitors through the retail shop of Reher’s Bakery circa 1959 to discover the Sunday morning ritual that brought German, Irish, Italian, and Polish communities to the bakery to pick up rolls for breakfast on their way home from church. Throughout the tour, Bakery Guides engage visitors in exploring historic artifacts, connecting past to present, and in discussing how Jewish immigrant Frank Reher and his six children built a business that served generations of Kingstonians.

 

Responsibilities include:

  • Leading tours on Saturdays or Sundays from July through December 1st; tours are scheduled for 11:30am on Saturday and Sunday; 2-hour tour shifts include 30 minutes to set-up and 30 minutes to breakdown. Training for tours will begin upon hiring.
  • Engaging visitors of all ages and backgrounds in an interactive experience that weaves together narrative history, storytelling, and dialogue
  • Learning tour content as well as best practices to ensure an inclusive and accessible experience for all visitors
  • Utilizing technology during the tour including an iPad and Bluetooth speaker to play oral history clips
  • Attending ongoing training sessions that will cover relevant historical background and museum education pedagogy

 

Qualifications:

  • Candidates must be able to commit to a 2-hour Saturday or Sunday shift each week during the tour season
  • Interest and enthusiasm for migration and immigration history, foodways and cultural history, and related contemporary issues
  • Previous experience working in a front-facing visitor services role or within an educational setting is strongly preferred
  • Comfort with using and troubleshooting iPads and Bluetooth speakers, as well as knowledge of/or willingness to learn Eventbrite and PayPal applications
  • Comfortable working both independently and collaboratively
  • Applicants fluent in Spanish are strongly preferred and encouraged to apply

 

Position Details:

Historic Bakery Tour Guides are paid $19/hour. Tour shifts are 2 hours in length. Historic Bakery Tours occur on Saturdays and Sundays.

 

Physical Considerations:

Applicants should be able to lift up to 25lbs, and will need to move around the Reher Center’s historic bakery and gallery space, as well as visit off-site locations. The Reher Center has 14 steps leading to the 2nd floor gallery from the sidewalk, 2 steps up into the historic bakery from the sidewalk, and 2 steps down into the oven area of the bakery. Applicants should feel comfortable standing for long periods of time. The historic bakery space has minimal climate control and applicants must be prepared to lead tours in these conditions.

 

To apply, contact us at Info@ReherCenter.org with a cover letter and resume