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FALL FESTIVAL 2014
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Festival chairman finds ‘joy’ in volunteer job
Eric Joy learned a few things of
importance during his first year as
president of the Fall Festival
Committee last year.
The most important, he said, is “If it
ain't broke, don't fix it.” The second was
that if it is “broke” do what you can to
improve the situation. That's the reason
Joy is urging Fall Festival visitors to
take advantage of the free parking and
shuttle service available this year. For
the second year, Praise Baptist Church,
45000 Territorial Road, will offer free
parking and free shuttle service to and
fromthe festival.
“That's something I would urge folks
to take advantage of. With the crowds, it
is really a convenience and the church
members handle it verywell.”
And the third lesson he learned was
that people all tend to put things off
until the very lastminute.
“I still have people callingme asking
for booth space. People don't under-
stand that this is a huge event and it
takes time. We have to map out these
booths and be sure we have the right
amount of space and know how much
of the street wewill take up,” he said.
But other than that, Joy said the
event has been, well, a joy.
“The only thing we ever fear is the
weather. If it rains, people stay home
anddon't enjoy the festival,” he said.
He did have a few minor situations
at the event last year. “We get an aver-
age of two lost kids every year. One of
the booths will have some poor child
standing in front of it crying and they
will call me,” he said. “I call James
(Geitzen of JAG Entertainment) and he
will make an announcement over the
PA system. We call the police and let
them know and then we give the kid an
ice cream and it's usually only a few
minutes before mom and dad show
up,” he said.
The other issue he hears the most
about, “because I think I'm the easiest
to get ahold of,” is lost items.
Joy, a Plymouth native, has been
involved with the festival for more than
Eric Joy
See
Joy,
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