LITTLE ROCK — Before the sun rose Monday, about 250 volunteers had already put in hours packing up supplies and equipment used for Riverfest.
After a 2 a.m. meal of fried chicken, waffles and macaroni and cheese, volunteers worked for another hour before heading home. They were back at the Statehouse Convention Center by 9 a.m. to take inventory and load trucks full of supplies to store for next year.
“[Riverfest] takes a year to plan, a week to put together and one day to take it down,” Riverfest spokesman Kelley Bass said.
The pullout was completed about 1 p.m.
Riverfest Executive Director DeAnna Korte said the process is worth it if attendance yields large profits that go toward improvements to Riverfront Park in Little Rock and North Shore Park in North Little Rock.
Although attendance and profit estimations were not available Monday, Korte said the 90-degree weather may have lowered this year’s numbers.
“It was hot. The heat definitely affected us during the day,” Korte said. “Heat can be a little like rain [affecting] attendance, but we had good steady crowds.”
While vendors experienced a drop in sales this year, the concerts drew large crowds for acts like Lynyrd Skynyrd and Joe Walsh. When rapper Snoop Dogg performed on the Bud Light Stage on Sunday, crowds extended “all the way back to the Clinton Center,” Bass said.
“We had a great lineup of diverse acts that offered something for everyone,” Korte said. “A family of 12 from Nevada came specifically for Joe Walsh, then stayed all weekend.”
Korte said officers from several law-enforcement agencies, including Little Rock police and the Pulaski County sheriff’s office, patrolled the 15-block area of the festival.
On Sunday, FBI officials said they had made no arrests in a purported bomb threat at the festival but they are still investigating. Little Rock police spokesman Sgt. Cassandra Davis said the threat was called into the North Little Rock 911 center. The Little Rock Fire Department bomb squad also responded and did not find any evidence of a bomb.
“Apparently a call came in sometime [Sunday] morning,” Korte said of the threat. “[Law enforcement] stayed in constant communication with us. ... We take safety as our number one priority.”
Little Rock police spokesman Michelle Howard said that by Sunday evening 49 people were cited for drinking-related offenses.
Most of the event’s profits go toward park improvements, which have included the River Market pavilions.
“In our 35 years, we’ve given back almost $1 million,” Korte said.
This year the festival, in partnership with Wal-Mart, also collected food for the Arkansas Foodbank Network. Money raised from Riverfest’s first “Ruff on the River” puppy parade, which included dogs dressed in costumes and a tiny-dog race, won by Frankie, a Pomeranian, went toward four nonprofit animal organizations in the state.
This year’s “Go Green” program encouraged festival attendees to turn in recyclables for a chance to win items ranging from a T-shirt to an iPod, Korte said. The money made from the recyclable items collected will go toward granting a child’s wish through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. More than 100,000 cans were collected, Bass said.
It’s causes like these that keep volunteers like Carol Langston, who has been involved with Riverfest for 20 years, coming back each year.
“It’s a way to give back to the community. It’s wonderful in terms of economic development,” Langston said. “I enjoy being around people that give back to the community.”
As volunteers within 32 different committees sorted supplies ranging from coolers to Riverfest merchandise Monday morning, items were loaded onto pallets and forklifted into semis to be delivered to a warehouse for storage, Bass said.
Since the festival started Friday, Dawn Talley said, she, like many other volunteers, had been at the park about 8 a.m. each morning to set up and went home hours after the festival closed each night, usually about 1 a.m. Bass said there were about 3,000 volunteers throughout the festival.
Talley said she’s been volunteering for 11 years and her husband has been volunteering for 10 years.
Talley’s daughter, Hannah Troillet, 19, said volunteering at Riverfest has been a family affair since she was 8 years old. This is her first year as an official committee member.
“It takes volunteering to a whole new level than just doing a four-hour shift,” Troillet said. “It’s been really neat seeing how a wide range of people come together for community service.”
As one of the youngest committee members, Troillet said she hopes to carry on her family’s legacy with Riverfest.
“Oh definitely,” Troillet said of volunteering in the future. “I’ll be here until they kick me out.”
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 05/29/2012