[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”3.22.6″][et_pb_fullwidth_header admin_label=”page title” _builder_version=”3.22.6″ _dynamic_attributes=”title” title_font_size=”64px” subhead_font_size=”25px” background_color=”#ffffff” background_layout=”light” max_width=”100%” button_one_letter_spacing_hover=”0″ button_two_letter_spacing_hover=”0″ global_module=”426″ saved_tabs=”all” button_one_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”on” button_one_letter_spacing__hover=”0″ button_two_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”on” button_two_letter_spacing__hover=”0″ button_one_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” title=”Strawberry Festival Handbook”][/et_pb_fullwidth_header][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”3.22.3″ custom_padding=”0px|||||”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.22.6″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.22.6″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.22.6″]

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Overview

    Volunteers bake items at home and bring them to the bake sale booth at Strawberry Festival on Saturday before10:00. These items are sold from 10:00 until 3:00.

Volunteers needed

    Eight for baking, two for the first hour, and one at a time for sales.

Equipment needed

    2 long tables (from the Meetinghouse basement)
    2 folding chairs
    Table cloth
    Sharp knife
    Plastic baggies
    Paper plates
    Plastic forks
    Marker and peel-off labels for pricing
    Boxes and bags for carrying things home

Guidelines

  • Recruit as many bakers as possible during the weeks before the festival.
  • Need two people at the beginning to help set up, accept donations, set everything out, and price the items to be sold.
  • Sell treats to be eaten right away as well as goods to be taken home.
  • Avoid store-bought items and pies (especially meringue or cream) that may melt in the heat.
  • Encourage items that go with strawberries (short bread, pound cake, angel food cake) and items that can be eaten right away.
  • Encourage bakers to list the ingredients on a card, particularly if vegan, wheat free, with or without nuts, etc.

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Overview

    People bring their donated books to the library room of the white house the week before the Strawberry Festival and volunteers arrange the furniture and sort the books by subject. Adult and youth books are sold in the white house. Children’s books are sold separately at the children’s tent. On the day of the festival the books are sold from 10:00 until 3:00, then the books not sold are taken away along with the unsold white elephants and clothing. The room is then returned to First Day School condition.

Volunteers needed

    Six for sorting and one at a time for sales, in two-hour shifts.

Equipment needed

    2 long tables and one short one (from the Meetinghouse basement)
    Table cloths for the rough-edged tables
    Extra book shelves to place in front of the Meeting’s books, if possible
    Bags for carrying books home
    Signs
    Markers
    Extra book ends (Peter is sometimes able to bring some)

Guidelines

  • Book donations are accepted Monday through Thursday. Be firm about the times and the cut-off date.
  • Moldy, unfriendly and beat up books go directly to the dumpster.
  • Books are generally placed spine up on the tables, with the overflow in boxes beneath.
  • Signs indicate the categories (mystery, cooking, etc).
  • Children’s books are sold in a separate area with other children’s items
  • A few signs indicate the prices that have been set for hardbacks, paperbacks, and children’s books. Periodically during the day the prices are reduced, with the last reduction being “books by the bagful”.
  • No books are sold before 10:00 on Saturday.
  • Books deemed to be unique or of some value are separated out, appraised if necessary, placed on a special table, and separate prices are set.
  • Volunteers need to be available at 3:00 to pack up the unsold books and put the room back in order.
  • Here are the category labels used in 2013

Fiction Nonfiction Computers Religion/Spirituality
Self help/Psychology Cookbooks Westerns Romances
Mysteries Sci Fi / Fantasy Young Adult Classics
Slipcased books Coffee table books Art Home decor
Gardening DIY Crafts Nature/Field guides
Travel Audio books Foreign language Poetry

  • All usable boxes that books come in should be saved, either in the library or across the hall in the nursery, to pack the books up in. When books go on the truck to the value village (and maybe they’ll keep going to be stored for FCS fall fair in the future, which actually works out well for the truck packing folks) they have to go in first and need to be in lidded (or closed with cardboard flaps) boxes so things can stack on top of them. So a quick book pack up is very important if they are going on the truck. We had 5 or 6 people helping pack books this year, which was great.

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Overview

    The café is located in the basement of the Meetinghouse and operates from 10:00 until 3:00. Customers enter from the stairway and place their order with the cashier, who marks their order on a menu order form. The customer pays the cashier and takes a seat at one of the tables. A server takes the order form to the kitchen volunteers and when it the order is filled the server takes it to the waiting customer.

