2004 Year in Review

Paint the Town asking for Volunteers

Most of us that have been to Paint the Town get uptown the day of the event and see the hundreds of pre-painted square frames. We pick up our T-shirt, paint our squares, and marvel what an amazing day it is.

But for a very small and dedicated group, a year has gone into the planning. CAPA volunteers begin with monthly meetings and breaking down into committees to start the planning process. As the event gets closer meeting go from once per week to two meetings each week. The problem is, the event burns out even the best volunteer. A few years ago when they only did 600 squares only 4 board members did all the work.

At Thursday night’s meeting, CAPA invited the public to start pitching in and distributing the responsibility and time among more volunteers. Currently there are only 7 members of the board but they have until September 2005 before the next Paint the Town. They need help and lots of it. Many of those at the meeting did not want to see the event end.

Former president and event chairman Barb Bees explained there are eight committees and ideally they would like 5-10 people on each committee. Only about 6 or 7 interested persons showed up for the meeting so many more are needed. Even more are needed the day of the event.

The eight committees are Sponsorship, Publicity, Design, VIP, Streets, Registration, Entertainment, and Food & Activities. Some committees have a lot of preplanning others are only busy the day of the event. They also need to work with each other and communicate needs. For example the Entertainment Committee would have to tell the Design Committee to make posters for them.

Sponsorship is essential; otherwise families would have to pay $25 for each square instead of the $10 now paid. Publicity works with the media, keeps up the Web site, and keeps a photographic record of the event. The VIP group coordinates volunteers, entertainers, and VIP’s the day of the event along with troubleshooting. The Streets Committee paints the squares, sets up the downtown with stages and tables, sets up the barricades, and picks up trash. The Registration Committee sets up the table for pre-registered and walk on registration the day of the event. They handle all supplies, pack the bags and collect fees and make up the databases ahead of time. The Entertainment Committee researches the entertainment, negotiates contracts, designs and sets up the stage, gets a Master of Ceremony and writes the scripts. The Food and Activity Committee arranges the Food Court so vendors don’t duplicate foods and they coordinate all the activities.

Paint the Town needs between 40-80 volunteers to plan the event. If you are interested in keeping this tradition alive call Event Chairman, Barb Bees at 772-2670 or CAPA President, Sarah Thorndike at 772-7936.

by Barb Benson, theCity1.com
March 26, 2004