The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Two years ago, Tim Babcock helped rescue a volunteer-starved Trout Festival from oblivion. Now, as president of an executive with just three other members _ Hollee Babcock, Annette Last and Lori Rogan _ Babcock knows how his predecessors felt. Volunteers were just one of the subjects covered as The Reminder interviewed Babcock following last week's Trout Festival annual general meeting. * * * REMINDER: Was the 2011 festival a money-maker or a loss? By how much? Overall now, where does the festival stand financially? BABCOCK: Overall last year, the festival broke even. Our audited statement shows a loss, but that is almost in direct proportion to the amount of old souvenirs we wrote off and gave away, and the new souvenirs we ordered but didn't get out in time to sell. We also didn't have a chair for souvenir sales, so that hampered things. One of the biggest money-makers for the festival has traditionally been the Queen Mermaid Pageant, combined with the Share in the North ticket sales. Without those two things, we have to be more creative in our efforts to raise money, and rely more on public donations. REMINDER: What events were the most successful, financially and/or attendance-wise, in 2011? Why? BABCOCK: The most successful event financially is the Fish Fry. It is also the most expensive. While we brought in $20,000, a lot of that money gets paid out to things like entertainment, security, the venue, sound and lights, and bartending/security. Last year we had about 1,000 people at the Fish Fry, which is a pretty amazing crowd when you consider our population and the amount of people that leave town that weekend. The parade is also a huge undertaking, with hundreds of people directly involved in the parade itself and probably a couple thousand lining the route. REMINDER: How many volunteers do you have and how many do you need? Is the lack of volunteers putting the festival at risk? BABCOCK: Last year we had an organizing committee of roughly 10 people that came out to most of the monthly meetings. This year I'm hoping to increase that to about 15. We have people in most of the key areas now, thanks to the people that stepped forward at the AGM (annual general meeting) and approached us after last year's festival. If you added up the volunteer hours that go into planning and running the festival, you are looking at upwards of 2,000 hours. That seems like a lot, but most of those hours are eaten up by the committee. What's left over are the hours during the festival for things like helping to set up and clean up the Fish Fry, selling tickets at the door, working at our tent on Main Street, judging the parade and flipping pancakes. The list of jobs is endless, and the more people that volunteer one or two hours can really make a difference. It is great when you have a group such as the Kinettes, Rotarians or Lions who help us in different capacities and eat up some of those hours. If more people volunteered an hour or two that weekend, it would be a great weight lifted off our shoulders. REMINDER: When you and others helped save the festival a couple of years back, it was generally agreed the festival needed new blood and new ideas. Has it achieved that to the degree you would like to see? BABCOCK: When I took over the festival two years ago, I promised everyone that I would be willing to give it a run for two years and then I'd evaluate where we are at. See 'The...' on pg. 5 Continued from pg. 4 The first year was tough because none of us really knew what we were getting ourselves into. There was a bit of a honeymoon period, as expectations weren't really high. I think people just wanted to make sure that the festival survived in some form. The biggest mistake we made the first year was not utilizing the people that put their name down to volunteer at the AGM that year. The problem was that we weren't real sure what exactly we needed volunteers for. It is hard phone a person and say, 'We know we are going to need you for something on June 30, but we just don't know where, when or for what.' The second year we had a better idea of what we needed, but it was harder to find volunteers. It is almost as if people saw that the festival was in good hands after the success of the first year, and weren't as quick to step forward. We have some great volunteers, but the group is very small, and we find ourselves going back to the same group of people for every event, instead of having a large group that can do one or two hours. We also rely a lot on friends and family. It looks real bad for our community, though, when I have a cousin in from out of town that is selling tickets at the front door because we couldn't find anyone local. REMINDER: What events are you looking at dropping / introducing in 2012? BABCOCK: As of right now, the only event that we are in danger of losing is the Amazing Race. The first year we had 20 teams and last year that number dropped to 10. It is a huge event that requires a lot of preplanning and ties up a lot of volunteers almost all day long. It loses money. It is a lot of fun, but I'd like to replace it with an event that more people can participate in and doesn't tie up so many people on the busiest day of the festival. See 'Fishing...' on pg. 11 Continued from pg. 5 Right now I'm thinking about a week-long photo scavenger hunt. Teams of four can enter, and everyone will receive the list of clues at 6 p.m. the Thursday before the festival. It will be a long list, and it will be up to the teams to decide how many they want to tackle. You might get one point for taking a picture of a teammate and a former Flin Flon Bomber. You would get more points if you can get a picture of a teammate with a live chicken. Or a teammate in a bathtub filled with Skittles. The only thing you will have to hand in at the deadline is a memory stick with all your photos, and the team with the most points wins. Also, the Fishing Derby will be back after a one-year hiatus. We're looking at changing the format a bit to encourage more entrants, but we have a new committee that is looking into the logistics of it as we speak, so we are excited about its return. REMINDER: Are people taking the Trout Festival for granted? What do you think the festival means to Flin Flon and area? BABCOCK: This year the Trout Festival celebrates its 62nd year. I don't think that people necessarily take it for granted. It will always be there in some form. However, I could see it shrinking in size if more people don't participate in certain areas. For example, you would be surprised how hard it is to organize Main Street Days. There are a handful of businesses that are very enthusiastic about it and even hire extra staff during the festival. Those are the businesses that keep us going back. It definitely isn't the majority, though. REMINDER: Single biggest challenge facing the festival right now and the solution? BABCOCK: We would like to be able to throw a bigger festival, with better entertainment and more things to experience, but costs for everything are rising. For example, there was a band that we wanted to bring up for the Fish Fry (in 2010), but they wanted $15,000. Plus you have to fly them here from Toronto, and they don't bring their own gear, so you have to rent equipment for them and truck it up from Winnipeg, and you need bigger production, so you have to pay more for sound and lights. The $15,000 band turns into a $30,000 band pretty quickly. We started the year with about $20,000 in the bank. We didn't want to blow it all the first year. We try to be creative with the entertainment. We had a magician for the kids (in 2010) and a ventriloquist last year. We always manage to find great party bands for the Fish Fry, and last year we added a fire-spinner to entertain between bands. Another big cost we are facing this year is a new Teddy Trout. The old Teddy Trout has unfortunately seen his last parade. To get a professional custom mascot costume such as the Chamber's Flinty, you are looking at anywhere from $8,000 to $15,000. We've approached a few companies about a new one, and those are the kinds of numbers we are hearing.
