Making Wine

My husband came across an article in our local paper which featured three local wineries. One of them talked about having volunteers come in and help with the harvest, so he signed us up to go. Despite the hot weather, hard work, and sunburn, we had a great time. 

There were about 20 volunteers and we picked for almost three hours and got a lot of grapes. I am not sure, but I think the woman told us it was a half a ton, but it could have been more. There were lots of yellow jackets flying around, but they were more interested in the grapes than us.

As a thank you for picking , we were given a wonderful lunch, a t-shirt, and a bottle, each, of wine. We have not broken into them, but we had a sampling of some at the winery afterwards and they were very good. The winery is located in Douglassville, and they have a website. https://www.manatawnycreekwinery.com/

Clean Up

This weekend I participated in a clean up of Norristown organized by a young person.  He goes to college in Norfolk VA now and has worked with the Disney Corporation doing college recruitment. I know that Disney has a long history with volunteerism and I guess that is how he learned some tips on organizing. As with young people the organizing was done online through a site called Indiegogo.  It is a way to raise money for a number of things and they have capabilities to help non-profits and get projects going.

I was really impressed with his dedication and organization.  He had a plan and food, water, and supplies for the volunteers.  While I was disappointed in the turnout, as I am sure he was, the dozen or so who were there accomplished a lot.  I met people from Norristown that I had not met before and we did a good job cleaning two alleys and four blocks.  I was chuckling because I was trying to imagine what the residents on the blocks we were cleaning were thinking.  I guess they just thought we were DUIs doing community service and didn't pay us much mind, but I was kind of hoping they would get inspired and come out and help.  After all we were cleaning up on their neighborhood and picking up their trash, but I guess that was hoping too much.

While the part of Norristown that we cleaned was not that bad, there are worse and they are scheduled for different days.  The site allows one to suggest areas that need attention.  I admire this young person for taking on this responsibility.  I talked to him before we started going and asked where he hoped this would go.  He did indicate that he would like to see people taking on the responsibility of doing it themselves by learning from the group. Kind of a "teach a man to fish" kind of thing.  I only hope for this town that people get the lesson.

Community Involvement

We each have a responsibility to the next generation. ~ Deval Patrick

Community or civic involvement is very important to do and there are many benefits, both personal and for the community, that are realized by being active.  However, these days less and less people are getting involved.  Whether it is because they lack the time or the interest, people are less likely to “work for free” no matter what the cause.  It seems as if this is not just an American phenomenon, as I recently read a blog from a mom in Australia who said the same thing. She remarked that we are turning into a ‘what’s in it for me’ society.

The company that I work for offers a volunteer day off as a way to foster community involvement in its workers.  I don’t take advantage as for the last 20 years I have volunteered and are currently active in several groups.  I guess being involved like that I wonder why others are not.  It offers a great sense of self satisfaction and the skills learned from working with others can help in my daily job.  Plus there is the networking aspect of it where you get to meet a lot of people that you might not have gotten to meet otherwise.

But the most disturbing thing about what is happening is that our future generations will likely suffer as a result.  Non-profit organizations that serve the needy, the hungry, the disabled, and so many other deserving individuals will surely suffer as a result.  They don’t have the money to pay for staff and the money they do raise has to go directly into the programs they are running.  We need to find a way to incentivize the aspect of community involvement without offering monetary or tangible gains.  Until people realize that doing good for others does yourself a lot of good especially with feeling good mentally, less and less people will be willing to do something for nothing.

2nd Annual Arts Hill Festival

The air was crisp and clean as I awoke at 5am to start my day on Saturday.  I smelled the coffee perking and knew that even though it was a weekend that it was going to be a good day.  It was Arts Hill Festival day and the weather promised to be perfect for the event.  It was perfect.  My husband and I got dressed, grabbed our coffees, and headed on down to the volunteer tent at the corner of Main and DeKalb.  The public works department had started already and were hard at work distributing tables and chairs, which we helped get off the trucks.  The lighting guys arrived and we sprang to work running the cable from the generators to the stage and hooking up the lights. 

I was then asked to help with the vendor admittance.  I was given a clipboard and asked to stand at the intersection at the barricades.  My job was simple.  When the vendors came up, I was to ask them their names and direct them to a runner who would take them to their assigned spot on the street.  People stared at us driving down Main St, and we got a good laugh at the unaware drivers who would pull into the left hand turn lane on Main St, put their signal on and attempt to turn onto DeKalb St before noticing there were barriers there.  Then they would see their way was blocked and they would get angry and try to drive off.  Several people who worked at the post office or at the flower shop on DeKalb were annoyed even though they knew this was the setup for several months.  I felt an enormous feeling of power holding a clipboard and pen, for some reason.  I controlled who got in and who didn’t.

After doing that for a while, I was asked to come back and help the sound guy who had just arrived.  The person is extremely good at what they do, but he is not really good to work for as he rarely asks for help.  I spent a good portion of my time with him just waiting for him to ask me to do something.  We then went up to the second and third tent to finalize the system setup and the show was on.  Finally I was able to relax and enjoy the shows, and some of the acts were very enjoyable!

After all the acts had performed and the food was eaten and people had schmoozed, the day was over and it was time to strike the sets and pack up.  It took about two hours of coiling cables, hoisting heavy speakers, and wheeling large trunks into a truck and we were finished.  After a beautiful day, the clouds broke through and a fine rain came down as if God was crying that it was over.  This year’s festival was history and plans were waiting for next years.  If you were there, then you knew that it was a great event.  If you were not there, I hope you have the opportunity to experience it next year.