Salute to Volunteers: CHH 25th Annual Sale by Clarice Shanks, sale co-chair.
A volunteer is a person who enters into any service of his own free will. That definition doesn’t sound like much until you volunteer to work at the C.H.H. Annual Sale. We had a total of 68 volunteers who racked up a total of 511 hours during the sale. Of those volunteers, 41 had entered items in the sale, 18 were members and 9 were family of members who were willing to help. They all worked very hard and each and every task they volunteered for was important and contributed to the success of the sale.
My Co-Chair, Kaye Evans and our QuickBooks Online guru, Bob Mathews began working last spring on computerizing the sales and inventory tracking system. The sale tags were revised and printed. Last year’s invitation was updated and a more economical printer was found. The mailing list was updated and HCCC provided labels of their mailing list, so there were 2000 invitations to mail. The “stick and stamp party” was set up before the September CHH meeting to help get the invitations mailed on time. Many publicity emails were sent and the sale information was posted on dozens of online event calendars. Even a Facebook Page was created to help promote the sale. Updated volunteer job descriptions were written. Laptops, printers and volunteers were recruited and trained to enter inventory and do computerized sales receipts.
Lynn Williams was able to adjust to a last minute change of room assignments at the Craft Center. She and her team of clerks did a fabulous job with check-in.
Tracy and her group of volunteers set up and staged all the member’s sale items beautifully in the Large Gallery at HCCC.
A new member, Dewayne Cushman, along with D’Anne Craft, Bob Mathews and Kaye Evans worked many hours at their laptops during the sale printing receipts for customers, then stayed after the sale closed inputting more data. Blaine and D’Anne worked several hours checking by hand for mistakes made opening night because it got so busy, taggers and cashiers had to start handwriting sales receipts. All the taggers, baggers, cashiers and floor sale clerks did a great job.
We had many members doing craft demonstrations: felting by Betsy Finger and Sherry Doty, tapestry weaving by Gerry Woodhouse and basket woven ornaments by Lynn Gammon. Diane Ferguson demonstrated weaving on a Weavette from the 50’s. I was trying to talk her into making the squares for a bed spread, kingsize! Peggy Barnette, Antje Goldflam and Gloria Chukman were caught showing folks how to spin wool on their spinning wheels. Linda Sura and Jean May were knitting cute little squiggly boas. They all did a great job and it looked like they were having fun.
So Volunteers, pat yourselves on the back because without all of you, we would not have a sale. Plus every weaver, spinner, dyer, jeweler, felter and crafter who worked all year long in order to have items in the sale needs to take a bow! We want to make sure we give all of you a standing ovation because you had $109,104.00 worth of merchandise in the sale opening night. That’s indicative of how much work all of you did in this last year.