Location: Horner Park
Date: Saturday, June 01, 2013; 3:30-5:45 pm
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| Pit Stop for the night |
Wilson dropped me off at Horner
Park and as I looked around, I spotted a lot of Pink banners and a giant pink
arch welcoming the walkers to ‘Avon
Wellness Village’. The walkers had
just started arriving after their 26 mile walk and a lot of cheerleaders were
welcoming them with thunderous applause, something that they truly
deserved. Speaking of thunderous, I was
glancing nervously at the threatening clouds as I checked-in with Devon, who
welcomed me back. I had signed-up to
help in ‘Tent Hospitality’, such as
with the food or other activities, but Devon assigned me to ‘Tent Angel’, which had nothing to do
with me being the resident's guardian angel, but was the helping people build their tents for the night. Now, I have
never gone camping or stayed in a tent, let along pitch one. This was probably not going to go well, but
in the spirit of trying new things, I said yes.
I walked around the camp and it
truly was a village. There was a huge
tent for food, a medical area, as well as sponsors areas which had massage
tents, yoga and other recovery activities to relive the stress of the long
walk. While this side of the village was
to help the walkers relax, the other side was a field where they would be
spending the night. There were rows upon
rows of pink tents that had already been pitched, through there were several
spots still vacant. I went over to the
area where the walker’s luggage was assembled along with bags of tents. It looked like an airport baggage claim area
and when the walkers arrived, they would go and pick-up their luggage, which
had already been delivered separately, and would be assigned a tent
number. Then, one or two volunteers would
carry their bags along with the tent to their allocated area and then put the
tent up for them. The idea was that we
were to do everything to make the walkers comfortable after their long
day. Plus, they still had another 13
miles of walk remaining tomorrow.
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| The tents that we had to assemble |
One of the ladies took a few
volunteers into the fields to show us how to assemble a tent. It had rained heavily overnight and the field
was a bit soggy. As we made our way
around the puddles and the wet grass, I was hoping that the rains would stay away,
because the last things any of these walkers needed was a miserable night. The lady opened the tent bag and showed us
the various components, including stakes, flexible frames, hooks and the actual
pink tent. She told us that the first
task was to identify the front of the tent and line it up with the other tents
in the row. Then we were to put the four
stakes in and raise the flexible frame up and attach to hooks. We were then to pass another frame across the
top and secure the tarp on the tent, which was held up by the tension. It looked simple, if we remembered to follow
the exact steps, but as with other things, knowledge on paper is useless you do
it yourself.
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| The rain coming down on the village |
I came back to the base and
waited for walkers. I was allocated a
buddy, Shin, who would be working as my partner. A couple had arrived and Shin and I were
up. We carried the bags to their
allocated spot and then after a few minor missteps, had the tent up. As were walking back, a lady said that the
insides of her tent were completely wet, including her stuff inside. This was a big shame and we told her that we
would put up a new one for her. We got a
new tent and after taking her old one down, put the new one up. Unfortunately it was at this moment that the
rains arrived and all of us got totally soaked.
We tried to get her tent as dry as possible, but the damage to her bedding
had already been done. She knew that,
but was still smiling and looked happy to be here. We went back to the ‘Tent Angel’ area and now the rain was on and off. Shin disappeared, but the people were still
coming. I helped another couple carry
their bags and helped them get the tent up, though now the pouring rain was not
our only issue; since the wind was blowing hard.
Some of the tents were taking a real pounding and we knew when we were
beaten. All of us retreated to the food
tent and watched the rain come down.
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| It was really the walkers who were the superstars |
It was truly miserable out there
and I was dripping. Plus, my fatigue was
catching up with me. However, around me the people looked content. There was a sense of accomplishment amongst them and they were enjoying their dinner after what must have been an exhausting day. I was supposed to be here till 8:30 pm, but the rain looked relentless and we would be doing the tents a disservice by putting them up at this stage, since they were sure to get wet on the inside. At 5:45, with no sign of the rain stopping, I made a decision to leave. I was tired and was sure that in this state I would be no good to anyone, especially since we had no idea how long we would have to wait. So for the first time since I had started volunteering, I left my post before the time was up. I tried in vain to search for a cab, but eventually got into a bus. And then the rain went away and sun came out! This made me even more ashamed that I had given up. The people in that village had come a long way today – literally. And now they would have to put up tents and faced a prospect of a very wet night. But their spirits endured and it was no surprise, since it takes a certain character to do things like the ‘Avon Walk’. I may have had a ‘Super Saturday’, but between the walkers and the kids in the band,
there was no question who the real heroes were.
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