Scholarships / Work Exchange
Howdy to all you Great Lakes Faire folks! We cannot have a successful Faire without our work-exchange folks. No matter what the job is, from cleaning cabins, washing dishes, sweeping floors, setting out food, serving hungry Faire attendees, helping teachers in classes, helping Kids in classes, we appreciate all of the hard work and time each volunteer gives to make this Faire a success. You lift our spirits with your generosity to this Faire.
Last year's Faire was the best ever, and it was not just the great teachers, or classes, it was the Great Attitude of all work-exchange volunteers pouring out their effort as a team challenge.
Our hope this year is that many of the former great volunteers come to the Faire and bring friends to join in the work-exchange. The Great Lakes Herb Faire would be a failure without your generosity. Thank you for opening your hearts to all those Faire-goers who need your assistance during the weekend. We are sure that each of the work-exchange volunteers this year will have an awesome Faire, and come away with new friends and enlightened spirits for all of their great efforts.
Possible Work Exchange Options
What you need to do:
What you get:
If you have already registered and you have decided you would like to participate in the work-exchange program, please email Coleen, our volunteer coordinator at coleenshaull@gmail.com
Caryn Simon Scholarships
Caryn was a beautiful soul and one of the founders of the Great Lakes Herb Faire. Without her passion for herbal medicine and community, this event would not exist. Caryn passed away in 11/2019 and she is greatly missed. In honor of her, we would like to extend our scholarships in her name.
Scholarships include free admission, lodging and food.
If you are interested in a scholarship please fill out this form. Please return form by July 1st to info@greatlakesherbfaire.org
Last year's Faire was the best ever, and it was not just the great teachers, or classes, it was the Great Attitude of all work-exchange volunteers pouring out their effort as a team challenge.
Our hope this year is that many of the former great volunteers come to the Faire and bring friends to join in the work-exchange. The Great Lakes Herb Faire would be a failure without your generosity. Thank you for opening your hearts to all those Faire-goers who need your assistance during the weekend. We are sure that each of the work-exchange volunteers this year will have an awesome Faire, and come away with new friends and enlightened spirits for all of their great efforts.
Possible Work Exchange Options
- Registration: Assist check in of attendees on Friday, distribute schedules, maps, etc. The rest of the weekend, this will be our central hub, and we'll need people on hand to answer questions, keep an eye on the lost-and-found, radios, paperwork, etc., and handle any random issues that may come up (which would mostly mean alerting a staff member).
- Driveway check-in: Greet attendees as they arrive; check that they are registered & direct them to parking & registration.
- Parking: Directing cars into specific "spots". Parking is tight and unlined, and we need to fit a lot of vehicles in. Please let me know if you have experience with this!
- Class aides: Sitting in on adult classes and generally being helpful if the teacher needs anything, or has issues with electronics, etc. Also, be ready to alert the first aid station should it be necessary.
- Kitchen: Serving food, washing dishes, and helping to generally clean the kitchen and dining hall after meals.
- Set-up: This will run from 10:00 AM on Friday to the opening of the Faire. Assisting with setting up tents, lights, signage, and sound equipment. Making sure all buildings are clean and ready for use including sleeping cabin freshening, wiping down mattresses, sweep floors/dust cob webs, etc. Preparing paperwork for check-in. Anything else (within reason) that comes up at the last minute.
- Tear-down: This will run from the closing of the Faire to 8:00 PM or when the work is done, whichever comes first. Assisting in tearing down tents, etc. Removing schedules and signage, emptying trash, basically making sure we leave the place clean. Possibly chasing people off the premises. Collecting and organizing name tag holders and anything else we want to save. Loading vehicles.
What you need to do:
- Register for the Faire using the adult registration choice. You will be prompted to answer if you would like to do work exchange. You will pay the normal price to begin with.
- Work six hours over the course of the weekend, which may be assigned at any time during the official Faire hours. There will also be slots for set-up and tear-down that will count toward your total hours.
- Be willing to answer simple questions, contact a staff member, or point people in the right direction at any time.
- While on duty, take responsibility for the area you are in, making sure that it's tidy and hazard-free.
What you get:
- At the end of the event, you'll receive a check for the appropriate amount to make your admission fee half of the admission price you paid. (If you pay early bird admission, your check is ½ of this amount; if you pay full-price admission your check is ½ of this amount). This only applies to the admission fee (not camping/lodging or food).
- Up to three free class recordings of your choice, as a thank-you for missing sessions to help us out.
- Bragging rights for being an integral part of the Great Lakes Herb Faire!
- Lots and lots of hugs (if you're a hugger!) and gratitude for all that you do to make this Faire happen.
- A bunch of great new friends!
If you have already registered and you have decided you would like to participate in the work-exchange program, please email Coleen, our volunteer coordinator at coleenshaull@gmail.com
Caryn Simon Scholarships
Caryn was a beautiful soul and one of the founders of the Great Lakes Herb Faire. Without her passion for herbal medicine and community, this event would not exist. Caryn passed away in 11/2019 and she is greatly missed. In honor of her, we would like to extend our scholarships in her name.
Scholarships include free admission, lodging and food.
If you are interested in a scholarship please fill out this form. Please return form by July 1st to info@greatlakesherbfaire.org