[mou] Volunteering at the Fair

[Thomas Maiello]

I usually volunteer for the State Fair Foundation and work at least 9  
days at the fair every year.  I love the fair.  Don't ask me why.  I  
just love the fair.

A week or so ago, I got a series of three emails from someone with  
the first name of Chris about volunteering at the fair and I just  
assumed it was Chris at the State Fair Foundation needing last minute  
volunteers.  I jumped in a bit only to discover that it was Chris  
Benson of the MOU and not the other.  My stomach churned a bit as I  
pondered why I had responded to the MOU email thinking it was the  
foundation.  It happened three times - that I had mistaken the MOU  
emails for the foundation.  Three times.  I know what that means. It  
means I jump.

So I jumped into volunteering for 5 shifts at the MOU Birdie Booth.   
Five 3-hour shifts!  And I have never done it before - never stood in  
front of another human being and pretended I was a birding expert -  
never stood beneath a sign daring any one to come up and challenge me  
with any birding question (any!) - never talked about the MOU (heck,  
I am not even a member although I now am taking the plunge there  
too!) nor never had any idea what info I represented which lay on the  
table that could arouse conversation with me the heir apparent of the  
knowledge, the answers, the wisdom, and blah, blah blah.  So my  
stomach churned as I set myself up for whatever my jumping in after  
the 3 times would gift me.

I had some solace and some trepidation also in that I would be  
manning my first Birdie Booth solo and on a Saturday and between 3  
and 6 pm - prime time for fair goers!  (Ask me when prime time fair  
time is - I know.  In fact ask me anything about the fair - I study  
to know.)  My trepidation lie in doing it alone and my solace lie in  
not having to let any more expert birder catch me in my bull.  So now  
I was setting in motion another experience of the fair - and one  
where it was possible that I could fail, make mistakes, say the wrong  
thing, boo-boo, look stupid, be dumb, etc., etc., etc..

Saturday 2 pm.  I arrive early to the table on the outside of the  
busiest attraction of the fair - the DNR Wildlife Building.  I meet  
Anne Hanley and George Skinner - the Noon to  3 folks at the booth.   
Their names sounded familiar from the list server and man are they  
sweet folk.  I see if they need anything and pause long enough to  
watch them in action - for there is a steady progression of people  
ambling by the table stirring up birdie conversation.  I am a bit  
intimidated as George and Anne's responses and conversation certainly  
sound over MY head.  My stomach churns a bit as I search for rubber  
bands or tape to secure the rolled up posters they are giving away.

I return with bargain tape and again watch the pros converse.  Boy,  
do they know their birds!  Here I am,  their replacement, and the  
mini-crowds of from 2 to 8 people who seem to constantly present  
themselves to the gift which is Anne and George, are about to be  
meeting the new kid.  My stomach churns a few times just to keep me  
humble.

Just before I take over, Anne shows me the ropes with signing in and  
name tags to meet DNR requests and where the supplies are.  I realize  
that suddenly I am in the "inside" of the DNR building - a pass to go  
where I need to go without anyone asking questions.  I even get to  
use the staff toilet!  Yay!

When we return to the table, I engage in answering a question about  
where robin babies go after they fledge.  Out of the corner of my  
eye, I catch the ever fading backs of George and Anne - they have  
left!  I am alone - sort of, if you ignore the dozen or so people who  
are at the table looking over the papers, posters and books with a  
few looking at me like they actually read the overhanging sign  
requesting that they ask me a question about birds.  Several become  
engaged with the where robin babies go and my backyard birding  
experiences seem right on.  I even offer some advice to prove my  
hypotheses that they could be in the neighboring shrubbery - dig up  
some worms and put them out and see where the momma robin goes when  
she snatches them up - and to listen for the IDing peeps the babies  
make.  Was anything I said actually true?  It was true to me.  And I  
believe that was what the people at the table wanted to hear.  What  
was true to me.

I had a ball the entire three hour shift.  Most of the time I was  
putting temporary ink tatoos on kids and adult hands and arms,  
several times I had to go through the bird books on the table to help  
someone identify a bird they saw, and I spoke a lot about MOU and the  
list server and even about the Audubon clubs in the cities area or  
where to find one via the internet.  Three hours shot by like a  
wormhole.  I was a bit stunned when Derek Bakken touched my shoulder  
and informed me that he was my replacement.

