Gauley Festival, the nations largest gathering of paddlers and AW’s largest fundraiser, only happens because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers. This year we need a few individuals to step forward and help run some critical areas for the festival. Here are some vital positions needed at this years festival:
- Front Gate Team Leader:
- The front gate leader is responsible for the smooth running of entrance to the festival, organizing volunteers to collect entrance fees, camping fees, and pass out information about the event
- Good organizational skills and people skills are a must for this position, it oversees about 40 volunteers from early afternoon until 10pm on Saturday
- This position would help to recruit other volunteers to man the entrance to the festival
- Parking Team Leader:
- The parking team leader is responsible for quickly parking the thousands of cars in an organized fashion, it sounds simpler than it is.
- This position would help to recruit other volunteers to help park cars that evening.
- Good organization skills and people skills are a must for this position, it oversees about 25 volunteers from Saturday early afternoon until 10 pm on Saturday.
- Silent Auction Coordinator
- This is the largest silent auction of paddling equipment anywhere and one of the largest ways AW generates revenue from the event
- The coordinator would lead volunteers through setup, staffing, and closing of the auction
- Oversees and helps recruit up to 20 different volunteers helping with the auction
- Stage Manager
- Works with the bands, film presenters, and sound crew to ensure that the program of the evening stays on schedule throughout Saturday evening
It is critical that these positions have some quality individuals take control, the festival and AW will not be able to survive without them.
Here is just an example…parking cars. It sounds easy and a little stupid, well around 6 PM on Saturday of the festival about 100 cars come into the festival every 5 – 10 minutes. If parking is a mess we end up with a backup of cars onto Rt. 19 and the local community, local police, and town leadership will not welcome the event back if this happens since Rt. 19 is a major road for the county.
The work may not be glamorous but knowing you are making a huge difference in AW’s most critical fundraiser each year is very rewarding.
Anyone can help AW out with these positions, you can, you and a friend can co chair a position, or your local paddling club can volunteer to run an area of the festival to support AW.
Contact Ben VanCamp at (828) 713-5825 or ben@amwhitewater.org or Stacy Johnson at aquarogue@gmail.net for more information or to signup.
Support Gauley Festival and you are supporting your rivers, it’s just that simple!