What a fantastic turnout for ALL the events this weekend!
Think about all the work involved!!!
All in a Single Weekend! Our Activities and Events team, headed up by Supervisor Terri Wellman, was put to the ultimate test this past weekend as everyone enjoyed all the Cancer Awareness activities. A four-page spreadsheet that listed all the tasks and all the staff members was needed to ensure everything was accomplished on time.
It started with a call for "all hands on deck", Friday morning. Terri's team was out in Palm Park constructing 723 luminaries for the evening. In past years, volunteers built and placed the luminaries. This year, however, the task was given to the staff to accomplish.
After the luminary build, the staff moved dozens of tables into the park for the silent auction, chili booth, t-shirt sales and hot cocoa and cookies booth. And then came the daunting task of placing the 519 white chairs in conversation pods throughout the park.
Time for movement of more tables and chairs. Off to the ballroom where tables and chairs had to be set up for the expected Bingo crowd of 160 folks. And once Bingo was finished, the room required reconfiguring with round tables to accommodate the hot air balloon pilots and volunteers' early dinner.
In the meantime, other staff members were gathering up the supplies needed for the silent auction. Clipboards, bid sheets, logbooks, pencils and the 50 plus auction items. The silent auction was ready to start accepting bids at 2:30 pm with swarms of residents prepared to outbid each other for charity's sake. Activities folks manned the silent auction for nearly 3 hours answering questions about bidding amounts and auction closing times.
On the west end of the park, Activities staff donned their plastic gloves and set out to serve chili to the 400 folks who had purchased tickets for Chef's killer chili. Another staff member manned the register to sell T-shirts and two more staff members prepped the last table for hot cocoa and cookies.
5:45 pm. Critical time to synchronize. The silent auction had to be closed, auction items returned to Activities, the 12 tables taken down and the center of the park vacated so not to distract from the impending hot air balloon glow. At the same time, a team of 10 (to include Gabby) set out to light the luminaries.
Thirty minutes later, the luminaries danced in the dark and the staff rested and ate chili.
Once the balloon glow was over, the staff disassembled the booths, returned all the items to the kitchen, and stacked the white chairs to make pick up easier for the Facilities staff on Monday.
You'd think everyone would pat themselves on the back and enjoy a weekend of rest, right? Nope. The very next morning, a team of four set up the booth on the library patio and sold hot dogs from 11am to 1pm, while two others from the Activities staff manned the office. Once hot dog sales were done and the booth disassembled, the four headed over to the ballroom to set up the 34 tables and 272 chairs for Saturday's dance. And at 9pm when the dance was done, four staff members disassembled the room, put away the tables and prepped the area for Sunday chapel. No. It doesn't end there.
After chapel on Sunday, Terri had another call for all hands-on deck to set up the ballroom for the Piano Men dinner show. Ten folks worked together to set up 42 tables and 328 chairs. This time, though, the folks had to place linens, centerpieces, tableware and goblets and preset the salads and desserts. They took tickets at the door and directed tables to the serving line. They bussed tables and afterwards cleaned tables. And one more time they disassembled the ballroom and put all the chairs and tables away.
Phew! What a gigantic undertaking by a darned awesome crew! And a special thanks to Leah from Facilities for helping them.
Special thanks to our Fire Department for loaning their truck for the golf ball drop!!
AND....a very special thank you to John Ross for organizing the huge balloon glow event!
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| Photo by Mike Bailey |
We also truly enjoyed the Piano Men concert and dinner Sunday night. Our cornish hen dinner was yummy!
