At 9:00 a.m. the National Planning Committee reconvened for another lap of verbal updates to share late-breaking news related to Hands On. One of the questions heard throughout the morning was , "hey can somebody help me with...? We all pitched in where needed. Some NPC'ers were asked to take an oath of secrecy before being ushered into the loading dock area to assist with prop prep. This was classified "eyes only" clandestine work and to divulge anything further would jeopardize the moral fabric of democracy as we know it today.
The NPC broke into small groups after lunch to firm up more planning details and to attend meetings with Hilton and London Convention Centre staff. The synergy (no relation to sin-ergy) continues to build and the sheer reality of the gathering coming to fruition is sinking in.
Aristotle once claimed that, "the whole is more than the sum of its parts." At large-scale national events like the Canadian Lutheran Anglican Youth gathering, some of its parts are volunteers, without them it would be be impossible to host a multitude of youth, Home Team Leaders and clergy from across Canada for four days at different London venues.
Linda Grainger is the Local Committee Chair, a native of London and member of the National Planning Committee. Linda has mobilized an army of volunteers (Grainger's Rangers) to assist with security, transportation and the all-encompassing "and other duties as assigned." Linda and her team have scheduled volunteers to work shifts at numerous posts through the gathering. Linda is up front with the compensation expectations of potential volunteers, "let me put it this way...volunteers pay 0% income tax and you'll never get asked to take a pay cut."
At 6:00 p.m. enthusiastic youth members from SOC (Stewards of Creation) were busy bagging "swag" as part of a finely tuned assembly line. The youth traveled from London, Exeter, Centralia, Zurich and Milverton to volunteer a few hours and helped make short work of a repetitious task. Working side by side with NPC members, Local Committee members and conscripted family members... the youth rolled up their sleeves and filled swag bags that will be distributed to every Home Team in less than 48 hours upon registration.
Starting Wednesday, Home Teams will begin to arrive and check into their hotels. They will have a day to do some advance scouting of the downtown London area. The Clay-Nation will deliver an economic boost to the local economy and from my experience with local restaurants and merchants, the hospitality will be second to none.
No comments:
Post a Comment