The much-anticipated annual Larry Cohen seminar this past weekend was a huge success and a great learning experience for the attendees. A last-minute logistical glitch creating a Sunday parking problem was resolved by Unit 503 members’ generous response to an SOS email blast. The patience and cooperation of our seminar attendees was greatly appreciated!
A huge “thank you” to the following people:
The Groundwork:
- Valerie Baldwin – Organizing and Preliminary Planning
- Alan Templeton – Posting all of the signup information on our website
- Carolyn Chaney – Managing the entries
Just Before the Event :
- Paul Davis for querying IFES about some strange vehicles that appeared in the parking lot. Learning that there was a huge event on Sunday (not on their calendar!), Paul’s timely reporting enabled us to come up with an effective plan of action. He also arranged for alternate parking on Sunday in case it was needed.
The Event :
- Cathy Priest, with her son, Donnie, did a fabulous job serving fruit and other breakfast treats
- Josephine Ventura, Jennifer Shepherd and Jim Harris prepared delicious lunches for everyone. Josephine and Jennifer were there most of both days, either preparing or cleaning up. There were 100 people on Saturday and 60 on Sunday (fewer students than normal on Sunday due to Mother’s Day and a San Mateo unit game).
- Sue Griswold, who not only registered people on both days (with help from Barbara Shukov on Saturday), but also came up with the suggestion of having people park at Stevenson Elementary School.
- Alan Templeton, who made sure all of our AV equipment was up and running and did whatever else was needed during the weekend.
- David Puryear, who investigated Stevenson parking, enabling us to clearly communicate the plan in advance, and who later took over as contact person for the other shuttle drivers – freeing me to fight other potential fires.
- Barbara Shukov, who helped on Saturday and sent out the email blast asking for last minute shuttle drivers.
- Alan Cummings for filling in wherever needed.
A special thanks to the over 20 people who volunteered on very short notice to be shuttle drivers Mother’s Day morning. Thank you to Ed Lechner, Donna Raynor, Brenda Hatton and David Puryear for stepping up and shuttling people in the morning and Marla Kravatz, for your help in the afternoon.
And to Larry Cohen, who couldn’t have been more gracious in the face of potential cancellation of the Sunday seminar – not to mention the loud band music he had to talk over during some of his seminar. People loved it – he’s the best! I understand Larry’s next West Coast jaunt will be in 2020.
Everything all worked out in the end – it was just a little stressful getting there 😉
It takes a village – we love our volunteers!
Sincerely.
Lori Spaeth
We need your help.
The large amount of volunteer support for this seminar shows what volunteers can do for an organization!
There are many things required to maintain the unique character of our Unit. Of utmost importance is our Firecracker Tournament because it provides the financial backbone for our unit. Other pressing needs include Bridge Center facility management and photography/marketing skills for our revamped website which is under development.
We strongly encourage you to volunteer. You will not only find it rewarding but will develop a special connection to many wonderful people.