Although more than 800 people have signed on to help, there are still several shifts that need to be filled.
By EILEEN SCHULTE
Published October 14, 2004
CLEARWATER - One morning last week, Sherri Callahan found an urgent message waiting for her when she opened her e-mail.
It was from Jane Olds, president of Jazz Force, the organization that runs the Clearwater Jazz Holiday.
The panicky note said, "We had only 347 people registered online to volunteer," said Callahan, the event's volunteer coordinator.
Not nearly enough to run the show, which relies on volunteers to keep it free.
They required at least 353 more to fill more than 1,200 shifts ranging from greeters to ID checkers. And they needed them in a hurry.
By Wednesday, though, they could breathe a slight sigh of relief. More than 800 people had signed up.
The event starts at 6:30 tonight at Coachman Park in Clearwater.
But never in the history of the quarter-century event has it "gone to the wire this much," Olds said.
Although more have signed on, volunteers are still needed.
As of Wednesday, she still needed 88 gate and parking workers, 25 ID checkers, 52 soft drink workers, 19 survey takers and 92 beer/wine ticket sellers.
Interested enlistees should sign up at the volunteer tent on the hill behind the Clearwater Main Library. No experience is required.
It's no mystery to organizers why the numbers are so low this year.
"I think the storms really dampened us," Callahan said. "People are really gun-shy. It's just frustrating getting a commitment out of anybody."
She stepped up recruiting efforts, asking churches, businesses and nonprofit agencies for help.
"The Clearwater Chamber of Commerce blasted out e-mails to their members," she said. "The city of Dunedin gave us volunteers, Grace Christian Fellowship Church gave us a dozen youth, AT&T in Tampa gave us 100 volunteers."
The American Cancer Society, the St. Petersburg Fire Department, Encore Bank, People's Bank, United Bank and Bank of America also offered volunteers.
Callahan is taking a month off her job at a family business. Olds is using 56 hours of vacation time from her job as manager of application, development and support for the Pinellas County Tax Collector's Office.
"When you're talking about a four-day event and the type of infrastructure we have ... it's a massive undertaking," Olds said. "It's actually a Monday to Monday event."
Two volunteers whom organizers have always counted on are Paul Bryan, a former motel owner who lives in Safety Harbor, and his son, Dale.
The Bryans have been volunteering for more than five years. Every October, Dale Bryan, a musician, flies in from his home in Chicago to work in the site services division with his dad, erecting tents, hanging banners, moving boxes of merchandise and putting up chain-link fencing for nine hours a day.
It's a back-breaking job, but it offers them a chance to spend time with each other.
"It's very nice for he and I to get together," Paul Bryan said. "It's enjoyable to do this every day."
Dale Bryan said he likes the camaraderie among the volunteers.
"I'm able to accomplish a few things," Dale Bryan said. "Visit my family and listen to some good jazz."
Because of the efforts of volunteers, the Jazz Holiday is free.
"I can't even imagine doing this without them," Olds said.
