Volunteer News
It is a great feeling to be a part of something so big and so important! MerleFest is a major fundraiser for Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North .jpg "FlattopsGetAway.jpg(1)")
Carolina. In its 22 years of existence, MerleFest has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the college. The benefits to our students and our community are too many to list! Come join us. Be a volunteer at this fabulous festival!
Many thanks to everyone who volunteered for MerleFest 2009! Applications for MerleFest 2010 will be available in October 2009!
Check this page frequently for updated volunteer news and information!
MerleFest Volunteers are encouraged to wear their MerleFest Volunteer Commemorative Pins. This tradition was initiated in 2008. We encourage you to wear your MerleFest Commemorative Volunteer Pins to every festival. Let's see how many volunteers return year after year!
Group News
November 2009 Group Spotlight – North Wilkesboro Rotary Club
The MerleFest Mall is year-after-year one of the most popular gathering spots during the festival. Sure, it’s a great meeting place that is always obvious (“Meet me in front of the MerleFest Mall at noon”), and is most packed during afternoon thunderstorms; but at all hours of the day or night people are purchasing CD’s, t-shirts, videos, and other items provided by the entertainers/artists. The North Wilkesboro Rotary Club has managed the mall since 1998 led by David Bauguess and Skipper Soloman, co-managers.
The Rotary Club donates all of the funds they earn from the festival to local non-profit organizations such as the YMCA and United Way, as well as providing needed medical expenses for school children. David comments that the club’s participation in MerleFest not only allows them to contribute monies to fulfill needs of Wilkes County citizens, but it is also a great opportunity for members to know each other on a personal basis. “We often meet Rotarians from other cities who then volunteer to work with us—often resulting in joint projects with other Rotary Clubs,” he says.
The MerleFest Mall is a wonderful place to buy a little piece of the festival to carry you through until the next year. (Can’t you just feel the cool spring air and see the green hills of Wilkes County every time you listen to that Doc Watson CD?) It also is a place where shopping is actually benefiting many people through the efforts of the North Wilkesboro Rotary Club.
Previous Month's Group News
October 2008 - Steel Magnolia's
November 2008 - Wilkes County Boy Scouts
December 2008 - Delta Kappa Gamma
January 2009 - Camp E-Ma-E-Tu
February 2009 - 4-H
March 2009 - Wilkes County Recreation
April 2009 - WCC's Dental Assisting Club
May 2009 - WCC's Medical Assisting Club
June 2009 - Communities in Schools
July 2009 - Southern Culture Organization
August 2009 - Wilkes Vocational Services
September 2009 - Celebration Church
October 2009 - Pastoral Care and Counseling Center
Volunteer News
NOVEMBER 2009 Volunteer Spotlight – Reneé Lyons
Reneé Critcher Lyons attended the very first MerleFest in 1988, came back the next year with her three month old daughter, and then discovered the joys of volunteering at the festival. For sixteen years since then she has worked many of the available volunteer jobs—hospitality, instrument check-in, ushering, answering phones, and stage crew. “Goodness, I’ve been all over,” she comments.
A native of Boone, North Carolina, Reneé had always heard of Doc and Merle Watson who lived just down Highway 421 in Deep Gap, so she was curious about MerleFest as soon as she heard about that first one. Both sides of her family had lived in the Boone area for over 200 years at the time of her birth. Since each of Reneé’s parents had eight brothers and sisters, she has a huge extended family. One of her cousins was even married to Doc’s brother.
Reneé is an Instructional Librarian and Reading Instructor for Caldwell Community College. She is also a School Library Media Programs instructor at both Appalachian State and East Tennessee State University. Her daughter, who attended that second MerleFest as an infant, is now a junior at Appalachian State University majoring in Health Promotion. She is also a cheerleader /athlete for the university. (Go Apps!)
Even with her busy work schedule, Reneé has many interests and hobbies. Her great love is children’s and young adult literature; she both teaches and writes the genres. In the Boone area she sings for Arts Council concerts, weddings, and other special occasions. But that’s not all—she also loves to dance! She is a member of the Country Magic Cloggers from Watauga County.
Of course, dancing is one of her favorite things about MerleFest. “You will always catch me at the dance tent! I clog, square, and contra dance primarily. I’ve danced to the music of Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, Beausoleil, Laura Love, Donna the Buffalo, Scythian, and the Whitetop Mountain Band. I have simply loved the Friday and Saturday night dances in which fellow volunteers, who have become friends over the years, and I just let loose, unwind, bond to the beat, and express unfettered joy!”
Her favorite musician through the years has been Doc who she says, “Has preserved and honored the culture I call my own!” Reneé has other favorites as well. “I’ve always returned to hear John Cowan’s incredible voice, Tim O’Brien’s Celtic blend, Peter Rowan’s narrative stories set to song, and the Krueger Brothers’ unparalleled musicianship.”
As a teacher, Reneé Lyons especially appreciates the impact funds raised from MerleFest have on students at Wilkes Community College. “Each year, when I first walk by the Eddy Merle Watson Garden for the Senses, I experience an overwhelming feeling of warmth and good will, and yes, even pride, in having played a minor role in ensuring the success of the festival. . . A special thanks to all my MerleFest friends and family, for year after year of anticipated, and very much real-to-life, sensory joy, heart-filled joy, good will.”
Thank you, Reneé Lyons, for your many years of service to MerleFest. There are no minor volunteer roles at the festival, only very important ones that make it all possible.
Previous Month's Volunteer Spotlight
October 2008 - Patsy Crews
November 2008 - GJ & Ricky Waller
December 2008 - Molly Watson
January 2009 - Charley Mapa
February 2009 - Bill Duncan
March 2009 - Wills
April 2009 - Ann Graves
May 2009 - Matt Snow
June 2009 - Tony Eagle
July 2009 - Peter, Eric, & Travis Magrane
August 2009 - Joyce Morrin
September 2009 - Kelly & Matthew Vandenbeldt
October 2009 - Carol and Amanda Hagood
Thank You, MerleFest Volunteers!Sponsored By:
