Volunteer Spotlight, Friends of Paynes Prairie
The Friends of Paynes Prairie are the recipients of the 2022 Special Event of the Year Award for Holidays on the Prairie.
Holidays on the Prairie is a celebration of what the holidays might have been like on Paynes Prairie in the middle 1800s. Several stations are set up inside the visitor center, and volunteers and staff dress in period-appropriate clothing and interact with visitors as first-person historians. Jeannie represented the Jewish community that was living on the prairie. she held a menorah lighting and taught visitors to spin the dreidel and how to play other Hanukkah games. Dave represented the Christian community and read “Twas the Night Before Christmas” to small groups of visitors during the event. Chuck also represented the Christian community and was St. Nicholas. He posed with children, adults and four-legged friends.
Staff and other volunteers helped visitors with crafts such as corn husk dolls and making bird feeders out of pines cones, peanut butter and bird seed. Visitors also enjoyed eating candied pecans, drinking spiced cider, and seeing a cracker horse.
Three volunteers served as leaders in 2021 when Holidays on the Prairie was first celebrated at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park. Jeannie Bobroff (nine years and 3,456 hours) has been working in the visitor center and is a board member for the Friends of Paynes Prairie. Dave Hartley (10 years and 2,422 hours) also works in the visitor center. Chuck Kennedy (four years and 160 hours) helps with maintenance, building repairs, vehicles and more.
This volunteer team wanted to highlight the area’s rich history and holiday traditions while entertaining and educating the public.
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