2011 Orange County Fair - "The Courtyard"

The 2011 Orange County Fair is fast approaching and planning is continuing for our annual, number one fundraising effort, The Courtyard. The Orange County Fair starts on Friday, July 15, and ends on Sunday, August 14. As last year, this schedule includes four full weeks and five weekends. Income received at The Courtyard helps the OCWS fund our two OCF Wine Competitions (Commercial Competition and Homewine Competition), OCWS administrative expenses, and our Scholarship Program.

“Let’s Eat” is the theme of the 2011 Orange County Fair. Whether you are a new volunteer or a veteran of The Courtyard, this is your opportunity to experience the Orange County Fair while helping our OCWS staff The Courtyard. Again this year, we will be conducting Wine Seminars each Saturday and Sunday afternoon at 3:00 and 5:00 p.m. Also, the Winemakers Group will be conducting free Saturday seminars at 12:00 noon in The Courtyard.

As a concessionaire at the Fair, all OCWS volunteers must be “professionally trained and certified in alcohol awareness techniques.” Individuals who took TIPS training in 2009 and 2010 have fulfilled the requirement for this year’s fair. New OCWS members and members who completed TIPS training in 2008 are required to take 2011 TIPS training. The Alcohol Server Training sign-up form can be found at the end of The Wine Press. Please use this form to indicate your availability to attend training. If you have any questions about alcohol server training, please call Karen Ward at 714.342.1557. If your call is blocked, enter *82 then the phone number or email her at Karen@ocws.org. New trainees will need to have their picture taken following TIPS certification.

Located within the OCWS Website, please find The Wine Courtyard Sign-Up form (shifts are now full - form has been removed) for volunteering at The Courtyard. Included with this form is the Server Responsibility Statement. Kindly review and sign this statement and return with the sign-up form to the OCWS Office. Please take this opportunity to sign up now as a Courtyard volunteer. Every effort will be made to assign you to shifts and duties that you select. You can assume that your requested shifts will be assigned unless you are notified of a conflict. You will be called only if your requests cannot be honored or you are needed on a different shift or position. All volunteers are expected to be Servers. Stewards and Cashiers require previous experience so veteran volunteers are encouraged to sign-up for those positions. Also please indicate your parking needs whether they are for each of you (Per Member) or for both members (Per Membership). Handicap parking is reserved for only those members who possess a permanent handicap parking permit and cannot board the buses from the parking lots.

All available shifts are noted on the signup form and all schedules are similar to last year. Members are requested to work at least three shifts during the Fair. Historically, certain shifts are hard to fill. These understaffed shifts tend to be Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday nights. When submitting your sign-up form, please consider volunteering for one or more of these shifts. This year, we are going to continue staffing an “Express Bar” from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. daily. An 8-oz. glass will be served for $8. No tastes or drink tickets will be honored at the Express Bar. This venue is designed to speed up the serving process for Fair customers who are attending the concerts. Therefore, we will need only four volunteers to staff this function including two servers, a Cashier, and Steward. When you sign up, please consider this area. New this year, will be a Premium Wine area. These award-winning wines will be served on the award side of the counter.

Assignments will be made on a first-come basis so return this sign-up form as soon as possible, but no later than June 30, 2011. The availability of shifts will be periodically posted on the website so check this form for the availability of your desired shifts. A separate letter mailed the end of June or the early part of July will confirm your final assignments. This letter will also include your picture badges and hanging parking passes and a copy of the parking instructions and The Courtyard Volunteer Procedure.

Remember, when submitting your volunteer request, please (1) Fill out The Courtyard sign-up form completely, (2) Sign the Server Responsibility Statement and (3) Complete the Alcohol Server Training form, if needed, and send all of the above to the OCWS Office.

Please contact Larry Graham at larrygraham@cox.net or 949.551.0155 for questions concerning assignments or special needs.

See you at the Fair!

The Courtyard Committee