Secret Lives

Secret Lives of Volunteers: Robert Morgan

Fishing for Volunteers

ASI Volunteer Robert Morgan is among many people who have renewed their affection for the outdoors since the onset of COVID. He is an avid Minnesota United soccer fan, whose real ‘secret life’ may be the times that he and wife Sarah escape to go fly fishing. Q. Tell us a little about yourself. I grew up mostly in foothills of the Appalachian mountains in east Tennessee, and lived various places before I moved to Minnesota in 2013. I now live in St Paul with my wife Sarah and our cat Ginny. Q. You’ve dedicated many hours volunteering at ASI. How did you get started? I first came to ASI to study Swedish and it was a way to meet people after I moved here. ASI quickly became one of my favorite places. My teacher, Chelsea Bowen, was also involved in coordinating ASI events and she would always say they could use more volunteers. I finally took the hint and decided to volunteer. The volunteer coordinator at the time, Rob Nicholl, went a step farther and convinced me to try being a mansion facilitator and a tour guide. Q. What is your “Secret Life” outside of volunteering at ASI? My biggest ‘secret’ is that I’m not of Swedish descent. I’m not even Nordic. My ancestors all came from Ireland and Great Britain! Q. How has the COVID pandemic impacted you? We hear you’re spending more time outdoors? I got married in June 2020, and COVID caused my now wife and I to change nearly every plan we had made. We went from having a large wedding in St. Paul to an intimate ceremony in West Virginia. With almost everything closed and a small apartment, we needed to find ways to get outside. My wife was actually the one who suggested fly fishing, something I did quite a bit before moving here. Luckily for me, she quickly fell in love with it. Each time we went, it felt like a mini-vacation. There’s something about standing in a river and casting a fly that just melts the stress away. When we couldn’t get to the river, we took advantage of wonderful cycling paths in and around the Twin Cities. Biking is a great way to get outside while keeping your distance from others. Q. What do you find interesting about ASI visitors? I have met so many wonderful people while volunteering. It amazes me how many love to come up to me in the mansion to share their family’s story or connections to Sweden. It’s really exciting to see people connect to ASI in such personal ways, whether it’s their first time visiting or if they’ve been coming for decades.