9th Annual Fairy & Human Relations Congress
June 26 - 28, 2009
Skalitude Retreat Center ~ Twisp ~ Methow Valley ~ North Cascades ~ WA

Volunteering

There is a space on your registration form to note where you'd like to volunteer. You can do the timing and sign-up at registration when you get to the Congress.

Following are 12 full worktrades and 18 half worktrade positions we would like to fill for this year's Congress. (last updated 3/12/07)

We calculate the exchange rate as $10 hour which is 21.5 hours for a full worktrade and 11 hours for a half worktrade.
The worker bee crew is always full of wonderful people. It is a great way to experience the Congress.
We have a staff of about 35 people who coordinate various sections of the Congress. Some of them work for months in advance. Almost all of them are volunteer positions. In addition, almost everyone who attends helps out in some way or another, but we are happy to offer people admission waived or reduced in exchange for help in the key roles outlined below.

Which of the following positions do you think you are best suited for? What would you like to propose.

Contact Michael Pilarski: 360-927-1274
michael@fairycongress.com

Set-up
2 full worktrades and 4 half worktrades
Full worktrades work both Wednesday and Thursday. Half worktrades work Thursday. If people have time, we can use help even earlier. There is always lots of work to do. Carpentry and other practical skills are a plus.

Cook/kitchen
3 full worktrades and 6 half worktrades
1 full and 1 half WT filled. Must love cooking!
Preferably with experience cooking for large groups
Many other people will volunteer to help in the kitchen for short time periods. We are looking for members of the core crew. You would commit to particular meals. This means that you would miss some of the workshop periods. You would work out the particulars with our head cook, Aera.

Raw food/salad chefs
2 half worktrades.
These 2 people would each work half of the meals. They would be working but have the assistance of other kitchen volunteers. Their job is to insure that there is an adequate amount of salads and raw foods at each meal.

Kitchen dishwashing
1 full worktrade.
Position filled by Lee Baggett. This is the position of keeping up with the kitchen's pots and pans and cleaning needs. Assisted by volunteers.

Dishwashing lines
1 Full worktrade or two half worktrades.
Have hot water available and dish lines set up for all meals. Have it ready at the same time as meals are served (or within 10 minutes). Some people are first in line, eat quickly and then want to wash their plates and utensils.
Monitor the dish lines until the end of the meal period and then clean up the area. Replace hot soapy water and rinse water as needed. Add antiseptic to one of the rinse waters. We usually have two or three dishlines going during meals. We are prepared with enough basins, etc to have four lines going. The person coordinating this position will have to miss some of the periods just before and just after meals.
Volunteers will be solicited to give some breaks. Any volunteers need to be trained. It is inevitable that some personal dishes end up getting left uncleaned.
The coordinator or helper will a sweep of the dining area at the end of the meal to pick up dishes left.
The coordinator will be responsible for doing these stray dishes, though short term volunteers can be solicited.

Children
1 full worktrade
Isolde Perry is coordinating. Rachael Bruton is leading two activities: Faerie masks and making a fairy village. We are open to one full worktrade person, who would help coordinate it with Isolde.
Parents whose children use the space are requested to help and we encourage others to volunteer.

Sign-making
2 half worktrades
Must have artistic talent. We have some signs in stock from year to year, but new ones always have to be made. Perhaps some done ahead of time. Thursday at the latest.

Parking
1 Full worktrade or two half worktrades.
Must arrive early and lay out parking area. Monitor and direct parking in peak arrival times. Assisted by volunteers. Put up signs for slow periods when it is self-serve parking. Since our parking area is limited we have to do a good job parking.

First Aid
1 half worktrade
For someone with formal medical training that could be on call. Nurses, doctors, etc.

Port-a-potties
1 full worktrade
Monitor the port-a-potties and keep TP stocked and clean up any messes. We have a very well-mannered clientele.

Lodge cleaning
1 half worktrade
Check the lodge periodically to straighten things up, sweep the floor when necessary, etc. You would be working with Lindsey and Will, Skalitude's owners.

Cleanup/takedown
2 full worktrades and 2 half worktrades
Full worktrades work both Monday and Tuesday. Half worktrades work Monday. A lot of people stay and help out on Monday and there is always lots to be done.
Some people even do a bit of cleanup on Sunday before they leave. We need a couple extra hands on Tuesday to finish up. The goal is to be all done sometime on Tuesday afternoon.