"You are never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream." C.S. Lewis
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| My first B&B |
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| Current B&B |
When I lived in England, another life time ago, I
often joked that I felt like a B&B owner with the visitors that came to
visit. I loved it. This past week I felt the same with my DF’s
visit and then my Ladies. Loved it all over againCurrent
After recouping I went to Philosophy Class on
Thursday evening, and really missed my familiar faces! Also missed my Friday morning routine , but
it was for a good cause. I volunteered
at the New York City Wine & Food Festival Friday through Sunday. The experience could be a book unto
itself. It was awesome.
We’ve all heard
about the dream about escaping life, joining the circus, and becoming a
“carnie”? Well, I think I may join the
Festival, and become a “Festie”. (We
never truly lose our roots, I am from Milton after all. I had an Estate Sale, not a Yard sale,
remember?!). There are so many worlds
out there. And, I’m finding there’s a
Festival World. When I volunteered at
Rooftop Films this summer, I met wonderful People who follow Film Festivals and
freelance at them. I discovered the same
thing this weekend. And, I’m liking all
of these People that I’m meeting. The
fact that most are much younger, like my ladies, may have a lot to do with
it. Or, perhaps, I like the fact that
they have found their passion at an early age, and are living it?”
I discovered the NYCWFF last year, and was scheduled
to volunteer but had to back out. This
year, since I knew I’d be living here!, I made sure to apply early. The beneficiaries of this event are the NYC
Food Bank and Share Our Strength. It so
happens a good Friend’s Niece is the Director of NYC’s Share Our Strength. I had the pleasure of sharing dinner with her
last winter, so I reached out to her.
Through her recommendation, a phone interview, and luck, scored an Event Lead position, a manager of
sorts. My first assignment was in the
hospitality suite at the Hudson Hotel. I
was thrilled. Then I connected with the
manager of the suite who kindly said she didn’t need me. A bit of shuffling ensued, and I was given a
position at the Grand Tasting at Pier 94 on the Hudson River. Sweet.
I had visions of celebrity sightings, great food, perhaps wine at the
end of the shift..
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| On the roof where some events were held |
Arriving
Friday morning excited and ready to work I was met with the “wait”. One of the interesting, frustrating,
patience-learning things I’ve discovered in the last few years with almost all
of the volunteering I’ve done is the wait.
Then, you may work non-stop. And,
the change of plans and directions, constantly. Myself and another young took an assignment
to manage a team. Then, just as we were
getting our “groove” down another awesome Lady (AAL), not even sure what her
title is, came along as I was running around and asked if I’d go outside to
Registration. ? I was gonna have to leave the scene?.. OMG, I loved what I did for the rest of the
weekend.
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| Also on the Roof |
I
found B in charge of registration for this whole event who immediately told me
I’d be his for the whole event..(But, I
wanted to be part of the in-crowd inside the main event). Again, now I respect and admire he and my
other two “Bosses” immensely and am delighted I got to know them a bit over the
weekend, no time to really delve into life, but enough to get great snippets.
As
I said, I could write a book just on three days…so, I will bullet some
thoughts:
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I love People/I hate People: It is not cheap to attend the NYCWFF. It is a great cause as 100% of the proceeds
go to the NYC Food Bank and Share Our Strength.
Registration
is like the cattle call feeling of the Disney lines..snaking barricades..People
don’t read, don’t listen and then get ”annoyed” because they are very busy and
important.
I
love the People I worked with..it took a day and a half before we
“Leaders” got our groove on well..The Boss I who I worked closest with, A, had
me pegged perfectly by that time ( if I were younger, and interested in a
relationship..). B and J are
amazing. The support Volunteers were
wonderful, and when one of the younger ones called me Mama Kathy Sunday afternoon, my heart
sang.
