May 2004---15th ANNUAL EARTH FAIR
Inland Planet was there !! Dear Orange Blossom Festival Volunteers,
I have lagged on writing this thank-you, not for lack of motivation but for lack of the right words....How do you thank hundreds of people who gave so much of themselves to help execute an event of this magnitude, in a way that each person truly feels appreciated?
I am still at a loss. I could write a dissertation on the various ways volunteers ease the pressure we feel leading up to, and on event day. Suffice it to say that each and every individual fulfills an invaluable role.
I wish I was able to shake each and every one of your hands. For one reason, it is always wonderful to finally greet in person the voice on the telephone, or words on a computer screen. But more importantly, unless I have looked you in the eye, I do not know that I have truly conveyed my sincere gratitude for your commitment. I want everyone to understand that their contribution was not just a position filled; it was an essential and unique contribution, without which the festival would have lost a little something. For those of you I was lucky enough to meet, thank you for that moment.
Aside from realizing my gratitude, I hope that each of you walked away from the Orange Blossom Festival with much more. I of course hope you all had fun. I also hope that you worked hard, and feel proud of your contribution. I hope that you learned at least one new thing. I hope you had to exercise patience (I know for a fact many of you exercised a LOT of patience). I hope you made new friends, and that at least one of your lives is completely changed for the better by someone you met. I hope that no matter what challenges you met over the weekend, you are ready to sign up for next year.
I am going to let all of you in on a not-so-secret: This event, while wonderful, is extremely taxing. More than once over the last few months of planning, I fantasized about jumping on a plane to anywhere. While I hope none of you felt quite that desperate this weekend, I am sure many of you experienced frustration at times; I know I did. There were problems; there will always be problems. Some were fixed in a timely manner and some were systemic. Be candid with your feedback It is the only way we can truly raise the bar for next time.
Thank you for everything Your hard work, your ability to roll with the punches, your humor, your compliments and your criticism. It is a testament to our amazing volunteer staff that I was able to smile throughout the weekend, no matter what was happening. I suppose the gist of all this verbiage is that you really made it a pleasure for me, and I genuinely hope I was able to return the favor.
See you all in a few weeks Volunteer wrap party to be held the last weekend of June, location TBD; more details to come.
Keep in touch,
Rebecca Stein
Director of Volunteers
Riverside Orange Blossom Festival
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