Voris
A first-timer and newcomer to Mount Olive, Stephanie Voris didn’t experience all the sights, sounds, aromas and dill-ightful food during the N.C. Pickle Festival a year ago.
She wanted to visit the Mt. Olive Pickle store located on the corner beside the old Southern Bank. However, the line was about 10 minutes long.
Not a single NCPF T-shirt could be found. The festival’s signature souvenir had sold out.
“I think we came at the peak [of the day],” Voris recalled. “I wanted to try a little bit of the food and you could see everybody was having a good time. I was just blown away with how crowded it was and thought it mind-boggling as to how busy it was.”
A native of Tennessee, Voris bought a house this past May in downtown Mount Olive. Involved in community service for more than a decade, she figured out a way she could contribute to the Pickle Festival which kicks off Friday night in Mount Olive. The bulk of the festivities will be Saturday.
How could she help?
Voris reached out to the Rotary Club of Mount Olive, one of the sponsors of the annual award-winning festival. The community service-oriented group welcomed her with open arms and expressed how critical volunteers were to the festival’s success.
She also met with Julie Beck, co-chair of the NCPF and president of the Mount Olive Area Chamber of Commerce. While she and Beck spent a couple of afternoons folding colorful Pickle Festival T-shirts, she learned that the Chamber’s welcome booth needed a manager.
Voris quickly volunteered.
“We’re ready to roll,” exclaimed Voris. “I’m ready to sell some shirts, some pickle socks … raise money for the festival, the beautification of downtown Mount Olive and the community.”
A sociology professor at James Sprunt Community College, she has enlisted some of her students to volunteer at the festival.
The group is just a microcosm of the nameless folks who selflessly donate their time behind the scenes, according to NCPF co-chair Lynn Williams. She mentioned criminal justice majors from the University of Mount Olive took certification classes to help manage crowd control at different locations during the festival.
Some volunteers will put up signage on Friday evening and Saturday morning before festival-goers arrive in Pickle Town. According to Williams, more than 150 volunteers will be on hand to help the event run efficiently and smoothly.
“We have [NCPF] committee members who are coordinating pieces of the festival who are volunteers,” Williams said. “We have don’t have a full-paid staff. It’s really all volunteers. We all have day jobs we have to do in addition to organizing a festival.
“We certainly couldn’t do it without them.”
Voris included.
