5 Questions & Answers Lake Arthur Regatta
Butler County is filled with a variety of people doing interesting things. This weekly feature offers snapshots of some of them by asking them five questions. The latest installment appears below.
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The 13th annual Lake Arthur Regatta at Moraine State Park will be held Saturday and Sunday. Naturally, such a large event takes a lot of preparation and manpower. One of the many people who are helping to put the event together is Danyle Verzinskie, who is on the regatta board.
QUESTION: How did you first get involved with the regatta and how long have you been involved?ANSWER: I got involved in the regatta last year as a volunteer at the gate because they were short-handed. Since I work for state parks at the regional office, Jeremy Rekich, assistant park manager at Moraine, asked me if I could help out. I worked as a volunteer at the entrance to the regatta, greeting people, soliciting donations, handing out maps and giving directions. The time flew by and before I knew it, my shift was over.
QUESTION: What exactly do you do on the board and during the regatta?ANSWER: Currently, I serve as the regatta treasurer and the volunteer coordinator for the greeters at the gate. Every board member is in charge of an area such as land events, air events, advertising, vendors, entertainment, children's events and water events. I am also responsible for the donations collected at the gate during the regatta weekend. We are hoping to collect enough donations to cover the remainder of this year's event expenses and have enough left over to seed next year's regatta.
QUESTION: What are some of the things that volunteers do at the regatta?ANSWER: The volunteers I work with will be greeting people as they enter the regatta in their cars, giving out basic information about where everything is and where to park and soliciting donations from regatta-goers. Other volunteers wear the Woodsy Owl and Smokey the Bear costumes and mingle with the crowd. The donations collected pay for the entertainment, fireworks, advertising and things like insurance, electricity, signs, maps and food for volunteers.
QUESTION: What's looking good at the regatta this year?ANSWER: The puddle duck races are always popular. The Saturday evening fireworks are going to be spectacular. The music and entertainment are practically non-stop. The food and craft vendors are plentiful. The Rodfathers of Butler are providing a car show on Sunday. You can see and print a complete schedule of this year's regatta events at www.lakearthurregatta.org.
QUESTION: What should people do if they want to volunteer?ANSWER: We can always use more volunteers. For information on volunteering, you can go to our website ... or contact me directly at 724-865-2133 or 724-880-3246.
