Today I volunteered for the Old Town School of Music 14th Folk and Roots Festival. I went to the first F & R festival and this one was much larger than that first one. Most people don’t know it, but the Old Town School of Music is a not for profit organization and many of their programs are funded by this festival and other donations.
When I signed up I asked for two shifts, one at the beer tickets booth and one at the beer sales booth. When I showed up they gave me a free t-shirt, name tag and offered me bottled water, fresh fruits and snacks. The weather was hot and humid, but our booth had an industrial sized fan and we had plenty of water to drink. I was the guy checking ID’s and giving out the wristbands. It wasn’t hard work and the crowds weren’t too bad so the time went by fairly quickly.
There was an hour break between my two shifts so I took a walk around the neighborhood handing out postcards for another volunteer gig later this month, the Milwaukee Avenue Art Fair. I also took a walk to Jeri’s Grill on Western & Montrose for a double cheeseburger and more water.
When I reported for my second shift the two beer booths had enough people and they gave me the choice of leaving or trying something else. At that point I had been there 5.5 hours so I took a free beer from Great Lakes Brewing, listened to some reggae and then headed home early.
All in all it was a nice day and good to have one more done. This is number twenty one and now just 29 to go!