Please note the volunteer time slots are only 2 hours long. When your slot is over, you can continue to enjoy the festival.

Below is more information from Kate Monaghan, Volunteer Coordinator:

The 2010 Music City Hot Chicken Festival is gearing up and we need you…

Nashville’s fourth annual 4th of July Hot Chicken festival is gearing up for another celebration of all that’s hot about Nashville. As always, volunteers are a critical ingredient.

The festival’s hours have been extended this year from Noon – 5:00 p.m. which means we’ll need extra volunteers. You, and anyone you can encourage to join us, will be especially appreciated this year.

There are many volunteer positions available and volunteers willing to do “whatever” are also greatly appreciated. If you’d like to join the volunteer corps this July 4th, e-mail kate@partneringservices.com and indicate which activity and time slot you’d like.

Here are this year’s volunteer positions and shifts:

Event set-up (10:00 – NOON)
Event clean-up (5:00 – 6:30)
T-shirt & souvenir sales (Noon -1:45, 1:45 – 3:30 & 3:30 – 5:00)
Beer Garden sales, serving and ID check (Noon -1:45, 1:45 – 3:30 & 3:30 – 5:00)
Non-alcoholic beverage sales (Noon -1:45, 1:45 – 3:30 & 3:30 – 5:00)
Children’s activities, including inflatables and face painting (Noon -1:45, 1:45 – 3:30 & 3:30 – 5:00)
Hot Chicken samples (11:00-1:00)
Entertainment area (Noon -1:45, 1:45 – 3:30 & 3:30 – 5:00)
Trash Patrol (Noon -1:45, 1:45 – 3:30 & 3:30 – 5:00)
Volunteer tent (10:00-Noon, Noon-1:45 & 1:45-3:30)
Watermelon giveaway (11:00-1:00 & 1:00-3:00)
Parking direction (Noon -1:45, 1:45 – 3:30 & 3:30 – 5:00)

About the Music City Hot Chicken Festival:

As always, the Music City Hot Chicken Festival is a free event featuring hot chicken and other local culinary delights, professional & amateur cooking competitions, face painting and inflatables for the kids, the Yazoo Brewery Beer Garden for the grownups, and home-grown Nashville music. The festival is held on Sunday, July 4th in East Nashville’s own East Park at 700 Woodland Street.

The first 500 festival attendees are treated to free hot chicken samples. After the free bird is gone, there’s more hot chicken available for purchase and lots of other food specialties both hot and cold.

It’s a fabulous, unique-to-Nashville event that has become a 4th of July tradition for many Nashvillians. Join us!

Kate Monaghan, Volunteer Coordinator

It’s time again for the 8th Annual Catfish Rodeo and Water Festival . I am reaching out to all you wonderful volunteers to determine your availability and interest to help us out again. We are really excited to have this event again, especially at Shelby Park after the flood!

We have tested the waters and we are a go! Governor Phil Bredesen also declared June “Tennessee Great Outdoors Month.” To review a copy of the declaration go to:
http://www.tnwfconservation.org/images/pdf/tngreatoutdoorsmonthjune.pdf

We have volunteer needs from 5:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. in two hour shifts. Tasks include registration, helping kids bait their hooks, scavenger hunt, assist with games, face painting, and more. Please invite friends and coworkers to come out to this exciting event. Last year we had over 500 young fisherman and another 200 enjoying the water festival. Stay the whole day or just a portion so you too can enjoy this FREE FAMILY festival!

Laura Alex
Watersheds Program Director Cumberland River Compact lauraa@cumberlandrivercompact.org
615-469-5962 work

If you would like to assist those volunteers with the cleanup, please report to the Old Timers Field at 10:00 a.m.

More information on the Old Timers Organization is available here:

http://www.otbaseball.com/

NOTE: ANYONE INTERESTED MUST REGISTER WITH SANDY BIVENS(sandy.bivens@nashville.gov or call her at 615-352-6299) The deadline for registration is Monday, March 22nd.

If you are not a member of Friends of Shelby, please come join us in our efforts to support Metro Parks and preserve our greenspace.

If you want onsite training before our session at Shelby Park, Friends of Warner Park is having an actual workday to remove exotic invasive plants on March 6 at 9:00. Sign up with sandy.bivens@nashville.gov.

We are planning on a great, fun meeting with:

* Food!
* Updates on the master plan process
* Chance to learn more about Friends of Shelby
* Chance to join Friends of Shelby

Dues for the organization are just $10/family or household per year. Come Saturday and find out how you can help.

On Saturday, June 6, the Catfish Rodeo will give 600 children (ages 5 to 16) the opportunity to fish for free in Shelby Park’s Lake Sevier! The Cumberland River Compact needs your help to make this event a success, though. If you can volunteer some time that day, please contact Laura Alex (lauraa@cumberlandrivercompact.org or 615-469-5962) at the Cumberland River Compact. Tell her the Friends of Shelby Park sent you!

Learn more about the Catfish Rodeo on the compact’s website.