I think it is intimidating to most to be asked to chair such a big event. At least that's the feeling I got back from my group. I chaired the carnival this year, but asked a new mom to co-chair and it worked out brilliantly. I had the groups broken down to Games, Food, Entertainment, Tickets/Money, and Setup/Cleanup. Each classroom or group was in charge of their own booth. Food was kept simple...hotdogs, hamburgers, drinks, chips, fruit. Our principal did the entertainment which included several skits and a lip-sync group of teachers (quite funny). We presold ticket packets and several parents were on this committee. The setup and cleanup was done by the National Junior Honor Society and the NHS. All in all, it was the easiest carnival in the history of the school. It wasn't one person running it and everyone was able to take credit for a job well done.
Our carnival is March 27th. We start out by asking local companies to donate money. We try to get $1000. to $1500. This money is used to purchase prizes for the games, moonbounces and snacks. The prizes are ordered from Oriental Trading. For the game booths, we get our teachers to team up. This year all the tickets that they receive for the games, we will turn into money for them to spend in their classrooms. We have a local resturant to come out and cook for us. This year we are having chicken fingers and "freedom fries". We are also having snacks, like nachos, popcorn, pickles and candy. As for volunteers, the seniors at a local high school have to volunteer for "points" to be in the lead out at the prom. So we are using about 60 of them. If you have more questions, or would like us to fax you a copy of our games and other fun stuff, just let me know. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This is our second year. We are looking for some great tropical fun next week. We are having a "Luau by the Lake" at Hidden Lake Elementary School.
Just passing through here and noticed your post. I am an activity director at senior facility and we have had help from a local bank here as they send volunteers out to set up and man these events and even bring the games. Maybe it will help.
I don't have my budget yet, so I don't know how feasible it would be to use an outside company. We have a very small school (I think we have just over 500 in a K-5 school).
I do have some exciting news, though - the PTO president sent me a list of people who volunteered after the meeting - 25 volunteers!
Patricia, is it? My documents are on my home computer, and I'm not there now, but if you can offer me some suggestions, I'd be happy to send them your way.
As of January we had nobody willing to chair our carnival, which was scheduled at the end of February. I sent home a notice saying that the carnival would be cancelled if no one came forward by a certain date. We got three brand new people to co chair this way, people who had never been to a parent group meeting before. They were extremely well organized, the carnival went more smoothly than it ever has before, and yesterday they told me they'd chair again next year.
This sounds very similar to the way we operate our carnival. I also have some committees that have no chairs. That means I, as President, become the chair. The way I'm handling it is to call the folks who signed up to be on the committee and asking them to handle specific things. It's working out well, in fact, last night when I called a mom to ask for a little help she just asked what all was left to be done. I went over the list and she said she'd do it ALL! I think sometimes people don't know what all the job is going to entail and therefore are afraid to jump in. I've found that calling someone or catching them after school and just letting them know you need help and telling them what there is to do usually gets you the most help. Make some calls to those people you mentioned had offered their help. You may even find that some would be willing to co-chair. Good Luck!
