The Chickasha Festival of Light is a community event. We'd like to thank each and everyone of you who have volunteered in the past, and look forward to many volunteers this year. Without you, there would not be a Festival of Light! It is really a lot of fun and when there are lots of people working together the time flies by! There are several opportunities to volunteer your time, both in setting up the lights prior to the Festival, and during it.

Donate-A-Worker Days to Setup prior to the Festival

Employers are asked to donate one or more of their employees to come out and volunteer at Festival of Light instead of reporting into work. The work will begin at 8:00am and end at 5:00pm and volunteers can come and go at their employer’s request. All employee attendance is verified by a sign-in sheet each day.

The following days have been set up for Donate-A-Worker Days in November to install the lights in the park:

• Friday November 4th - 8am to 5pm
• Friday November 11th - 8am to 5pm
• Friday November 18th - 8am to 5pm

 

Saturday/Sunday Volunteering to Setup prior to the Festival

Volunteers are also sought for every Saturday in November as well. We begin at 9:00am on Saturdays and work until 5:00pm. Volunteers are free to come and go and all volunteers working at least half a day on both Fridays and Saturdays can enjoy a complimentary lunch provided by one of the following restaurateurs: A & E Grill, Eduardos, Paw Paws Hamburgers, Walmart Deli, or Ken’s Steaks and Ribs.

The following days have been set up for volunteering to install the lights in the park:

• Saturday November 5th - 9am to 5pm
• Saturday November 12th - 9am to 5pm
• Saturday November 19th - 9am to 5pm
• Sunday November 20th - 1pm to 9pm

 

Gift Shop and Gate Volunteering During the Festival

We are now scheduling nights for groups to volunteer during the Festival. We open November 22nd and run through December 31st, 2011. When you agree to volunteer for a night, reminding the volunteers will be your responsibility.

Festival of Light is asking for volunteers to work at the welcome and thank you gates and gift shop. The Welcome gate greets visitors and welcomes them to Chickasha. The Thank You gate thanks visitors for visiting, takes donations, and hands out candy. The Gift Shop & Concessions sells merchandise/food and gives out information.

There are two shifts each night:

• Early Shift - 5:50pm to 8:30pm
• Late Shift - 8:25pm to 11:00pm (if it is slow we usually let our volunteers go at 10:45pm)

 

Due to the success of the last several years, we are again scheduling groups/companies for entire nights of the Festival. This is a great public relations and community spirit opportunity for our local businesses, civic clubs, churches, and clubs.

We are asking for your group to volunteer at least 1 night at FOL. This means your group would provide a minimum of 10 volunteers (5 for first shift and 5 for second divided between front gate, back gate, and gift shop). Volunteers can divide their time between the gift shop and the gates to warm up and rotate if it is cold or let those that can’t work outside help at the gift shop. At the front gate, the sign will read VOLUNTEERS TONIGHT PROVIDED BY: Your Company, group, organization, civic group, etc. You are also free to tell people about your group if and when they ask.

Live Nativity Production

The Live Nativity runs nightly from December 3rd through December 18th. We are in GREAT NEED of groups to participate in the Live Nativity Production. There are NO LINES to learn….and it only takes 8 people for two hours to put on this production proclaiming the glorious story of Jesus’s birth. Please contact us if you know of a church group, civic group, or if your business would like to participate in this worthy event as well. It would be a tragedy to have to cancel the Live Nativity due to lack of participation.

If you decide to participate, this is how it will go - Each night, there will be four performances by your group. They will begin at 6:30, 7:00, 7:30 and 8:00pm.

Each performance takes approximately 12 minutes and the other 18 minutes will allow people to pet the animals, take pictures, visit with actors, and allow actors to get prepared for the next show.

We suggest that you have hats and gloves for all actors as well as layered warm clothing for cold temps. (White or light colored hats and gloves are preferred for the Angels) We will cancel the performance if it rains. Costumes will be located in the bathhouse storeroom and actors can check in there to dress. Costumes are to be worn OVER clothing appropriate for the temperature.

8 volunteers are required for the performance for main characters. Children under 12 are allowed as Shepherds, “extra” angels, and as flag bearers but cannot perform as 6 main core characters. We have approximately 15 angel costumes and three/four costumes for shepherds. If your group brings more than this, you will need to provide costumes for them. You are welcome to wear your own costumes for your performance provided they are appropriate for the part.

 

Signup Sheets and Documentation

We have included an Agreement Form to volunteer which needs to be sent back to us so that we can have enough information from you to give you adequate credit and to contact you if we need to make some changes. Also, we have included a Volunteer Recruitment Form and the information letter for your use in recruiting your volunteers. We would appreciate that form being returned to us as well so that we have an accurate count of how many volunteers we had during the season but it is more for your use in recruitment. We look forward to working with you.

If you are interested or know someone who might be, have questions or comments please contact Kristi at the Chamber of Commerce by emailling us from the Contact Us page, or call 405-224-9627.

• Click here for the Volunteer Signup Sheet
• Click here for the Volunteer Gate Worker Agreement
• Click here for the Volunteer Recruitment Letter