"WORD ON THE STREET"

"Word on the Street" is published weekly in the Sumner Reporter Newspaper.

Issue Date:  April 19, 2008

WORD ON THE STREET

By Shelly Schlumpf, Director SDA 

This week I thought I’d do a follow up to last week’s column and include some of the more humorous volunteer incidents that make our float crew such a hoot to work with.  Let’s start with Float Meister, Ben DeGoede.  Ben worked all day Friday on the float, then left to attend his “Girl’s Night Out” event back at the Windmill until late and was back to chauffer the float riders at 5 am.  No wonder he took an hour nap on Saturday morning in the van while the rest of us marched through downtown Tacoma.   

Jon and Joanne Swanson were really disappointed that after all the months of work they put in on the float, they couldn’t even attend the parade because of a scheduling conflict.  But they were back this week with the cleanup duties and plans for a chassis redesign for next year with our mechanic, Rick Shively. 

Speaking of Rick, he followed us in a shop truck the whole parade day with tools, parts and various other float paraphernalia just in case we broke down.  Unfortunately, at the end of the Orting parade we ran out of gas.  Now if we had needed a new transmission, engine parts or starter, Rick had everything we needed in the truck.  Everything except some extra gas.  You should have seen his expression when we told him. Too funny.   

Sherm Voiles volunteered to drive the float this year for Jon since he couldn’t be here.  This past week I learned that Sherm is partial to loud music while driving floats.  And following behind him in the van with Ben and the float crew between parades was a little exciting when he lost a bit of the bottom fringe as the float “brushed” against a dirt embankment on river road.  And that doesn’t include the mile markers that I’m really glad are made of flexible material.    

And finally, on the way home from Orting (after we located some gasoline) our mini float convoy seemed to be traveling a little too slow for a teenage driver behind us.  Once we cleared the cement bridge, the driver stomped on the gas and pulled out to pass us.  I think he was doing great until he pulled up beside Police Chief, John Galle’s escort car.  We were cracking up as we watched Chief Galle turn on the flashing lights and the impatient driver decelerated and got back in the correct lane of traffic.    

These are just a few of this year’s great float stories, but it’s enough to emphasize that volunteering really is fun here in Sumner.  If you’d like join us, just email me and you can experience firsthand why our volunteers continue to think its fun to Spend Some Time in Sumner.