Volunteers needed

    Preparation – 4 to cook chili
    Setup – 3 from 8:30 – 10:00
    Operation – 3 from 10:00 – 12:00, 4 from 12:00 – 2:00, 3 from 2:00 – 4:00
    Cashier – 1 at a time in 2-hour shifts
    Servers – 2 from 10:00 – 12:00, 6 from 12:00 – 1:00, 2 from 1:00 – 3:00
    Cleanup – 3 from 3:00 – 5:00

Equipment needed

    Setup

    12 card tables
    12 table cloths
    4 long tables with table cloths
    72 chairs

    Operation

    Food
    Aprons
    Knives
    Strawberries from the hullers

    Cashier

    Table
    2 chairs
    Large menu sign with prices
    Order forms
    Calculator
    Pencils

    Servers

    Aprons
    Serving platters

    Cleanup

    Mops
    Bucket
    Sponges
    Towels, etc.

Guidelines

    Preparation

  • This involves shopping, menu printing, collecting coolers and other kitchen tools that are needed. These tasks can handled by the coordinators and, as such, do not need signup volunteers.
  • Volunteers cook chili in large pots and bring them to the meeting house on Saturday morning.
  • Decide on a menu that includes easy to make lunch items for adults and children, such as hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, pizza, salad bar, soup, and chili. The hardest food is the salad bar.
  • Drinks have included soda, water, diet alternatives, tea, and kool aid.
  • Ice cream offerings have included plain strawberries, strawberries and whipped cream, strawberries and cake, and any of the above with chocolate syrup. The attraction for our guests have been the strawberries, with lunch a blessing on the side.
  • Once decided, buy the food, napkins, drinks, paper plates, and cups, etc. All of the paper products and plastic ware are bought, not taken from Meeting supplies. The refrigerator should be cleared/cleaned out in time to store ice cream, etc.

    Setup

  • The primary task is setting up card tables, chairs and table cloths.
  • Kitchen setup can be handled by the coordinators.

    Operation

  • Cook the food, construct the ice cream requests, fill each order, clean up the kitchen itself.
  • Hulled strawberries are provided by the Hullers working in the basement of the white house. They will bring strawberries as they get 2-3 large containers filled. Please find a few containers dedicated to the transport. Berries and ice cream should always be available, even if everything else sells out.
  • There will be a point(s) during the day when you need to decide whether to restock if some items are out, or to leave them go and concentrate on the berries and ice cream.
  • If you are inclined to take a perfectionist approach, you’ll be unhappy here. There can also be long lines to get in and if it’s a hot day or raining, tempers can be short.

    Cashier

  • It is good to place the cashier table near the foot of the steps.
  • Two cashiers at a time are best for traffic control and math cramps.
  • Take orders for food, take payment and make change.
  • The Cooking Volunteers will provide the information about the menu.
  • A large sign with the menu and prices is posted on the wall near the cashiers.
  • Copies of the menu and prices are used as order forms for people to fill out – maybe while they are in line so the wait doesn’t seem as long.
  • Prices are VERY reasonable but are not so low as to put us in the hole. The most expensive item has been strawberries with everything you can name, for $4.00.
  • The cashier introduces our guest to the Server and gives the order form to the Server, who gives it to the kitchen and waits for it to be filled.
  • The money runners will bring change and collect bills often. If they don’t, send someone for them to come.

    Servers

  • Servers are usually recruited from the 4th & 5th grade First Day school class and from Friends Community School. Call parents to remind them which shifts the kids signed up for.
  • When given an order to fill, they need to be able to recognize the customer so they can deliver the order to the right table.
  • Servers start by getting an order form from the cashiers, take the order form to the kitchen to be filled, wait until it is filled, the find the people who placed the order.
  • Servers are usually asked about serving size, seconds, where the soda is, does the ice cream come with… whatever it is.
  • If food gets low, servers let the cashiers know and the item is crossed off the menu sign and order forms.
  • Servers wear an apron and carry a large (light-weight) platter for carrying orders.

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Overview

    Volunteers set up easy games for younger children in the playground area. These games include bean bag and ring toss, knocking milk bottles off the fence, basketball shoot, and soccer kick. Kids take turns trying their skills from 10:00 until 3:00

Volunteers needed

    Three at a time in 2-hour shifts from 9:30 – 3:30..

Equipment needed

    Game cut outs and equipment (stored in the shed).
    Variety of prizes
    Sun shade
    Table for tickets/prizes
    Apron for collecting tickets

Note: Beginning in 2013 the plan is to sell tickets elsewhere for use at a variety of activities for kids such as a train ride and a bounce house.

