Yesterday's Steam Whistle 12K demonstrated what a great bunch of volunteers we have. If you enjoyed the event, you should thank Audrey and Charles Jackson for making it happen. Then, if you participated in that event or other Pacer activities throughout the year, you should consider putting in some time/effort so that these activities will continue.
The officers have decided to sponsor three races each year and to attempt to make them quality events that will draw large numbers of participants, This year, two of the events raised a significant amount of money for charity. Labor Your Legs had MDA as the charity and Hobble Then Gobble had ARC. For about 10 years Keith and Deborah Barrett and Hollie and I have directed the Labor Your Legs race. Next year Eric Weil and Donna Davis will serve as directors. Audrey and Charles Jackson directed this year's Hobble Then Gobble and I think that next year Jodi Lee and others will take over that race. Audrey and Charles have agreed to continue to direct the Steam Whistle. So, we have directors for our races, but they will need many volunteers to make these events successful and raise money for charity.
Our club has over 250 members, yet the number of people who volunteer at our races or attend meetings, or work behind the scenes with the forum/website and other club tasks is probably in the 10-20% range. As a co-founder of the Pine Belt Pacers, I would like to challenge members who have not been involved in events (other than entering a race) to step forward and volunteer in some capacity. There is a task for everyone and no prior experience is necessary. We have people who are more than willing to teach and guide anyone who wants to volunteer.
Lastly, I would like to thank everyone who, over the past 10-11 years has been a Pacer volunteer. You know who you are and you have never asked to be recognized and if I attempted to name everyone, I'm sure I'd leave someone out. When Hollie and I retired and moved to Hattiesburg, we never dreamed that the club would have the membership that now exists. We have grown from 10-12 at that first meeting to a membership of about 250.
Please consider volunteering your services to the Pacers. All you have to do is contact an officer or a race director or send an email to info@pinebeltpacers.org and indicate that you want to help. If you have a specific skill or interest, please state that. Otherwise, we will certainly be able to come up with a task that is agreeable to you.
Becky Ryder