A Huge Thank You…

This is a belated thank you letter from me, your SJ Update editor Tim Dustrude, to everyone who helped out with the photo exhibit at the Fair this year…

I was the superintendent of the photography exhibit at the Fair this year and it was sometimes almost overwhelming – scheduling, planning, brainstorming, connecting, creating…  and having never done it before, it was like shooting in the dark. Luckily I was mentored in the beginning by Bob Stavers, the superintendent of the last 5 years, and I would like to acknowledge him and say “Thanks Bob!

But there was one big failure on my part and I would like to try to make up for that here. I failed to publicly acknowledge and thank all the volunteers and judges that worked so hard to make this happen. I could not have done it without them. So here they are in alphabetical order:

• Mary Kate Berger – I’ve known Mary Kate for over ten years and she’s always been a positive, upbeat, enthusiastic person with a can-do attitude. She was one of the first people I contacted about helping out and was a huge confidence booster when she said “Yes”.
• Mike Bertrand – Mike is a great professional photographer and a full time employee of the Town of Friday Harbor. He has a full schedule but he made time to help out in the evening after a full day at work. Also one of the first to say “yes” he too was a big confidence boost. And having worked the photo exhibit in previous years, he was able to offer advice and pointers which were very helpful.
• Sandy Buckley – Sandy showed up on 3 different days to help out! She was there on Tuesday, the BIG set-up day, and also Thursday and Friday while the fair was running, helping out, answering questions, taking People’s Choice votes. Always cheerful, positive and eager to help out – she’s a great person to have on your side.
• Louise Dustrude – My wonderful mother. I can’t say enough about her – energetic, enthusiastic, helpful, funny, upbeat, positive… I could go on and on. (but I am kind of biased on this one… 🙂 )
• Shannon and Joanna Evans – The mom and daughter team – they both showed up in the evening and were a huge help and stayed past bedtime helping with photos and tallying results.
• Debbi Fincher – Another super-positive and energetic person who was a delight to have around. Rolled her sleeves up and got right to work accepting entries from the public and hanging them in the exhibit.
• Mark Gardner – An awesome professional photographer, Mark was there right at the beginning on Tuesday morning. Having also done this before, he knew exactly what to do and got right to it. Again, another positive, energetic, upbeat person who was a pleasure to work with.
• Deborah Goelzer – I met Deborah when I worked for Aeronautical Services, and we became good friends. I have always been impressed by her good attitude, great sense of humor and quick smile. Deborah showed up to help out, only to have me send her off to Printonyx for some last minute printed materials. She did that and actually came back and was cheerful, upbeat and very helpful.
• Mary Haselow – Mary is a fellow photographer, and co-leader of the Photo Club that is slowly coming together. Very helpful, very organized and ready to do whatever needed doing.
• Kevin Holmes – You’ve probably seen Kevin’s photos on the Update from time to time. He’s a great photographer and a human dynamo. Not only did he help out in the evening with everything, but he, Ian and Joanna pretty much took the paperwork task and ran with it, tallying and recording all the data that the Fair board needs.
• Keith Keyser – Keith had probably the best opportunity to turn me down when asked to volunteer as he was the one person who knew why I wanted him to call me back when I had left him a message. So when he returned my call, I was expecting to hear “sorry, but I won’t be available” or whatever, so I was quite surprised when, after asking me for more information, he said “yes!” Another huge confidence booster and a great help – working with the public and also hanging photos.
• Mike Martin – Mike has more energy than the law allows. Energetic, upbeat, funny, willing to help out. I just gotta remember the pizza next time.
• Dan Muller – Dan is a great photographer, relatively new to the island who telecommutes to his job in corporate America. Also a new father, he was able to stay and help out longer than expected and his help was greatly appreciated.
• Jan Murphy – Have I mentioned anyone with energy and a positive attitude yet? And humor? OMG!
• Scott Olinger – This was Scott’s first time helping out at the Fair. He showed up Tuesday morning, (for a shift before opening the Bowling Alley at noon), rolled his sleeves up and got right to work. Energetic and a great positive helping attitude.
• Aaron Shepard – Another great help who brought past experience with the photo exhibit to share. Attention to detail, willingness to work hard to make sure entries were filled out correctly and that they would be go into the appropriate class or section. It was great to have his eyes on things.
• Malcolm Suttles – When asked if he could do a shift, he said he could do TWO! A great photographer who is now building a house, Malcolm took time out from his busy schedule and worked from Noon to 6:00 PM, just quietly humming and whirring away like a well-oiled machine all afternoon. A great help (and another of the great confidence boosters early on).
• Tamara Weaver – Wow. A lover of music, art, photography and people, “Kitty Nevada” was on board from the beginning. Very upbeat and positive and another who, when asked if she could do a shift, said she could do TWO!