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Most of the Guests were friendly , fun,
and excited. Sylvester Stallone came
right by me. I didn’t even see him, and
then realized that I didn’t care. Same
with Joe Namath. I did get to sneak away
for a bit, actually, A ordered me to, and I started to walk around the food hall..too
crazy and crowded..I went over to listen to Rachel Ray for a bit instead.
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| Entertaining the restless natives..God Bless them |
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Then there were the VIPs (in their
minds, anyway..actually PIAs)..We had to hold the line for about 20 minutes on
Saturday, the busiest day. I had a name
tag on..so People asked lots of ?s of me (Remember, I had a walkie talkie). Needless to say, during holdups in waiting
times I wasn’t given much love or respect. One
guy finally told me he wasn’t interested in hearing any more of the same s..
from me; just get him in. (Thank God I
had shut him off by then. One of my Wonderful
Workers told me later and was impressed that I didn’t lose it..) When
we were finally able to open the gates again, a lady came and asked me if she’d
get some $ back for the time she had to wait.
I smiled! and said “All of your $ goes to the kids in this City who are
hungry. Have a great, fun, day.” I then turned around and said something not
very nice.
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| Seen while walong home..always wondered where those carraiges slept |
Sunday
morning, the 11 years I worked in Southie came boiling forward toward a Blond
B..I truly had to bite my tongue as she wouldn’t let up. I admit I went back in for more 2 or 3 rounds.
I wanted to pull her hair and smudge her
makeup, I really did. I have never in my
life been in a cat fight. At that mornings
briefing we giggled about the story of a drunk Lady pulling someone’s hair in
the Ladies Room..I had not had a drop to drink,,,I am so proud of myself..I
stood back..and cooled down..
Sunday
afternoon is when I wanted to start slapping a very round man and his crew as
they were beating up some of my “Kids”. I
didn’t . All weekend I learned so much by
watching A react well, and kill people with kindness. I’ve been doing that for almost 40 years with
my Patients, but when you start with my Young’uns, the Mama Bear comes roaring
out…
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At one point after some crisis time,
some Lady came onto the walkie talkie and asked me to please learn the lingo as
I was confusing the h..out of Everyone.
At Saturday morning’s briefing, we Event Leads were given a list of
lingo terms to use by AAL as obviously during Friday night’s de-brief it was
discussed. I tried to study it quickly
whenever I could, but once you started “live” there was not much time to
study. Well, when that call came
through, if you know me at all, you can imagine what I wanted to do with my
walkie-talkie. Thank God I had no idea
who the Lady was. AAL came to my side
almost immediately and gave me a crash course.
God love you!
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| Denise and Bobby Flay |
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Each Evening when I was done I was
allowed to pop into the Foo-Foo events.
Friday night was Rachel Ray’s Burger Bash. Saturday night Bobby Flay hosted Tequila and
Tacos, and Sunday night was Le Sagra.
Honestly, by then, I was too tired, especially to fight the crowds. I grabbed something from the shortest lines
to feed my belly, and yes, I had some wine and one margartia (a no-no
technically as a volunteer..but I definitely didn’t abuse it, not this time!)
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| My New York Bosses and me with my walkie talkie |
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One of my favorite moments was when I
was giving my “speech’ to our final group of volunteers on Sunday afternoon,
and as I looked around meeting the faces, smiling back at me was a very
familiar one. A, my “Boss’ from Rooftop Films, and one of my
favorites from my summer with them. I
was now her “boss”! She and I enjoyed
poking around La Sagra together .
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| Also seen while walking home |
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My only regret is that I didn’t get to
chat much with my fellow Event Leads as I was outside and they were
inside. But we caught up, giggled, and
rehashed some of the craziness, again in snippets, when we did see each , other.. I have their emails, hopefully we can connect
and have a reunion. More new friends?!
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| Accepted Offer! |
In my personal behind the scenes, was some very
intense, emotional house selling drama and trauma. I must, and will, accept some of the blame
for that. But, the end result is that I
have accepted an offer for my little home!
