News

Bill Curtis Named GAIF 2008 Volunteer of the Year

January 19, 2009

There are some who would say an Irish Festival wouldn't be the same without its beer. If that's true, then perhaps it could be said that the Great American Irish Festival could not have gotten where it is without Bill Curtis. Curtis, who has worked almost every hour of the festival's five years, was chosen the 2008 GAIF Volunteer of the Year.
Bill worked in the Security Detail in 2004 and for the past four years has volunteered in the beer pouring area. In his five years of volunteering he has become an invaluable member of the beer pouring team, keeping the beer flowing by tapping and moving kegs from the storage areas to the two other pouring areas, and the past two years he secured sponsorship from Clinton Tractor Company for the use of two tractors to make the transfer of kegs safer and easier for all those involved.
"With the quality of all our volunteers, this is probably the toughest decision we have to make every year," said Festival Director Matthew Sullivan. "Bill exemplifies the meaning of volunteer by going above and beyond what is expected of him year after year and does all this with no bravado."
According to Great American Irish Festival Volunteer Chairperson Claudette Johnson, there is still time to sign up to volunteer for the 2009 festival. Those interested in volunteering can sign up on the GAIF website at gaif.us. Those who have volunteered in the past are reminded that they still need to sign up via the web page.