<div dir="ltr">Hello all,<div>Here is a reworking of my letter to volunteers from last year. I see no point in totally reinventing the wheel. It is meant as a refresher to the Pumpkin Patch timeline and outline of tasks that need to be done. If you are a first-time volunteer, it is meant to give you a sense of the job that might be best for you. After reading this, if you are a new volunteer, please contact me and let me know which of the Saturday jobs appeals to you and I will pre-assign you. If you want to just show up and get plugged in somewhere, that's OK too. Here's the deal:</div><div><br></div><div><span style="font-size:13px">On </span><b style="font-size:13px">Friday, September 22</b><span style="font-size:13px">, we will start getting pumpkins out of closets and bringing them to Kresge Oval to unpack and price. We like to get started by <b>7:30AM</b></span><span style="font-size:13px">, and it is always a flat-out sprint to get the pumpkins processed by the <b>5PM</b> opening time. Any help we can get in the morning, especially early, is great. With enough </span><span class="gmail-il" style="font-size:13px">volunteers</span><span style="font-size:13px">, we can have people unwrapping pumpkins while others transport them and set up the supply areas. So, </span><b style="font-size:13px">Friday 7:30-2PM</b><span style="font-size:13px"> is a good time to help if you have any of that time free.</span></div><div><br><div>The <b style="font-size:13px">preview opening will be on FRIDAY from 5-8PM</b>. As you know, there are no sales during the opening - it's a chance to see all the pumpkins on the tables under the lights, before they get put on the ground the following morning. <b><i>We never have enough volunteers at the opening, so this is a good time to come, especially if it's the only time you can come!</i></b></div><div style="font-size:13px">After the preview opening, there are <b>two overnight <span class="gmail-il">volunteer</span> guard shifts</b>: 8PM-1AM, and 1AM to 6AM. This is a hard job to fill and a critical one. Please let me know if you can spend some amount of time doing this. We should have the t-shirts by Friday this year, so <span class="gmail-il">volunteers</span> can distinguish themselves from others by wearing one.</div><div style="font-size:13px"><br></div><div style="font-size:13px">On sale day, <b>Saturday morning at 6AM, September 23</b>, we will open up the tent and put all the pumpkins in clusters on the lawn. At the same time we will reconfigure the tables from the display rows to the sale configuration. We need all hands on deck for this stretch between 6-10AM. Around 9:00AM, or whenever the sale is set up, I will <span class="gmail-il">call </span>together the <span class="gmail-il">volunteers</span> and read off <span class="gmail-il">job</span> assignments. Some of you are already assigned (you know who you are), and others will be assigned day-of.<b> If you know that you would like do do a certain <span class="gmail-il">job</span> and have not yet contacted me, now is a good time to do that!</b> If you have not <span class="gmail-il">volunteered</span> before, you will be assigned a <span class="gmail-il">job</span> day-of - not to worry.</div><div style="font-size:13px"><br></div><div style="font-size:13px">The main <span class="gmail-il">jobs</span> at the sale, from 10AM to 3PM, are:</div><div style="font-size:13px">- pumpkin wrappers (many): what it sounds like: wrapping pumpkins in tissue and bubble wrap (there will be a training demo).</div><div style="font-size:13px">- receipt writer/price caller teams (2 in each team x 6): one person calls out the price and the other does the math.</div><div style="font-size:13px">- matchers (make SURE proper pumpkins go home with customers)</div><div style="font-size:13px">- runners (monitor sales area and replenish supplies)</div><div style="font-size:13px">- mailing list contact info collectors . A job for people who like approaching others.</div><div style="font-size:13px">- pumpkin police (anti-theft, anti-hoarding monitors - a job usually done by previous volunteers who can spot gaming behavior)</div><div style="font-size:13px"><br></div><div><b>It is critical that if you <span class="gmail-il">volunteer</span> to work the sale in the morning, you plan to stay at your post for the first 2-3 hours of the sale. That's when we make most of our sales and we need a full team to be running on all cylinders during that period.</b></div><div style="font-size:13px"><b><br></b></div><div style="font-size:13px">The sale ends at 3PM. Things usually slow down considerably by 1:00 and we start shutting lines down and releasing some <span class="gmail-il">volunteers</span> who are no longer needed. I do want, however, to be sure that we have enough people to clean up, both as the sale winds down, and after the sale is over. There's a lot to do, between packing up supplies, breaking down tables, and transporting many boxes and bales of newspaper to recycling behind the student center. So, if you can, please plan to stay until we are cleaned up - things will go much faster if we have a bunch of people. </div><div style="font-size:13px"><b>If the only time you are free all weekend is Saturday afternoon between 3 and 4PM, we can use your help with cleanup!!!</b></div><div style="font-size:13px"><br></div><div style="font-size:13px"><b>PARKING for volunteers: </b>I will coordinate with the Parking Office and send another email before long.</div><div style="font-size:13px"><br></div><div style="font-size:13px">OK, I think that's it. Thank you very much for <span class="gmail-il">volunteering</span>. If you have not yet <span class="gmail-il">volunteered</span>, it's not too late. If you have any questions, please contact me directly.</div></div><div style="font-size:13px"><br></div><div style="font-size:13px">Peter</div><div><br></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Aug 7, 2017 at 10:46 AM, Peter Houk <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:pbhouk@gmail.com" target="_blank">pbhouk@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">Hello all,<div>It's early August, and I haven't heard any crickets yet, but nevertheless there's a little chirping in the back of my head reminding me that the <b>MIT Great Glass Pumpkin Patch </b>is just over the horizon and it's time to send that email asking for volunteers.</div><div>This year the Pumpkin Patch will be on <b>Saturday, September 23rd. </b>Setup will be on Friday the 22nd and the rain date (Oh, please no....) Sunday the 24th. It's a little earlier than usual this year, but it IS the last full weekend in September, and I think our chances of good weather are better doing this a little earlier.</div><div>As you all know, we can't do this without you and it's so much fun to see familiar and new faces every year. I hope you can join us. Veterans of past patches will know what jobs they will want, and for new people I'll be sending out more information in the next couple of weeks. </div><div>Please do feel free to let me know if you will be able to come and what job you would like. I'll be back in touch with a longer email in the next week or so.</div><div>Until then, back to the summer!</div><div><br></div><div>Regards,</div><div>Peter<span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="m_4136685650467929873gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">Peter Houk<br>Director, Glass Lab<br>Department of Materials Science and Engineering ev<br>Massachusetts Institute of Technology</div>
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</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">Peter Houk<br>Director, Glass Lab<br>Department of Materials Science and Engineering<br>Massachusetts Institute of Technology</div>
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