Volunteers Make It HAPPEN!

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99% of the work done throughout the year at Fair Hill is done by volunteers.  Fence judges, ring stewards, scribes, and timers for horse trials.  Pulse takers, scribes, spotters, and timers for endurance.  Hazard judges, cones crew, timers, road crossing guards for Elk Creek CDE.  Admissions folks, tailgating hosts, fence judges, dressage ring stewards and scribes, set-up, clean-up, fence decorating, volunteer care, and a million other little tasks for the Dansko FHI Festival in the Country.  A Board of directors.  An Advisory Committee, who does the brunt of the "heavy lifting" for organizing.  And an Organizing Committee, consisting of everyone (some 30 people strong) who is in charge of their own little piece of the Festival - from Dressage to Stadium jumping to Kids Corner and Admissions and Decorations and Volunteers and Operations.  And everything else I have forgotten.

Some people (John Ryan, Bodgie Reed, Judy Thayer) have been here from the beginning.  When we come up with a "new" idea, inevitably one of those three will say "we've already tried that, and here's why it didn't work."  Some people are new this year, like Kara Buttimer, who we somehow talked in to being in charge of Merchandise.  Some volunteers are asked time after time after time to volunteer at horse trials and at the Festival, and they (amazingly) always say yes.  Some people just heard about us this year and signed up to help just for one four hour shift at the Festival.

No matter what your part is in this thing we call Fair Hill, we simply cannot operate without you.  Our volunteers MAKE IT HAPPEN.  And we are so very grateful.

Mulching cross country fences

EMT Tom, and Organizing Committee Member Barbara

VIP Tent hostess Barbara Bateman, who also is the ride manager for the Foxcatcher Endurance ride in the spring

Doer of everything at Fair Hill, and organizer of FHI Dressage, Bodgie Reed

Bodgie and her dressage ring set-up volunteers

Executive Director Charlie Colgan

Super volunteer John Ryan, one of Rupert's sisters, Rupert, and his wife take down galloping lanes on Monday

Painting

And Kathie Troutman (in charge of decorations, and hospitality) does MORE painting

Cross country fence decorating

Russ and Linda.  They help with phone lines, IT, vet box, galloping lanes, dog agility set up, etc etc etc

Super volunteer, Board member, Advisory Committee member, Horse Trials organizer, cross country organizer Judy Thayer (right)

Our corn pool was such a hit last year that Kathie Troutman (right) made a bigger one this year.  Diane Trefry (left)  had her arm twisted until she agreed to take over Special Events this fall.

Diane Trefry, Board member, organizer of Elk Creek CDE, and this year Diane stepped in to take care of Special Events for FHI

The radio guys.  We actually pay these guys to nap on the job...  :-)

Pony Clubbers who did the Opening Ceremony on Thursday

Volunteer Stadium set-up crew

A gator full of fence decorations

Russ, John, and Judy work on a water jump

Diane Trefry

Diane chats with announcer Brian O'Conner 

Ed Thayer

PRO Rider Sharon White and the Presidents Cup Pony Club competitors on a course walk Friday.  Thank you, Sharon!

Joanne Kricker, organizer of outriders

John Ryan, the man behind the scenes

Rupert's sister and brother-in-law came from Canada and England  to watch Fair Hill, and somehow Rupert roped them on to helping clean up on Monday

They may well win the award for "volunteer who came the farthest"

Backing the decorations in to the storage barn

Outriders do traffic control, answer questions, and provide fuzzy ponies for petting

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Thanks for being good ambassadors, outriders!

Volunteer tractor driver, driving a very full people mover

Rupert's sister during Monday clean-up

Rupert's sister from Canada, picking up galloping lanes on Monday

Rupert, John Ryan, and Rupert's sister, pulling up the galloping lanes

Rupert Rosetti, who is involved in almost every aspect of FHI.  During the Festival he's in charge of Operations.  Which pretty much means everything that makes things run smoothly.

Roger Hucker and Russ Budd, fixers and installers of all things with wires

Russ and Linda

VIP tent volunteers Jacquie Russell and Mary Iappolo

Sweet outrider horse

 The people mover gives Pony Clubbers a ride down to the Start Box for the Pony Club course walk

Rupert, Joanne Kricker, and another outrider

JoAnn Dawson organizes (and wrote, and produces, and narrates) the Horse Play

Nicole Heinrich, DNR Naturalist, and Emily Kilby, Fair Hill historian, at the Fair Hill Information Booth, with Nicole's box turtle.