As I sat listening to music with my neighbors at Sojourn last night, I
was flooded by tears..I guess now I will start the mourning of that loss. But, it’s a very bittersweet one, and enables
me to enjoy my short Sabbatical with that load off my shoulders. I am blessed.
Wednesday I began my second foray into the festival world with
the Food Film Festival (www.foodfilmfestival.com)
Oh, what a time I had! The People were amazing, including many whom
I had worked with the weekend before. I
went in early and came home late and loved every minute of it. From its website: Born in Brooklyn in 2007, The
Food Film Festival sprang from the imagination of Festival Director and Travel
Channel host George Motz, the documentary filmmaker behind the award-winning
Hamburger America film and book, along with co-creator Harry Hawk. Through
documentaries, features and short films, the Festival showcases the best, and
the most memorable, of the world’s favorite foods. Along with a heaping helping
of mouth-watering films, Motz, Hawk and company serve up the food that guests
are watching on the screen for a multi-sensory, full-bodied experience.
The Food
Film Festival is a competitive film festival that presents awards in multiple
categories including: Best Feature, Best Short, Best Super-Short, Best Food
Porn, Food Filmmaker of the Year and the Audience Choice Award. The Official
Selections of The Food Film Festival are reviewed by a judging panel comprised
of esteemed members of the food and film communities.
Crowd control for the FFF was not an issue as it was a
much smaller affair. Most Everyone was
great. Although Friday was a weird day
for me. I was a bit off, and it was a “wine
night”. Wine people can truly be
snobs. (I love wine.) At one point I walked by the entrance where a
lovely English Lady volunteer was handing out wine glasses. A man was questioning her on the wines begin
served that night. She had no idea. At which point he began to berate her a
bit. I went into the conversation,
uninvited, and explained to man that there were six days and numerous events to
the Festival. It would be almost
impossible for Volunteers to learn everything on the fly. At which point he announced he ran lovely
beer events where he trained his staff.
I continued to “kill him with kindness” (when I wanted to punch him),
and we ended up being grand friends..not.
But, he was happy and pontificated with whoever would listen. Lovely English Lady and I became Festie
buddies for the rest of the weekend.
Much like my
love-hate relationship with walkie-talkies at the Wine Food Festival, I
developed such a relationship with blackboards at the Food Film Festival. I became the resident sign maker on huge
blackboards for the weekend, listing each day's sponsors and their menus. Who knew?
They liked my Catholic school writing, all but the beer sponsor..too
girly, I guess. I discovered a step
ladder hidden in a closet and claimed it, carrying it around on my shoulder, feeling
cool. I was given a gift on Friday a marker
like chalk that was so much easier to wrote with..but wouldn’t erase. Another Volunteer told me alcohol. We were a food Film Festival with no “alcohol”
available. Saturday morning I bought
some rubbing alcohol; went down to the theatre and cleaned all the blackboards;
and left happy. By the last day, I was given
a great tip by the Founder of the Festival, dip the chalk in just a bit of
water. The writing will start out light
but dry into a nice, crisp font. I
wanted to kiss him, but he didn’t seem the type to take to that sort of thing from
a stranger. (Although by the end of the
weekend there much much hugging. You
know I love that!)
I do believe I may be figuring out what I want to do when
I grow up. And, not just jokingly, I
think Event planning, working as a freelancer, may be in my future. I am learning so much from the People I have
worked with, and for, so far. I’m
discovering what networking means at its truest sense. I like it.
I would be great in this world. And, I guess that perhaps I made a positive
impression for myself, as I have been invited to the Chicago Food Film Festival
in November, as a volunteer. I think I’ll
go! Continue with the learning process,
and visit a city that has long been on my bucket list. Oh, and some of the People I worked with are
already talking about a reunion get-together.
(The Festival just ended two days ago..I guess we really hit it off.)
Sunday
we walked along the East River and took advantage of OHNY on the UES and went
to the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum and Garden.
