30th Anniversary Summerfest – We Couldn’t Have Done it Without YOU!
The VHCA wants to thank everyone who pitched in to make this year’s 30th anniversary Summerfest one of the best festivals in recent memory. The dust hasn’t completely settled yet so we don’t have final numbers, but by all standards this appears to have been a very successful festival.
Some may not know that a dedicated team of volunteers begins meeting in February to plan each year’s festival. From securing artists for the Artist’s Market and musical talent for the band stage to defining and creating the extensive Kidsfest area (including music stage) to finding residents who can create sellable merchandise from recycled items for the Summerfest store to finding and managing volunteers to make the whole thing happen, the following members of the Summerfest executive committee deserve our neighborhood’s thanks for putting on an awesome event this year:
Pamela Papner, Paige Hewell, Ann Guy – Executive Leadership and Overall Festival Management- Arturo Cruz-Tucker and Brad Hodges – Kidsfest
- Suzanne Scully – Summerfest Recycle Store
- John Becker – Volunteers
- Kris Smith – Community Parade
- Charlie Lefort – Community Dinner
- Nancy and Bob Coomes – Tot Trot
- Jenny Warner – T-Shirts
- JD Kellum – Marketing
- Zane Harris – Social Media
Volunteers are an essential part of Summerfest success. Especially in years when attendance is high, it’s important for us to have a full staff of dedicated volunteers willing to go the extra mile to make sure our attendees have the best time possible and our artists sell as much art as possible. This year’s volunteers stepped up in a big way, signing up early and honoring their commitments. We couldn’t be prouder of the 275 volunteers of all ages who worked hard and made our event such a success. Please thank them when you see them out and about in their bright green volunteer t-shirts.
And lastly we’d like to thank everyone – residents and visitors alike – who came out in full force both days to enjoy this year’s festival. While not as ideal as last year, the weather worked mostly in our favor (except for a few minutes late Sunday afternoon). The crowds came early and stayed late and that’s a key measuring stick of putting on a successful festival. Summerfest is VaHi’s biggest annual fundraiser and event success ensures the VHCA can continue its mission of supporting the neighborhood, its schools, parks and planning processes.
While we thought things went well this year in terms of overall festival management, there’s always room for improvement. If you have any thoughts about how we can improve Summerfest for 2014, please take a minute to send them to [email protected].
Also, we’re looking for your best Summerfest pictures. If you have photos from this year’s festival that you wouldn’t mind sharing with your neighbors, please send them to [email protected]. In the meantime, here’s a link to some great photos from the Kidsfest area taken by Linda Dennis of abackpackjournalist.
Thanks again to the staff, volunteers and attendees of Summerfest 2013. We hope to see everyone again next year and look forward to seeing everyone out wearing your awesome ‘Live Local’ Summerfest t-shirts in the coming weeks.