First, I want to thank all who came out for the meeting on February 15—we had 12 FoFCF eager to get started. Thanks Lisa B, Joyce C (filling in for Stuart), Roland C, Melena D, David D, Junior F, Chris J, Glenna N, Cindy P, Shawn R, Brian T, and me, Donna C. (Someone told me we had 13, but these are the names of those who signed in).

We looked at many issues confronting the committee for this year's Mountaineer Festival and agreed we needed to consider these issues and meet again at the Inn on February 28 (a Saturday) at 2 pm, so that we will be able to give a basic report to the general meeting of FoFCF scheduled for March 8 at 2pm. I will check to see if the Piney Room is available again for our committee meeting. E-mail me if you are interested in joining us (donnasc@bledsoe.net or call my cel 423-321-2412).

Many thanks to Sandy Cunningham and the staff of the restaurant for providing us with coffee and tea.

Thanks to deNise for sending a zillion questions for consideration and for posting the meet times.

Items discussed included:

*Roland could not stay long, but wanted to stress the need for volunteers to collect donations as patrons of the Fest entered the area. He noted that the Friends generally spends up to $1000 ($7.50 per hour) and that if we could have “volunteers” of some kind, we could use more of the money earned at the MtnFest to help the park. Ideas included contacting schools, ROTC programs, Boy and Girl Scouts and maybe creating some type of competition amongst the groups. Do we have any folks involved with the Scouts—could they earn merit badges in this type of volunteer work?

*Brian Simmons and Joyce Carroll (in for Stuart who could not attend), discussed some of the successes and past problems of the festival. She also brought a nice map for us to ponder.  Brian talked about all of the work done by the Park staff and their desire to help us improve traffic flow, logistics, and set up. We appreciate all of the work the staff does and want to help them in any way we can. Joyce discussed ways to create more and better programming for kids, as well as her participation over the years with every aspect of the festival. She suggested having a “newspaper” for each day of the fest as a way of giving patrons a “souvenir” as well as a map and schedule of the days events. She noted that at other festivals she has attended, the paper was sold for 25-50 cents, and that all attendees loved them--they included profiles of crafters or artists or musicians, directed folks to areas they might miss, etc. Donna volunteered to be the editor.

*Cindy (and several others) brought up the need for a better screening method for crafters' products (less of the “resale stuff”). Ideas included creating a jury (who, how, when), changing the application process to include submission of photos, firm deadline dates, parking restrictions and info and ????  We also discussed the need to reform the application, inform the vendors of this year's  camping situation, analyze and enforce parking rules, assignment and marking of vendor spaces, and web presence. I asked Cindy and Chris if they would consider heading up a subcommittee to deal with these issues. We will need more volunteers and suggestions for dealing with vendor needs.

On a related note, we discussed the possibility of “reclaiming” the Rec Center as most vendors do not like that location. We could use that space for music and dancing at night, to use it during the day for kids programming, slide shows, a clogging demonstration, music workshops, and ????? It was suggested that we could call it a “Rest Stop” and that perhaps the FoFCF could use the space to create a revenue stream for our group selling popcorn, a bake sale, or ?????

*Donna will work on generating more publicity in the “triangle” of Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Nashville to bring in more patrons to the festival. I suggested that perhaps we could focus on a theme that could generate interest in the wider community.  I want to find a way to bring in “Mountaineers” to tell stories of life as it was lived on the plateau. We could draw on local historical and agricultural societies, libraries, newspapers, have photo displays, folklorists, and old timers in Q&A settings.

Possible themes discussed include work (think farming, coal mining, forestry—displays of tools,    equipment, demonstrations, ???) or home and domestic life (how did a typical household function, clothing, cooking, shopping, church life {possible “brush arbor” church service Sunday morning}, a cake walk, fun and games, ????). I wanted everyone to give thought to what theme might be the most fruitful and how we should frame it, limit it, and execute it.

*Brian discussed getting more school kids out for the reenactments and demonstrations.

*We also discussed having animal demonstrations, the permits required, where they could be located, what they should include. We need more ideas about this.

*We also discussed possible nighttime events like a square dance, ghost storytelling, slide shows that focus on the park and its history, features, and volunteer opportunities.

*Donna promised to talk to Stuart about music, animals, and to look back through the “files” on the Festival before the next meeting.

It was a fruitful meeting that barely scratched the surface of what we face, but it was a GREAT START. Two hours flew by. We'll be more focused at the next meeting, trying to get together a report for the general meeting. So come join us on February 28! I promise to bake again.