Guidelines

  • Check what prizes are left over from previous year
  • Purchase more prizes from Dollar Store, etc. May be efficient to buy in bulk on-line if there is enough lead time. Suggested prizes include: sparkly pencils, animal figurines, stickers, bouncy balls, balloons, small stuffed animals, rings, bubbles, sunglasses, beach buckets, art supplies, sidewalk chalk, little cars & planes, granola bars, candy, Mardi Gras beads, etc.
  • Prizes can be divided on the table by value: one ticket for a small prize like erasers, two ticket prizes for sunglasses, etc.
  • Plywood cut outs for games are already available. Most of them are stored in the shed, but some may be in the closet beneath the stairs to the meetinghouse basement. Add any that might add variety if needed.
  • The games are set up within the playground fence – some of the kids are pretty little and parents can feel safe about leaving them there for a while. Be reminded, however, that this is not a babysitting service.
  • Participants buy tickets at the ticket tent. Each game costs two tickets. If the child gets two out of three throws, s/he gets a green ticket. Green tickets can be exchanged at the prize table. We gave smaller children “warm-up throws.”
  • The sticks that mark the standing spots can be moved up according to the size of the child (to make sure that the little ones “win”).

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Overview

    Starting at 3:00, volunteers take down all the canopies, tables and chairs and store them neatly. They basically put everything back in place for Meeting the next day.

Volunteers needed

    Ten needed from 3:00 until done, usually 4 – 5 hours.

Equipment needed

    Dolly
    Empty boxes to stuff remaining white elephants in
    Plastic bags to put clothes in.

Guidelines

  • It is helpful if the coordinator for cleanup is on the setup crew – everything works in reverse.
  • Restore the Meeting grounds to First Day condition.
  • Round up helpers who still have some strength left.
  • Coordinate getting everything into the truck.
  • Remind everyone to save any boxes they have come across during the day.
  • Be of good cheer at the end of a long day.

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Overview

    People bring donations of used clothing the week before the Strawberry Festival. Volunteers sort the donations and it is displayed and sold under two canopies from 10:00 – 3:00 on Saturday.

Volunteers needed

    Sorting – Five needed Monday through Thursday
    Selling – Two at a time needed in 2-hour shifts from 9:30 – 3:30. The first hour is the busiest. One person to rearrange and refold clothing and remove empty hangers throughout the day.

Equipment needed

    Two tents / Canopies (supplied by the setup crew)
    6 – 8 Large Tables (from FCS)
    Small tables (from nursery)
    Racks (from basement of White House)
    Lots of hangers – put out requests in the weeks before the festival
    Plastic and paper bags for purchases
    Various display furniture and containers for small items

Guidelines

    Sorting

  • On the Sunday before the festival, the furniture needs to be moved into the corner of the nursery and some of the clothes racks set up. The racks are in the white house basement in the far back storage area.
  • Accept, sort, organize and hang used clothing on racks or put in piles on the couches. Put small items such as purses, hats, gloves, etc. in boxes or crates. All sorting takes place in the white house nursery room.
  • Encourage donating f/Friends to at least group their donations by male/female/children. Clothing already on hangers is great!
  • Discourage clothes in poor condition or dirty, people will want to buy them just as they are. Bad-looking/smelly clothes will discourage sales!
  • The week before the SF, decide on which evenings to accept donations – particularly what the cut off time is (Thursday pm) and be firm.
  • Sort and hang clothes in one operation. Anything not acceptable goes in the dumpster.
  • Children’s clothes (birth to age 12) will be sold in the Kids dome, along with kids books, toys, games, etc.

    Selling

  • The racks go outside on SF day, along with the tables to pile things on such as T-shirts. The shoes can be displayed nicely on the ramp railing.
  • Hang up as many clothes as possible – maybe bring a limited number out at a time and make everyone curious enough to come back to see what else is next.
  • Hang a few large signs that give the prices of the clothes by the article – (T’s, men’s children…) in both English and Spanish. Put price signs throughouyt the selling area and labels on various display racks and tables.
  • Put the remains in plastic bags to go on the truck.
  • This booth is a lot of work. The more people, the better. Need a sense of humor for when somebody dumps mildewed clothing on Saturday morning.

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Overview

    Strawberry Festival Coordinators make sure what needs to be done is done in a timely manner. The largest part of the job is deciding what needs to be done and recruiting the right people to do it.

Guidelines

  • January or February – The Strawbery Festival Coordinators are approved by business meeting. Introduce them during announcements after Meeting for Worship.
  • March and April – Recruit coordinators for all activities. Many of the coordinators are accustomed to doing it year after year. Some of the more critical coordinators are Publicity, Strawberry Pickup, and Setup
  • Mid-April – Post the signup sheets in the foyer of the Meetinghouse and make an announcement encouraging everyone to sign up to help out. Monitor this list to make sure we have anough volunteers for each activity, both for preparation and setup as well as for operating the booths.
  • Check with the activity coordinators to make sure they are on track. Provide additional assistance where needed.
  • On the day of the festival coordinators are on hand to deal with unforeseen misfortunes. They also help out with setup and cleanup.
  • After the festival meet with the coordinators to debrief. Note what worked well and what might be changed or improved for next year.

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Overview

    Vocalists, instrumentalists, comedians, etc at the sound stage in the food court.

