Milton Needs Volunteers For Round Up

by Jason Wright Appen Newspapers

MILTON-- Linda Blow, volunteer coordinator for the city of Milton, can't figure out exactly why there just aren't as many folks signing on to help out this year with the second annual Milton Round-Up."A lot of people from last year are doing other things," she said. "Last year everybody was gung-ho. Now they just don't have the time to dedicate."

The Round-Up is planned for Sept.13 and is slated to include many of the favorite features from last year's popular event, which pulled in more than 3,000 residents to the grounds of Birmingham United Methodist Church. That means chili cook-offs, games, face painting and lots of great food.The crowd is expected to double this year.But to pull it off, a lot of work needs to be done. And Blow admits it's tougher than most people initially think.The odd thing is, the city has never been hard up for volunteers in the past -- its many upstart boards are fully staffed, and last year's Milton Round-Up Committee had nearly a dozen hardworking staffers planning the city's first birthday event. But now myriad factors, including a lack of newness to the affair, 2008 not being an election year and most hardcore volunteers finding themselves otherwise indisposed with other city business, are whittling down the crop of willing participants.

Still, the seven-person strong Round-Up Committee meets every other Tuesday at 6 p.m. in City Hall."It's not going to stop us," said Blow. "The people we have are good people, but we could sure use the help."Anyone who is interested in volunteering to help plan the second annual Milton Round-Up is encouraged to call Blow at 678-242-2489 or e-mail linda.blowatcityofmiltonga.us.