The Madison Scouts are looking for additional volunteers for the upcoming 2010 season to work in food operations and merchandise services.This years' food operations program is headed by Chris Dally, mother of marching member Matt Dally. Chris has been actively involved with several drum corps over the past 6 years, primarily in food operations, and she has been doing a great job managing the food preparation for all the winter camps in Bloomington.Chris is in need of volunteers for spring training (May 22 - June 21) in Bloomington, IN and on tour (June 21 - August 14). The Bloomington facility has an excellent and well-equipped kitchen, the building is air conditioned and volunteers typically house on the premises with the corps.The corps will be touring with a newly leased mobile kitchen that is also well-equipped and air conditioned. As well, volunteers will be transported on an air conditioned chartered bus this year. Volunteers are provided meals on tour as well as passes to the shows.No specific skills are required, but you need to bring a positive attitude and strong work ethic. The work is hard, but very rewarding as you help nourish 150 young men each and every day.For the second year, the merchandise program is being headed by Andrew Irving, alumnus of the Scouts and senior lecturer of French at UW-Madison. Merchandise operations, "souvies", is a critical revenue stream for the corps and generates over $100K of cash flow. As such it needs to be managed like any commercial store with a focus on customer service and quality products.Under the direction of Andrew, volunteers in this area would be responsible for the daily sales operations at show sites. While selling at the show, this entails setting up in the afternoon, managing inventory, handling cash & credit card sales, working directly with customers, and presenting a positive image for the Madison Scouts. We will typically staff 2-3 in this area. Meals will be provided by the corps and you will have a great opportunity to interact with the many fans of the corps each evening. We need to staff from June 21 - August 14.The corps will need drivers for two tractor trailers (CDL required), the souvie van/trailer (standard license) and an SUV lead vehicle (standard license). We have one tractor trailer driver committed for the entire summer and need to get the other vehicles fully covered as well. If you drive the souvie vehicle or SUV, you must be comfortable towing a trailer and recognize that you will be driving overnight in most circumstances. So you will need to adapt your sleep schedule when you come on tour.The steps to volunteering are fairly easy:1. If you are interested in volunteering please email us with your name and availability to:FOOD OPERATIONS (Chris Dally): food@madisonscouts.orgTRANSPORTATION (Bill Leslie): transportation@madisonscouts.orgMERCHANDISING (Andrew Irving): merchandise@madisonscouts.org2. At that point, you will be contacted and required to fill out some basic forms. This is required of all volunteers and assures the safety of both you and the members of the corps.3. Once everything is in place, we will work with you on finalizing your time commitment.Volunteers are required to supply their own transportation to/from the corps location in Bloomington or when meeting up with us on tour. We will work to get you to/from an airport if you are joining us mid-tour.The Madison Scouts are dependent on a good strong work force of volunteers to make our season successful. By donating your time you're providing an invaluable service to help us fulfill our mission. The 2010 season is already shaping up to be something special. I do hope you consider this opportunity to volunteer this summer.Chris KomnickExecutive Director