Volunteers needed

    Sign up one performer for each hour

Equipment needed

    The stage (erected by the setup crew)
    Sound equipment and recorded music

Guidelines

  • Make a sign showing who’s performing at what time
  • Play recorded music between acts
  • Design and build a larger stage that can be broken down and stored in four 4′ x 8′ sections and set up for the festival a little down from where it was this year so it has more shade.
  • Recommend advertising for and booking acts sooner than we did this year since some interested performers were already busy the day of the festival.

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Overview

    We need to borrow about 25 tables from Friends Community School the day before the festival and return them afterwards.

Volunteers needed

    Two people can do this task – We usually don’t have a sognup sheet for it.

Equipment needed

    1 Pickup truck
    Tie downs

Guidelines

  • Call the head of the school a couple of weeks ahead of time to arrange a pickup time..

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Overview

    Provide adequate seed cash in cash boxes to each enterprise before the Festival opens.
    Meet calls for additional cash from enterprises during the Festival.
    Pick-up and “bank” cash and checks from enterprises throughout the Festival.
    Collect and count cash and checks at the close of the Festival, accounting for seed cash and cash earned by each enterprise, so the enterprise “profit” can be calculated.
    Deposit cash and checks.
    Submit final report of Festival earnings, by enterprise.

Volunteers needed

    The Meeting’s Treasurer
    A cash runner (maybe the Assistant Treasurer)

Equipment needed

    One cash box for each enterprise
    Small memo pad with a page for each enterprise divided into two sections; cash given and cash taken
    Cell phone for the “cash runner”
    Shopping bag
    8 or 10 1-quart zip lock bags for storing cash and checks
    Rubber bands for binding bills and sleeves for change
    Paper clips for checks
    Post-It notes (2″ X 2″ or 3″ X 3″)
    Optional: Safe to hold cash during the day (Doron can loan this)

Guidelines

    Before the festival

  • Prepare a cash plan like the following that designates the seed cash needed for each enterprise.

 

Initial Cash $10 $5 $1 $.25 Total
Total cash required 200 320 340 117 977
Enterprise ——– ——– ——– ——– ——–
White Elephants #1 20 30 30 10 90
White Elephants #2 20 30 30 10 90
Cafe 10 30 30 10 80
Used Clothes 10 30 30 10 80
Kids Dome 20 20 20 10 70
Children’s Games 0 20 20 10 50
Strawberries 10 30 30 10 80
Books 20 30 30 5 85
Plant Sale 10 20 20 3 53
Bake Sale 10 20 20 3 53
Food Court 10 20 10 10 50
Jewelry 10 10 10 3 33
Tie-Dyed T-Shirts 10 10 10 3 33
Hold in Reserve 40 20 50 20 130

 

  • Write checks for strawberries and truck rental. Get names from coordinators and leave the amount blank; to be added by the coordinator/buyer. Give checks to coordinator’s / buyers.
  • Withdraw cash in the denominations required.
  • Check to make sure there are enough cash boxes; one per enterprise. They are in the attic of the White House.

    During the festival

  • Set the “bank” up in the White House attic.
  • Prepare each enterprise’s cash box with the designated bills and quarters. Add a sticky note with the “cash runner’s” cell phone number.
  • Deliver cash boxes to each enterprise.
  • Respond to calls for cash, entering the amount into the small notebook page for each enterprise.
  • Frequently pick up cash from each enterprise, entering the amount in the small notebook for each enterprise. Leave checks in the cash box for a final accounting. Carry cash, unobtrusively in the shopping bag, and deposit it with the treasurer in the “bank”.
  • Count cash as it is accumulated and place in zip lock bags by denomination. Keep a running total so it does not have to be recounted at the end of the day when the cash boxes come in.

    After the festival

  • Collect all cash boxes.
  • Clip checks together and identify the enterprise they came from on a post it note and place it in the zip lock bag for checks.
  • Count the cash and enter it on the enterprise’s page in the small memo pad, then add bills and change to the zip lock bags, adding the total for each to maintain a running total.
  • Deposit cash to Sun Trust, if possible, on the day of the festival.
  • Total checks for each enterprise and add to their receipts on the spreadsheet, then deposit.
  • Prepare final report, using cash accounting from the small memo pad.
  • Announce results during announcements after Meeting for Worship.
  • Submit final report to the Finance Committee and then to Meeting for Business.

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Overview

    Selling food items outdoors

Volunteers needed

    Two for each food item, in 2-hour shifts

Equipment needed

    Two long tables
    Food and serving utensils
    Napkins
    Trash barrel

Guidelines

  • First year this was tried full scale was 2013
  • Fix as much ahead of time as possible

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Overview

    Jewelry is collected and sold

Volunteers needed

    One at a time in 2-hour shifts

Equipment needed

    1 long table from the meeting house basement
    2 folding chairs

Guidelines

  • Attractive displays make happy customers

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Overview

    Plants from Smile Herb Shop as well as from individual donors are displayed and sold from 10:00 until 3:00.

