VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

2011 NORTH FLORIDA FAIR
NOVEMBER 3 - 13, 2011

Volunteer Information Sheet

 To be a part of the fun the volunteer information sheet must be received by October 15th, 2011.

The 70th Annual North Florida Fair will be held from November 3rd - November 13th, 2011. The search for volunteers is on! If you are interested in entertainment, livestock, agriculture, marketing, home or fine arts you may want to checkout this opportunity. The Fair has a small full-time staff and depends heavily on volunteers from the community. The experience is like no other and the fun never stops. If you are looking for an avenue to fill your service hours for school or just want to see what it takes to pull off an event this big, we would love to see your smiling face.

School Tours

The school tour program runs for four days this year, Monday, November 7, Tuesday, November 8, Wednesday, November 9 and Thursday, November 10. Children from Pre-K through 3rd grade, as well as special needs children, spend the morning at the North Florida Fair touring the barns and the petting zoo. They are also entertained for about twenty minutes by one of our children's acts. Two tours are run per day at 9:15 AM, 11:00 AM. The North Florida Fair is closed at this time. Depending on the children's needs, a tour may be as large as 400 students or as small as 50. Schools are required to have one chaperone for every five children. Volunteers are needed from 8:30 AM until 1:00 PM each of the four days. This position requires an excellent rapport with children and their chaperones. It also requires some standing during the tours.
 
Fine Arts Department

Registration for all of the fine arts entries at the North Florida Fair takes place on Friday, October 28 from 11:00 AM until 7:00 PM and on Saturday, October 29th from 10:00 AM until 5:00 PM. Each entry must be checked in and tagged; a receipt is then given to the owner. Pieces must be separated by type, e.g. oil paintings, photography, pencil drawings, pottery, etc. On Sunday, all of the entries are hung or placed on display. We receive hundreds and hundreds of works each year, so the task is very time consuming. Our chairperson for the Fine Arts Department, sincerely welcomes any assistance that can be given during registration and display.

Youth Ag-tivities

The Youth Ag-tivities Project is open to the general public during the run of the fair and is located in our agricultural building where many of the exhibits are interactive. Guests can run their hands through baskets filled with colorful grains and seeds, make butter, and construct a seed necklace that will sprout within 24 - 48 hours of visiting the fair. Volunteers are needed to teach fair guests how to make butter from cream, and how to construct a seed necklace. Also in this building is the Harvest Decorating.  From time to time, throughout the Fair, this exhibit will need someone to check on the "status" of the veggies to ensure that there have been no spills and to remove any item that may be going bad.  Any discarded items should have the entry tag removed and taken to the office. Volunteers are needed at various times from opening until the time buildings close each evening. The fair opens at 5:00 PM on weekdays. Buildings close on weekdays at 10:00 PM, except Fridays when they close at 11:00 PM. Saturdays, the fair opens at noon, and buildings close at 11:00 PM. Sundays, the fair opens at noon, and buildings close at 8:00 PM.

Vendor Booth Judges 

November 3, 2011, opening day of the Fair!  What an exciting time this is, and a time when the judging of vendor booths takes place.  We need volunteers willing to walk around to the various booths; it takes about two (2) hours.  You will judge the booths on certain criteria that will be listed on the judging sheet you are given.

Livestock

If you enjoy working with animals, then this is for you!  During the run of the 11-day Fair we are in constant need of volunteers to assist the chairpersons and their aides in the general cleaning of the cattle, goat and poultry barns.  Although not the most pleasant of chores, it is none the less one that must be done. 

General Clean-up

Blessed are those who help us pick up the litter and trash. Obviously, this is an ongoing need starting about two hours after the fair opens each day and ending about the time the buildings close each night. The fair opens at 5:00 PM on weekdays. Buildings close on weekdays at 10:00 PM, except Fridays when they close at 11:00 PM. Saturdays, the fair opens at noon, and buildings close at 11:00 PM. Sundays, the fair opens at noon, and buildings close at 8:00 PM.

Cattle Barn Exhibit

This is a NEW exhibit to the Fair in 2011 and we are excited!!  This exhibit is open to the general public during the run of the Fair.  Children and adults alike can learn to milk a life-sized fiberglass dairy cow (who moos when you milk her!).  Volunteers are needed for various activities that will be going on in this barn...from teaching Fair guests how to milk the cow to dressing up as a cow (costume provided) to greet all who enter the exhibit, what fun! We even need volunteers to churn butter, the old fashioned way!  Volunteers are needed from opening until the time buildings close each evening.  The fair opens at 5:00 PM on weekdays. Buildings close on weekdays at 10:00 PM, except Fridays when they close at 11:00 PM. Saturdays, the fair opens at noon, and buildings close at 11:00 PM. Sundays, the fair opens at noon, and buildings close at 8:00 PM.

Office Duties/Clerical

Phone calls requesting information about the Fair start coming into our office on a regular basis in mid-October and last through the end of the Fair in mid-November.  Having volunteers answer the telephones, greet visitors and perform other general clerical tasks is very helpful and genuinely appreciated.  The office opens at 8:00 AM and is open until 5:00 PM on weekdays through Friday, October 28th.  On Monday, October 31st, the office starts keeping late hours - open until 8:00 PM through November 2nd, then will be open until the Fair closes each evening through November 13th. Previous office/administrative experience would be helpful. 

Public Relations

Each evening during the eleven-day run of the Fair, announcements are made on the Fair's public address system.  We need adults with pleasant "radio announcer" voices and clear diction to make announcements for our vendors, sponsors, and coming attractions each evening.  The public address system announcer is seated in the information booth at the Fairgrounds and, between announcements, can assist our Guest Services Manager with other miscellaneous tasks.  This person would also serve as liaison beween vendors and the concessions manager, the soda representative and servicemen, maintenance department and other staff. Maintain suggestion box and in general provide a positive reception of issues that arise wih both vendors and patrons.  Volunteers are needed from opening until the time buildings close each evening.  The fair opens at 5:00 PM on weekdays. Buildings close on weekdays at 10:00 PM, except Fridays when they close at 11:00 PM. Saturdays, the fair opens at noon, and buildings close at 11:00 PM. Sundays, the fair opens at noon, and buildings close at 8:00 PM.

Volunteer Information Sheet