50th Anniversary Party Volunteers
Oct. 11th, 2014
by Christy Long
Once we broke the days’ schedule down into hour-by-hour tasks, we realized that close to 40 volunteers would be needed to make the event run smoothly. I am happy to say that we had more than forty people volunteer. The flotilla alone had twenty-two volunteers scheduled to work at the many stations needed for a fun, safe paddle involving 50 boats on a tight schedule.
Joe Coker coordinated the flotilla. The volunteers started arriving by 10:00 to offload and prepare their boats for the 2:15 picture and 2:30 launch. Terry Herdlicka, Janice Baker, and Kathy Ryan duty’s started with the first volunteers, at the sign in table. They got everyone signed up and organized.
The flotilla paddlers started arriving at 11:00 in 15-minute waves. Steve Long and Bob Naeger directed traffic; while Steve Page, Bob Pearson, Will Blumentritt, Milton Robertson, Frank Ohrt, Tom Douglas, Bruce Bodson, and Kent Walters helped paddlers offload boats and stage them at the docks.
On two floating docks, John Bartos and Cindy Bartos supervised the launching of 50 boats. The docks were a little tricky so Joe assigned volunteers the task of helping people in and out of their boats. Terri Morgan, Robert Killian, Dave Kitson, Katrina Dunn, Larry Newbern, Jill Wiseman, and John Orht did this work with smiles on their faces.
Shaun Gregory of ACK (Austin Canoe and Kayak) took hundreds of photos, of the entire event! See the photo album links, here.
Once on the water Dave Kitson and Joe Coker lead the flotilla upstream to the turning point. Members of HASK (Houston Area Sea Kayakers) , Bob Scaldino, Bruce Asher and John Grisaffi took the rear positions allowing the large group of boats to paddle and socialize.
Once the flotilla got back to the docks, volunteers again staffed their stations to help the boaters out of the water, get their boats to the vehicles, and to the party.
I had another good group of volunteers getting the venue ready for a PARTY. At 1:00 o’clock, we were allowed in the venue and hit it running. Frazer Baker and Harmon Everett got the video and sound system working for the terrific program. Ann Derby and Teddy Parker setup the HCC commemorative table; which included T-shirts, photo books, and posters. Paul Woodcock and Mary Zaborowski setup a display of posters depicting some of the past HCC expedition trips.
We set up twenty round tables for guests, ten tables for venders, and eighteen tables for general use. Then we covered them and set out table centerpieces. Jim Barton, Natalie Wiest, Ellen Wiest, Jim Goodale, Honey Leveen, Tracy Becker, Dutch Becker, Cindy Cox, and I started setting up tables and icing down drinks. We prepared for vendors, silent auction, book signing, HCC exhibits, bar and food. We finished enough of the work by 2:00 o’clock to get in the 2:15 flotilla picture.
By 5:30, when the flotilla paddlers started arriving at the venue, Janice Baker and Teddy Parker had a wonderful spread of chips, dips, and veggies waiting. At 6:00, we started serving the beer and wine. We had a keg of so-so beer but the wine selection that Robert Killian chose, was a big hit.
At the door, signing people in, were Tracy Pape and Kenny Pape they did a great job and made Bob Naeger’s job easier by screening out only those that need to pay for meals or sign up for membership. Bob was at the signup table all evening. What a trooper. Tracy and Kenny trained Eva Quearry and Mike Quearry for the next hour of signup duty but ended up at the table until the end of the party.
Natalie Wiest readied the auction items for bids.
The bar was tended by Jim Goodale, Kathy Ryan, and Joe Coker. They did a good job keeping within the requirements of the venue, while making sure we all had a full cup.
After the hearty meal from Joe's BBQ, terrific program, and a short time of socializing, it was time to clean up. I want to thank all those that helped with this part of the party, since it was not really organized. Cliff Peery was very helpful to me by moving the keg of beer from the venue to my truck.
A big thanks to the people who gave their time and effort to setting up and taking down this portion of the event, to make this a memorable moment. The following list is that of our volunteers. You will notice some listed twice. That is because they helped with the program and the flotilla.
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| The author, Christy Long |