Volunteers needed

    One at a time in 2-hour shifts. Staff from Smile Herb Shop also help.

Equipment needed

    Canopy – provided by the setup crew
    4 plant tables (from Smile Herb Shop)
    1 table from the Meetinghouse basement
    2 folding chairs
    Small containers for taking things home
    Cut down boxes for carrying
    Trowel for splitting plants
    Paper or plastic bags

Guidelines

  • People can donate plants from their gardens, starters from houseplants, vegetables, potted plants from a local nursery and things for plants.
  • Ask Friends to label the perennials they bring and separate them into salable sizes.
  • In May go to Lone Cedar Farms on Adelphi Road and see if they want to sell plants to us for us to sell. If yes, okay, that’s done. They’ve done it for years. If no, find another LOCAL nursery.
  • Go to the nursery and arrange for plants, pick them up, and afterwards, take any left overs back to nursery.

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Overview

    Get the word out to everyone outside the Adelphi Meeting community.

Volunteers needed

    Six

Equipment needed

    All publicity materials from previous years

Guidelines

  • April – Submit dates and descriptions to local and regional newspapers and radio stations:

  • Washingtonian Magazine Online Calendar
  • WETA
  • WAMU
  • Gazette – Greenbelt
  • Washington Post/Prince Georges County “Local Living”
  • Washington Post “Weekend” Section
  • Takoma/Silver Spring Voice
  • Craigslist

  • April – Print up flyers in English and Spanish and distribute them, posting in grocery stores, libraries, coffee shops, Laundromats (all with permission, of course).
  • Set up a publicity web site in addition to the Strawberry Festival section of the Meeting’s website. Doron manages strawfest.org.
  • May – Send announcements to local meetings to the attention of the clerk. Ask that it go into their announcements, or be read at Meeting at least once, preferably more often.
  • Mid May – Put up signs/banners at intersections and in front of the meetinghouse.
  • Ask meeting attenders to hand out flyers or door hangers, inform their friends, post on Facebook or Twitter, e-mailing.

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Overview

    The Strawberry Festival is billed as a “Rain ir Shine” event. If it does rain, it is the Rain Czar who takes over to make sure everything runs smoothly.

Volunteers needed

    This is a one-person job. There is no signup sheet for it.

Equipment needed

    Tarps

Guidelines

  • 1) move the clothing sale inside to the nursery room and the second floor of the white house
  • 2) crowd all other activities as closely together as possible
  • 3) procure a bunch of straw bales to put down in travel ways to minimize mud
  • The strawberry sales can still go on down on the street as usual, and the silent auction was still held outside under one of the large canopies.
  • The things that can shut down will shut down, and the things that can go on, will go on.

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Overview

    Make sure all of the canopies, tables, chairs, signs, and decorations are in place by 10:00 on Strawberry Festival day.

Volunteers needed

    Three on Friday.
    Eight from 7:00 – 10:00 on Saturday.

Equipment needed

    Here is a list of what will be needed for each activity:

 

Activity Which tent From Tables Chairs
——————— ————————————————— ————————– ——— ———
Kids Dome 22′ diameter geodesic dome Dave Roberts 5 5
Clothing 20 X 20 canopy Dave Diller 4 2
Silent Auction 12 X 18 tent Michael Houghton 4 2
Plants 16′ diameter hexagonal red canopy Dave Roberts 4 2
Kids Games 16′ Coleman pentagonal canopy Meeting basement 1 2
Strawberries 6 X 8 blue canopy Meeting basement 1 2
Bake Sale 6 X 8 blue canopy Meeting basement 1 2
Jewelry 6 X 8 blue canopy Meeting basement 1 2
Tie Dying 6 X 8 blue canopy Meeting basement 1 2
Face Painting 6 X 8 blue canopy Meeting basement 1 2
Train Station 6 X 8 blue canopy Meeting basement 1 2
Ticket Sales Small popup canopy Mosi Harrington 1 2
Food Court #1 6 X 8 blue canopy Meeting basement 1 2
Food Court #2 6 X 8 blue canopy Meeting basement 1 2
Food Court #3 6 X 8 blue canopy Meeting basement 1 2
Food Court #4 6 X 8 blue canopy Meeting basement 1 2

 

    25 long tables are borrowed from Friends Community School.
    Folding chairs come from the basement of the meeting house.
    The geodesic dome & red canopy are stored in Dave Roberts’ shed.
    The locomotive costume is stored in Dave Roberts’ shed.
    Canopies are in the closet beneath the meeting house basement stairs.
    Signs, balloons and decorations
    A 4’ X 8’ stage (platform) for entertainment
    Yellow caution tape
    Hammers, wrenches, screw drivers, pliers, etc.

