ECFNC Blue Kestrel Café at the Hawk Festival, Sept. 15th and 16th
Written JoAnn Grondin for The Egret – Issue 34 – Number 4
The Planning Committee for this fund raiser met at a local restaurant on July 30th. Planning the event were Cathy Lapain, Carl Maiolani, Andy Paul, Aileen Petrozzi and myself. Here we decide who is going to bring what to Holiday Beach.
Our bakers of muffins and/or cookies and squares were Cathy Lapain, Carl Maiolani, Aileen Petrozzi, Andy Paul, Jessica Middleton, Shirley Grondin and me. We met around 8:00 am at Holiday Beach to unload the supplies from five cars and then move the cars to the parking lot. Jessica also helped to unload cars and set up. We decide where to place everything and get organized so that we can keep things flowing when the crowds come. We are all settled before 9:00 am with the coffee made. All we needed were the people to come – If you build it, they will come – right?
Unfortunately, the morning of Saturday the 15th was warm and foggy. The fog lifted by noon, but it continued to be a very hot day. The breeze helped, when it was there; the flies were ignoring the bug spray so they were well fed. Andy Paul did the barbequing for the day. The cooking tent got really hot throughout the day. Manning the tables in the morning were Cathy Lapain, Jessica Middleton, Ralph Benoit, and Aileen Petrozzi. Our afternoon volunteers scheduled were Jessica, Aileen, Carl, and myself. Ralph stayed into the afternoon and everyone helped where they were needed. When the wind is from the North there are lots of birds to band and present to the crowds. The crowds were down for the day as the heat continued throughout the day and the North morning wind changed direction.
On Sunday, the 16th, the supplies were dropped off around 8:00 am by Carl Maiolani, Aileen Petrozzi and myself. Tim Shortridge and Bob Hall-Brooks also helped to unload. We were quickly setup, with coffee made, with more flies than crowds of people. It continued to be a hot day, with a North wind in the morning, changing in the afternoon. Tim did the barbequing for the day; the barbequing tent also became very hot as the day progressed. Our morning volunteers manning the tables were Aileen Petrozzi, Paula O’Rourke, Aidan O’Rourke, Pauline Renaud and myself. Our afternoon volunteers were Andy Paul, Jessica Middleton, Pauline, and Aileen. Carl and I assisted where needed. The crowds were down again on Sun. With the morning winds changing and the heat, there were very few birds to show to the crowds in the afternoon.
Despite the weather being uncooperative, the weekend overall went reasonably well. We made a bit less than last year, but we worked hard and we did well, because of all our volunteers, ages ranging from 12 to 72. A thank you to the members who supported us by stopping by to eat and say hello. A big THANK YOU to all the volunteers! We couldn’t do this without your help!
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