'It's difficult to find volunteers'
Continued success of Long John Jamboree depends on residents willing to put in the hours
Cody Punter
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, April 2, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Long John Jamboree has completed its third successful year, further establishing itself as a replacement for the Caribou Carnival.
Jean Escalante, a volunteer at Long John Jamboree, shows off his dance moves on the Snow Stage on Sunday. The festival's organizers say they will need people who are willing to run the festival to step up to the plate to ensure its future success. - Candace Thomson/NNSL photo |
But if the event wants to maintain this level of success, more volunteers are going to be needed in the future, one organizer said.
"It's difficult to find volunteers and we always need more," said Adrian Bell, the head of fundraising of the Jamboree and the event's founding president.
"We've forgone a lot of the things we'd like to do because we don't have enough volunteers."
While hundreds, if not thousands, of Yellowknifers and tourists alike braved the cold weather on the lake, Bell said organizers were only able to recruit about half of 120 volunteers they had anticipated would be required to run the event.
Janet Pacey, vice-president of the Long John Jamboree, said those people that did show up to help, ranging from children to senior citizens, were "super dedicated."
"Some people recognized that we were lacking and they offered to do an extra shift or stay the whole day," she said.
"But it did seem like there were a lot less volunteers this year."
One of the greatest challenges moving forward will be dealing with the fact that the three-year terms of the festival's founding board members - including those of Bell and Pacey - are currently coming to an end.
Bell said the length of the terms of outgoing board members will be staggered while its size has been expanded to make that transition easier. However, it will be difficult to replace the enthusiasm and energy that existing board members brought to the table.
"It's not only the folks on the board, but their team-members and the teams that are responsible for the various events that are involved in the weeks and months leading up to the event," he said.
"Everyone has an impact. But it's the hundreds of hours that are hard to replace"
Although Pacey admitted that filling the shoes of existing board members would be "tough," she said she was also optimistic about the potential for new opportunities.
"It's always hard to give that knowledge over to somebody else. At the same time, new people and new ideas are really welcome," she said.
Over the course of the weekend, Pacey said she
was approached by at least four people who said they wanted to sit on the Jamboree's board.
Some of them were even on the front lines last weekend.
"Even after spending all that time on the ice and in the cold, they were putting their names forward to be on the board," she said.
She said the board has already started to raise funds for next year's Jamboree and will be holding some volunteer recruitment events in the lead up the AGM, which will take place this fall.
"This is a town where people are generally willing to help," said Bell.
"Sometimes, it's just our ability to connect the willing volunteers with a suitable position that's a challenge."