Guidelines

    Beforehand

  • Arrange to borrow the parachute from Camp Catoctin
  • Go get the parachute
  • Contact owners of the canopies to make sure they’ll be available
  • Contact coordinators to ask about special needs not listed above
  • Inventory the meeting’s canopies to make sure they’re ready to go

    Friday

  • Set up the dome (leaving off the parachute)- see instructions (PDF file)
  • Dress up the lawn tractor as a locomotive – see see instructions (PDF file)
  • Build the stage for entertainment
  • Build a bridge for the train to get over the rain garden
  • Bury an electric cord for the food court
  • Erect signs for each a activity
  • String up a yellow warning tape to indicate where the train will go

    Saturday

  • Set up the directory map (supplied by Rick Vitullo in 2013)
  • Refer to the directory map to see where everything goes
  • Remove the large tables from the meeting house basement
  • Set up the red canopy (requires 6 to lift it) – see instructions (PDF file)
  • Unload tables from FCS
  • Get equipment for the kids games out of the shed
  • Move the four picnic tables to the food court
  • Carry the required tables and chairs to each canopy (see list above)
  • Help set up the café the way the café coordinators want it
  • Carry clothes racks out to the clothes canopy
  • The clothing booth uses tables from FCS
  • Help set up other activities as needed

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Overview

    Organizing and monitoring a paper-based auction where people bid on items too “good” for White Elephants and services “donated” by Friends.

Volunteers needed

    One person at a time from 8:00 – 2:00 in two hour shifts, then two people from 2:00 to 4:00.

Equipment needed

    Tent or canopy
    4 long tables to display bid sheets
    2 folding chairs
    1 bid sheet for each item
    Markers
    Boxes and bags for carrying things home

Guidelines

    Beforehand

  • Coordinate with White Elephants so you have a common definition of what constitutes a Silent Auction item.
  • Encourage/cajole/coerce f/Friends to donate services such as yard work, baby-sitting, a dinner delivered for a family, a weekend at a vacation spot or time-share, etc. The more creative, the better.
  • Gather stuff and write up the bid slips

    During the Strawberry Festival

  • Arrange the sheets with a description/picture/item on tables so that they are easy to see and allow a lot of people to look things over.
  • Identify a minimum bid for each item.
  • Folks who bid MUST include their name written CLEARLY and a PHONE No. to be able to get back to them and COLLECT their bid.
  • Determine who “wins” each item, contact them and arrange to have items picked up or the “service provider” to contact the winner.
  • If hot, bring a hat and water.
  • Try to end the silent auction early (perhaps 2:00) to give time to parcel stuff out and get bidders hooked up with their swag so they can pay.
  • Two or three volunteers needed to help close up stuff at the end for an hour or so.

    Afterwards

  • Contact the “winners”, arrange for them to pick up the item and who to pay.

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Overview

    One person is responsible for going to get the strawberries early on Saturday morning, another is responsible for hulling those strawberries that are destined for the café, and another person is responsible for selling strawberries by the quart or flat from a booth by the side of the road.

Volunteers needed

    Pickup – No signup sheet required – the driver may ask someone along.
    Hulling – Four from 8:00 – 10:00 and two from 10:00 – 12:00.
    Sales – Two at a time from 9:30 – 3:30 in 2-hour shifts

Equipment needed

    Pickup – One rented truck
    Hulling

    Newspapers
    Colanders
    Stainless steel bowls and knives

    Sales

    Canopy
    2 folding chairs
    One long table
    Bags

Guidelines

    Pickup

  • Late April or early May: Call Dwayne Lebo, Oak Grove Farms, 846 Fisher Road, Mechanicsburg, PA, 17055, to put in the order and make sure he’ll have enough. Office 717-766-2216, cell 717-648-0842. In 2008 we ordered two skids (pallets) of 72 flats each. Eight quarts to a flat makes it 1152 quarts in all, and he charged $19 a flat or $2736 in all.
  • In 2013 we got 100 flats at $22. per flat. One hundred flats is the right amount, don’t buy more. (We had 7 flats left unsold at the end of the festival this year, though we sold of the left-over quarts on Sunday at potluck/rise of meeting.)
  • Week before Strawberry Festival: Reserve a truck 14’ or longer. Use the Adelphi Meeting Tax Exemption number (29041002) to save ten bucks on the tax.
  • Week before Strawberry Festival: Call Dwayne again to make sure he has enough strawberries and to get the price. Someone at the Meeting will want to know the costs so they can set the selling price for the strawberries.
  • Friday afternoon: Pick up the truck. You may need a credit (not debit) card.
  • Saturday morning: Leave around 3:45 – 4:00 AM to arrive at Oak Grove Farms around 6:00 AM. It is 106 miles from the meeting house if you take I-270 and US-15. Pull in between the large buildings at the farm complex and Dwayne will load the strawberries with a fork lift. Pay by check. If you use your own personal check the treasurer will reimburse you at the Strawberry Festival: Deliver the strawberries to the Strawberry Festival and help unload them.
  • Try to get the strawberries to the meeting house by 8:00 so the hullers can get started.
  • We have had a request to start purchasing organic strawberries