I showed Derek the check-in and supply area and stayed to allow a  
smooth transition and I wandered off.  Truth was, I didn't really  
want to leave.  I was having fun.  I loved calling in kids for tatoos  
and then sharing my passion for birds with them.  I loved hearing  
stories of birdie adventures people had in their backyard and  
probably had never found anyone who would listen to the entire story  
in detail and ask questions or beam back the understanding that only  
a parallel experience could reflect.

I had a ball!

In two other shifts I got to become a washable tatoo master -  
including one on the burly bicep of a weight lifter dude who could  
actually make the hummingbird look like it was flying by flexing his  
arm.  That was complemented with many, many teensie weensie hands of  
kids from 2 to 45 year old - both male and female.  I occasionally  
found moments to sit down to collect my thoughts and reflect on how  
cool the whole experience was and how I really didn't have time to  
evaluate if I knew what I was talking about, if I looked stupid or if  
I was full of it.  I just spoke my passion and the moment handled the  
rest.  When I would walk about the fair following my shift, I would  
occasionally run into Birdie table visitors who recognized me and  
jumped into conversation about there experience.

On my first solo morning shift, I was greeted by veterans of the  
booth Barb and Denny Martin who set everything up for me because they  
knew I was running solo again.  Sweet, sweet people and so thoughtful  
and supportive.  They inspired me and reinforced that I just had to  
be me to have the table work - birdie passionate me.

Only once did my formal education and technical interests get called  
into play.  I had asked my girl friend to join me at one of my solo  
shifts.  She has minimal birdie experience but could put on tatoo and  
listen like a Birdie table pro - deflecting birdie questions to me.   
Anyway, this group of kids comes up - teens - and they all had  
notebooks.  An adult woman is standing off to one side as I am  
hawking tatoos and handouts about MOU free talks and birding  
opportunities.  Suddenly the woman leans in and asks "Could you talk  
to them about how the Federal Government deals with birds?".  I was  
momentarily stunned.  I just looked at her and said "What?".  She  
rewords it a little but with the same meat.  I ask "Do you mean how  
the feds protect  birds or habitat?"  She says yes and it was at this  
point that I realized that I could have answered anything and she  
would have said yes.

To my additional surprise, the students each pulled out their pens  
and held them at the ready against their notebook pages and looked up  
at me.  There I was with about 7 teens, ready to hang on my very  
words, looking to me for some rational form of wisdom that could  
possibly show up on a test in a later classroom and possibly shape  
their entire lives and futures.  Oh my God!!!!  I pulled together the  
words "Federal Government" and "birds" and let her fly!

I  was the observer as my words took wing and filled the air around  
something about decreasing bird populations, the need for increased  
habitat and off into ducks and wildlife management on federally  
funded programs (thank God I watch local wildlife shows on TV  
occasionally).  I was amazed at how words continued to form as the  
teens took notes, when I began to hear key words emanating from  
behind me.  My girlfriend was pacing behind me saying "bald eagles"  
and "Endangered Species Act".  Not bad for a fledgling birder and  
great evidence for the value of reading the news and listening to  
wildlife news on TV.  I grasped at the offered words and continued on  
talking about probably one of the few (in my opinion) successful  
federal programs I could render at the moment.  It did help that  
instead of gulls taking my walleye skins up in the Boundary Waters  
last year, there were eagles plucking the skins of logs only some 15  
feet from me.  It also helped that several people visiting the booth  
earlier rendered stories of eagles and sought areas for good eagle  
viewing.

Bottom line - it was actually easy to just let whatever came into my  
mind out and trust that I could make sense of the countless hours of  
book reading, TV nature show watching, and news articles and reports  
I catch in my normal day in line with my passion for birds.  And  
before I could even gloat at my self-sensed success, a flock of  
adolescent humans fell upon the booth in search of washable tatoos.

I tell you I had a ball.  Even today when I was joined by another  
novice virgin birdie table attendee, Gary Strandemo from Saint Cloud,  
the ease and grace at which the game is played when we simply share  
that passion for birds that we all have - volunteering at the State  
Fair Birdie Table booth is a joy and a must experience for us all.  I  
truly believe that every person is simply waiting for that certain  
person to say those certain words (whatever they may be) and the  
passion for birding can be ignited.  When the student is ready the  
teacher appears.  Next year consider volunteering.  You cant' do it  
wrong, no requirements except your passion for birds and love of  
people.  Be prepared for a shift of charming, dazzling, and  
entertaining wonderment and learning.  Plus you get in the fair for  
free!

Thank you Chris for asking!

Thomas Maiello
Angel Environmental Management, Inc.
Spring Lake Park, MN



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