The organizers of the Carnduff and District Music and Arts Festival are looking for a few more people to join the board, and ease the strain on their existing board members.
Pamela Dmytriw, who is the president of the festival’s board, said they had nine positions available when they issued an appeal for board members last year. A couple of people have expressed an interest in joining the board, leaving them with seven spots to fill.
They currently have seven board members.
“Our goal, actually, was to take some of the really large positions and break them into smaller pieces, so they would be more appealing to volunteers,” said Dmytriw.
If all of the board positions are filled, then Dmytriw estimates the board members would face a workload of about 25-30 hours per year.
“We’re not asking for a huge commitment, but we are asking for some help to make the festival run smoothly,” said Dmytriw.
Some of the board members have had to commit up to 250 hours of volunteer work each year, and Dmytriw believes that’s a lot for anybody. Breaking the commitment into smaller pieces should help.
“Some of the positions are technology-based, so keeping up with our advertising, dealing with social media, some of those positions are still available,” said Dmytriw.
The festival is also still looking for a secretary, which is an important role on the board.
She is proud of all of the volunteers they have had in the past.
Most of the volunteer work is in the weeks leading up to the festival, or during the event itself. The 2019 festival, which will be the 60th edition, will run from March 9-14.
There was some talk about the festival not happening next year if the festival didn’t get enough board members. But since they are getting ready for the 60th festival, Dmytriw said they should be able to carry on for next year, despite the need for additional assistance.
“We still anticipate approximately 300 entries from approximately 120-125 entrants,” she said. “There are lots of community members who participate, and we hope that it’s something that is important enough to them that they would like to help it be maintained and be something to participate in.”
The festival attracts performers from nine communities in the southeast, and they have board members from many of those communities. They also alternate their meetings between Oxbow and Carnduff to make it easier on board members from outside of Carnduff.