    Hulling

  • Rearrange the basement of the white house – roll up the rug, pull two tables together, cover the tables with lots of newspapers. Make a place for 13 flats.
  • Wear old clothes and an apron – these things stain.
  • Wash the strawberies with a hose, cut the green thing off the top, cut out really bad parts, cut the strawberries in half, put them in big pots/containers, and take them to the cafe.

    Sales

  • The strawberry booth is set up at the curb of Metzerott Road to attract passers-by.
  • Determine the selling price. Check with the pickup coordinator to find out how much we will be buying them for. We try for $.25 profit per quart.
  • Try to keep the strawberries shaded and cool until they are sold.
  • Lower the price at the end of the day if it looks like we’ll have too many left over. Sometimes we sell left over strawberries at Meeting the next day.

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Overview

    Tickets will be used for all of the activities in the Kids Fun Zone. They will be sold at a central booth.

Volunteers needed

    One at a time in two-hour shifts.

Equipment needed

    Small canopy
    1 table from the Meetinghouse basement
    1 folding chair
    Rolls of tickets

Guidelines

  • Tickets are sold for 25 cents each. If things get slow at the end of the day, reduce the cost. In 2013 this never happened.
  • When collecting tickets place them in the ticket apron to be counted later
  • A supply of tickets is stored at Dave Roberts’ house with the aprons.
  • In 2013 these tickets were collected:

Story Time

50

Balloons

161

Face Painting

173

Maze

211

Food Court

239

Train Rides

456

Bounce House

534

Children’s Games

570

————————— ——————

Total

2394 tickets

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Overview

    Dress the lawn tractor up as a locomotive andhave it pull wagons behnd. This is a ride for kids under 8 years old.

Volunteers needed

    Tow at a time in two-hour shifts.

Equipment needed

    Lawn tractor dressed up as a locomotive
    2 wagons
    Small canopy
    Sign indicating this is a train station
    Bag for collecting tickets

Guidelines

  • Borrow the wagons.
  • Make sure the path is clear all the way around the property. This may involve stringing yellow caution tapes and building a bridge across the rain garden.
  • Collect tickets (purchased elsewhere) as the kids get in the wagons.
  • Make sure an adult is walking along next to the train to make sure the kids are sitting down.

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Overview

    The truck used to pick up the strawberries is used to remove unsold items from white elephants, books and clothing. They are taken to Value Village and then the truck is returned.

Volunteers needed

    There is no signup sheet. The cleanup crew loads the truck.

Equipment needed

    Truck
    Large trash bags
    Hand truck (dolly)

Guidelines

  • Start loading the truck at 3:00. The cleanuip crew will do most of the work.
  • Return the truck when finished.
  • U-Haul rental rate, special tip: We use the U-Haul on Chillum Road in Hyattsville, and make sure to tell them this is for a fund-raiser and that we have a tax exempt number and that we’re looking for the very best deal they can do. We rent a 17′ truck (the strawberries don’t take up much room, but the end of the day clean-up requires 17′ but NOT any bigger). Instead of a 24 hour rental at $29.95 plus mileage at $1.29/mile, they’ve got a special deal that allows up to 280 miles (we need 230-240 miles), they put this into their system as a 3-day special “to Rehoboth” cuts the total in half. Instead of $340 or more, it was $164 total in 2013. (In 2012 it was $177. ) Note this includes an insurance rider for $30– just in case.
  • Before renting the truck, check with the Strawberry Festival coordinators and the book sale coordinators to find out if the left-over books will be going on the truck to Value Village, or be taken away separately. (If I had known in advance that the left-over books were not going on the U-Haul, I would have considered renting a smaller (14′ instead of 17′) truck and possibly saved some money.)
  • Make sure all the clothes and shoes (and other smaller/loose items) are bagged or in a box before going on the truck. Take the leftovers to Value Village (2277 University Boulevard) where they will cheerfully receive the goods and unpack the truck for you.

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Overview

    Used items of all sorts are brought to the meeting room the week before and sold from 10:00 until 3:00 on Saturday.

Volunteers needed

    Preparation

    3 people at all times from noon to 7:30 Monday through Thursday, and
    at least two people for most of Friday, to do remaining pricing and have the sale ready to go the next morning.

