Volunteer Appreciation Lunch

We have been to several volunteer appreciation lunches at the various places we have volunteered. 

We have had everything from a few snacks in the break room to large, catered affairs.

They do things a little different here at Inks Lake State Park. 

We didn’t sit through a long line of speeches.  We weren’t given a bunch of certificates or trinkets or other things we would have to try to find a place for in the RV.  No - we were entertained - by the staff!

This year the theme for the volunteer luncheon was “TV Land.”  There were three teams (Headquarters, Maintenance, and Store).  Each team chose a television program and the idea was to show these characters camping at Inks Lake.  The volunteers voted on their favorite team.

First up were the folks from Headquarters.  Their skit was from The Simpsons. 

If you’ve ever seen the show you know that it starts out with Bart writing on the blackboard: 

Then, the whole family ends up (usually sitting on the couch) trying to sit on top of each other:

 

They were pretty awful, which made them even more funny.  Marge was played by the Park Superintendent.  I don’t know where they found blue bubble wrap.  The other “parts” were balloons. 

Next up was the Park Store.  We couldn’t figure out what show their skit was from but we heard someone say it was Dawn of the Dead. 

They had wonderful zombie costumes and had put a lot of time and effort into their stage setup:

Last up was Maintenance.  They chose The A Team: 

 The van

 Face

 Hannibal Smith

They went all out!  They were the only team that memorized their lines for their skit (which had something to do with hunting down a state park pass to get into the park) and they did a great job.  In fact, they were voted Best In Show.

 

The whole team: B.A. Baracus, Murdock, Face, and Hannibal Smith

But wait, there’s more!

In addition to the skits, there was a cook-off competition between the 3 teams.  I was asked to be one of the food judges and was told “We’ll just taste everything and decide which dish we liked the best.”  Well, since each team had 10-15 dishes, there were a few dishes that I didn’t get around to tasting!  The Maintenance guys won the cook-off competition too. 

The food line

In addition to the RV volunteers (about 18 couples), the park Friends Group was also invited.

 

We had a large turnout of volunteers and staff.

Almost every place we have volunteered at the staff has made us feel welcome and appreciated.  This is the first park that has also entertained us and we had a wonderful time.

Teri