Although I had volunteered to work two shifts, I only ended up being needed for the first one. My assignment was to sell beer tickets, and it was truly an eye-opening experience.
The gates opened at noon, and there was a steady stream of visitors coming into the park until I finished up at 3pm. My team was one of three sales teams, and we sold a total of nearly 8,000 tickets!
Several other hops growers were there to work. A share of the funds raised go to our Old Dominion Hops Co-op organization - in fact this is our major source of funds. I had some time to meet and network with some of my colleagues, including David at Piedmont Hops, which I mentioned in my post last week. A second objective for me was to learn a little bit about fests work for breweries. I have a to-do list as a result, and I hope that we can work up a budget to participate in a few next year, once Hawksbill Brewing Company opens.
Now, I do want to take a few minutes to write about the park facilities at Henricus. This location was established to be the second major English settlement in Virginia and dates to 1611. Of course, as with other locations in the Commonwealth, archeological evidence indicates that Native Americans had settled in the area for at least 10,000 years, and that there were approximately 250 people living in the vicinity of where the park now stands.There are several examples of colonial buildings from that time, and there are live interpreters throughout who demonstrate how the colonists lived. There is also a Native American village with interpreters. Finally, a fort was established here for defense, and the James River flows nearby, so commerce was ensured.
All in all a good experience. I had a great time meeting with the other hops folks, and enjoyed four or five samples from the 22 breweries that were in attendance. I hope I am able to make some time for the event last year, but we'll have to see how that fits in with brewery activities!
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