    Sales

    4 – 5 people from 9:30 – 11:30 for setup and the big rush,
    2 – 3 people at a time from 11:30 – 3:30 in 2-hour shifts

Equipment needed

    Meeting room benches
    Sharpie markers (medium point) and masking tape (at least 10 rolls of 1″ tape) for pricing
    Baggies (2 – 3 boxes snack size, 2 boxes sandwich size, 2 boxes one-quart size, 3 boxes one-gallon size ziplock bags)
    Scissors (2 pair)
    Batteries for testing items and for leaving in battery-powered items: AA, AAA, C, D, 9v
    Light bulbs for testing lamps: 1 60-w, 1 40-w, 1 w/chandelier base, 1 night-light bulb, 1 flashlight bulb.
    String
    10 or so spring-type clothespins
    Multiple pencils and pens
    2 packages of white 3×5″ index cards
    1 roll Scotch tape
    1 roll packing tape
    2 flexible tape measures for fabric
    1 metal tape measure — 25-ft or more
    1 stapler and staples
    Thumb tacks
    Paper clips
    Legal pad
    Plain printer paper — 50 sheets or so
    Tool kit — small screwdriverse, large screwdrivers, pliers, etc
    1-2 boxes black plastic trash bags, preferably with string/tie closure

Guidelines

    3 – 4 weeks before

  • Explain sale during Meeting announcements, distribute updated donation guidelines, verbally tell times to donate, encourage sign-up to work on sorting and pricing. Request boxes and bags for transporting customers’ purchases home
  • Make sure the sign-up sheet has enough slots:

    Week before page(M, T, W, Th, F)
    Day to work:____ Name _____________ Phone __________ Start time _____ End time ______
    Day of sale page
    9:30-11:30 11:30-1:30 1:30-3:30
    (five lines under each time)

    Sunday before

  • Give Meeting a heads-up that next Sunday we would have to move cushions to 2nd-floor classroom, stack hymnals under shelf in foyer, and move benches immediately after worship.
  • We will also have to bring shelving from the White House basement and set it up, and bring a table and folding chair up from the basement for working, sorting and pricing.
  • Mention hours for donations.
  • Encourage f/Friends to group their donations – kids vs. adults Attach notes as to working order of appliances/electronics.
  • Remind about no big TVs, old-style monitors, or any mattresses.
  • Discourage elephants in poor condition or dirty. Donating “trash” makes more work for sorters since we sell only things in good condition.
  • Elephants not suitable for sale go right to the dumpster.

    Sunday or Monday before — in addition to sorting and pricing

  • Protect piano with cover. Tidy lobby and remove or label all items that belong to meeting that are not for sale. Update donation receipts and bring to Meeting House.

    Sometime during the week before before

  • Prepare 5 clipboards with paper, and bring electric calculator to the Meeting House.
  • Arrange for at least 3 hand-held calculators to be available.
  • Make sure pricing signs are ready: 3 sets. Top sign; All prices as marked. Second sign: Prices 1/2 price marked. Third: Prices 1/4 price marked. Also, a sign that says “Pay at Jewlery tent (behind you).
  • Finally, a “Rules” sign: 1 — No bargaining or haggling. 2 — Be careful [It’s crowded]. 3 — Be nice to each other. [We’re all here to have a good time.]
  • Coordinate with the Silent Auction coordinator to know which items should go there instead of with elephants.

    Day of sale, prior to opening doors

  • Set up a cashier table for 2 near the door. Finance will prepare 2 cash boxes and runners will bring change and collect large bills regularly. If you need them to come more often, send a message and they will come running.
  • Tape sign sets to walls, inside and outside
  • All workers to have aprons with pockets. Put a marker, a pen and a pencil in the pocket, with a roll of masking tape (to replace prices that have fallen off). Appoint one person each shift to be the final word on price, should there be a need to come up with one on the spot
  • Set pricing for groups of things: CDs, DV Ds, Cassette tapes, VHS tapes; Coffee mugs; sharp knives; flatware; kitchen tools

    General rules

  • No one buys any white elephant until 10:00 on the day of the Strawberry Festival. (This is sometimes hard to enforce, but if not applied firmly will result in a lot of hard feelings.)
  • About every 2 hrs. It’s a good idea to reduce the prices – the point is to have none of this to pack up!
  • After SF hours, the remains need to be packed up and loaded on the trailer/truck, the rug vacuumed, cushions returned and the Meeting Room restored to First Day condition. Some of the End of the Day Volunteers will be available to help with this. Many hands make light work

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Weekly Schedule

Sunday

9:45 singing
10:00 worship
11:15 lunch break
12:15 second hour program

Wednesday

12:00 worship
7:30 Bible study

Contact

📍 2303 Metzerott Rd
Adelphi, MD 20783

📱 (301) 445-1114
📧 [email protected]

Members & Attenders