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And now, not exactly in Alphabetical Order… some very special recognition:

Gail & Randy (G’nR) Schnee – These guys own Cotton Cotton Cotton, a store in town that is open 7 days a week in August. They also manage The Storage Place across from the fairgrounds. They have full-time jobs and-then-some. They don’t see a whole lot of each other because when she is running one location, he is running the other and vice versa. And this time of year they have incredibly busy schedules. And yet, on top of all that, they each pulled 2 shifts helping out with the photo exhibit, one each during the day and then both of them in the evening for a total of 4 shifts on Tuesday. And then they came back to “man the booth” on Wednesday and Thursday! This was huge.

But perhaps more important than all that, in the weeks leading up to the Fair, they repeatedly told me:

“Hey! Whatever it takes. We’ve got your back and we’re going to help you make this happen. You just say what you need and it’s yours. You are not in this alone.”

Great friends, great positive energy, awesome can-do attitudes… Wonderful people to have at your side.

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Ian Byington – I really could not have done the photo exhibit without the help of my very good friend, Ian. (well maybe I could have, but even now people would  still be lined up all the way across the street, blocking traffic, trying to get their photos entered)

Ian took time out from all that he’s doing building business and community in his new home of Victoria BC, and came to Friday Harbor to stay for 3 days before the fair to help me plan, brainstorm, envision, problem solve, create, schedule, organize, and do all the other things necessary to make this thing happen.

Neither of us had ever done this before so we had no idea what to expect on Entry Day, the big 14-hour Tuesday before the fair opened. We had to imagine what could go wrong and plan how to prevent it. We had to imagine what could go right and make sure it would. Ian brought his careful, focused thinking and organization with him.

And here is a very important note about his character – Weeks ago, when I was wondering what I’d gotten myself into and was seriously considering bailing on the whole thing, Ian told me:

“Well you better bail now, while they still have time to find a replacement”.

Very, very good advice. Which I didn’t take. I put it off until it was too late to bail. At which point he could have easily said:

“I told you so… you’re in some deep crap now, sleeping in the bed you made…”

but instead he stepped up, cleared his schedule, and came over for an extended visit and helped make this whole thing come together.

And get this – you all know Ian, and how community-minded he is. He was unable to stay for the fair and see the fruits of his labor. He had to return to Victoria for prior commitments on the day the fair opened. So this was all a very selfless thing he did for the exhibit. I cannot thank him enough.

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Shannon Dean – And finally, my beautiful wife Shannon. None of this would be here without her. Back in February when I was first approached about being Superintendent, it was Shannon’s enthusiastic support that made me decide to do it. She also said she would take the week off and help. And then due to a screw up at work, she was unable to take the time off for big Tuesday. OMG what a huge setback! And yes, I panicked. But she made up for it in spades. (and then she was able to help out on the last couple of days as well).

I mentioned “confidence” a few times above… My biggest fear was the unknown. How could I problem solve and prepare for all the potential snags when I didn’t even know what the snags were? Shannon was the constant, steadfast, reassuring voice telling me,

“I know you can, I know you can…”

…like the little engine that could. She was my shoulder to lean on, my sounding board to bounce ideas off of, and she was my biggest supporter thoughout this whole process. She’s the one who said,

“When it’s all over, you’ll be so glad you did it.”

And you know what? Once again, she was right!

Thank you Shannon! And thank you everyone! You are all great, awesome people.

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