To all Festival of the Arts Volunteers,

Thank you all for your help in making the 41st Festival of the Arts @ Charbonneau a success. As the Festival Organizing Chair, I did a lot up front, but you all did the work that resulted in kudos from attendees and exhibitors. Volunteer Coordinator Jan Landis provided your names and contact information, and I thank her first for her help. Without our volunteers, we’re nowhere.

  • The set-up teams, who helped to erect and take down the display panels for the Fine Art Gallery, which saved us about $2,000 in labor costs. Huge!
  • The Fine Art Gallery team, led by Leslie Leeper and Holly Kroening, who took care of hanging and setting up our world-class gallery. The art-in group, who checked in the art and checked it out at the end, and the Gallery Hosts who covered the gallery during open hours.
  • The greeters who welcomed guests with typical Charbonneau friendliness. Those smiles turned into happy art buyers.
  • The Festival Store staff, led by Linda Peck, who seamlessly processed art sales from the store and Fine Art Gallery. It can be a little daunting to deal with new technology, but you all handled it perfectly
  • The Booth Show team, led by Sara Bennett. who greeted vendors in the Clubhouse, and made sure they had everything they needed, provided booth coverage for restroom and lunch breaks and staffed the booth of an injured vendor. Many of our vendors commented on and thanked us for the helpful and cheerful volunteers.
  • The Silent Auction Team, led by Carol Riley, who organized an amazing and beautiful selection of items that resulted in proceeds of over $9,000.
  • And it all started with the Opening Night Gala Reception, led by Sharon Kadell and Kathy Stout, who presented amazing food and wine to an appreciative crowd. You and your volunteers even did a lot of the food preparation to keep our costs down.
  • The Student Gallery was another showstopper, thanks to the great student art, with set-up by the teachers and our awesome team of volunteers, led by Ginny Merriman and Sue Traeger.
  • The Sponsor & Donors Committee, led by Mary Fieweger and implemented by Alice Galloway, exceeding our anticipated donor budget by $1,000.
  • And many more! You know who you are!

We will meet again on November 10 at 3:00 p.m. in the Lewis Room, to review the event and get your input on what worked and what needs improvement. All are welcome.

Again, THANK YOU for your help!

Cathi McLain, CAA President & Festival Organizing Chair