Dear Volunteers,

I've been trying for two days to find the right words to express…can't even use words like: Thanks, Gratitude, Appreciation because they're not big enough.

Together we make an amazing thing happen, and each year we see improvements: in the site, in the creative ideas, in the quality and quantity of workshops, in the smoothing out of our kinks. It may not look it to those of you in some of the crunch jobs, but much of the feedback I've heard so far compliments us on our high level of organization. We look that way because we have Patty Kenyon holding all our details and doing the job of three people. Because of Matt Kenyon with his amazing and fearless capabilities to make the site work, sometimes conjuring water out of stone. Because of Marshall's amazing spirit and humanity setting the respectful tone that emanates the minute people step on site. And because of Melody's graciousness and generosity.

And all of you who have stepped in to hold huge parts of the responsibility:

• Jenny Munyak in the Box Office, aided this year by Rachel Fredette;
• Laura Daubenspeck as the brilliance behind the vendors' intake and placement and management;
• Michael Fannin never leaving his post to make sure the VIP Gate is excellent;
• Chip Mauck doing what it takes to enable us to offer people yummy foods;
• Patty Smythe and Nan Gilmour and Todd Muller planning and serving those amazing meals;
• Carol Tashie taking on not only the responsibility and details of the Sales Area, but organizing many of the Workshops, landing us Francis Moore Lappé as keynote, AND engineering the Rutland Food Coop's wonderful donations to our Volunteer Kitchen;
• Dave Pyles donating hours and hours to put our program and advance promo together, including designing our own ads and laying out all else;
• Michael Sorce for continuing to provide us with the most professional lighting and sound and stage and hospitality in the region;
• Tom O'Brien staffing that stage;
• Robin Chesnut-Tangerman staffing the FRONT of that stage, of Family Stage and environs, and for all the building projects;
• Dave Munyak for being Matt's right hand man in all things;
• Kevin Kiefaber's humor and insights and taking up of slack in so many areas;
• David Lane being so on hand for site and Family Stage;
• Corey Best and Tom Moon for feeding the folks back there;
• Steve Goldsmith for bringing our communications into the 21st century, AND organizing the Solar Generation Workshop track, AND being on hand all weekend long to tech it:
• Chris Wetherby for Captaining those Workshop tents and for taking on and doing whatever needs to be done (including chauffering golf carts and finding us Michael Brogna, videographer);
• John Blittersdorf and John Jockell and Steve & Janice Kurkoski and Dan Brown and Oscar Daubenspeck for wrestling with the POWER;
• Wendy Fannin for her site decoration and design eye;
• Michelle Goldsmith being the constancy at Info;
• Glenn Tarbell's vision and energy for Theater in the Woods AND the beautiful bonfire, so important to so many;
• Hugh Coyle for managing the Singer/Songwriter Contest and staying so cheerful in the rain;
• Rosemary Moser and Shana Frank for making Kid's Corner the best it has ever been;
• Jesse Pyles as the ultimate Recycler, with great staff and best attitude;
• Kim Conway for being Volunteer Captain all weekend long;
• John Van Housen and Don Gray for getting all of those cars in and out of the parking lot safely;
• Yvonne Payrits helping me to wrestle the details of 290 people into a semblance of order, and for tracking those details;
• Joel Pliner for his tremendous effort and calming influence in the box office all weekend. (We could not have survived without him);
• Montserrat Carbonell for trying us out and being thrown into a position of stress and responsibility at Camping and handling it with grace;
• Reed Carr and Siobhan Philbin for being all things to all people;
• AND TO ALL OF YOU WORKING WITH THESE FOLKS AND GIVING US YOUR TIME AND ENERGY—SolarFest is the thing it is because of ALL of us. And so, we THANK YOU.

One more huge message of thanks…

…to Chris and Lydia Mathewson, affectionately known as Sign Czar and Sign Czarita who seamlessly picked up the never-ending and always confusing job of creation and production of our massive amounts of signage. You are both Awesome!

For me, the best part of SolarFest is feeling that we do this because of love. Perhaps that's the word.

Melissa
President, Solarfest Board of Trustees