Founders Day Best Practices

Resources

The city's website. This should have links to dates, deadlines, forms, etc. Keep checking it.

Example Communications

Historical Budgets & Applications are Located in the Committee Chair Founders directory. Ask them for the link.

Pre-Event Timeline

This timeline is built off of the 2022 Founders Day Festival. Be sure to verify with the Commission and Cook Off Club the specific dates for future years.

January

Late January -- Coordinate with the Cook Off Club if haven’t already.
Make sure Founders Day is on Scoutbook Calendar.

February

Early February – SPL and Scoutmaster need to decide what items will be for sale in the booth (it’s required on the application).
Late February – Vendor Booth Application is due ($125 in ’22). In 2023 and beyond, applications will be online only – no paper applications.

March

Late March – Parade Entry Deadline ($75 in ’22). The parade will also be going to online applications. As of 11/14/2022, the Commission has not adopted a theme for the parade. Keep an eye on the city’s website or the Founders Day website for updates.

April

Talk up Founders Day at every meeting in April – Stress adult volunteers!
Create Sign-Up Genius. Publish 3 weeks prior – provide a link in Scoutbook. Bribe patrols – most signups by ___date gets pizza at meeting or gets to pie a Scoutmaster or ASM in the face. [I purposely wrote Scoutmaster or ASM, and did not include Committee members, as that would be totally inappropriate.]
Early April – Buy bulk candy for parade (Amazon). Buy LOTS more than you think you need. They’ll throw 100% of whatever you buy. Kids at the end of the parade like candy too. Avoid chocolate – it melts.
Build the for-sale items in the booth (in ’22, we did BBQ pigtail flippers; previous years have been owl houses, disco cookers, etc). While it’s fun to custom build items on-the-fly in the booth, it’s also a pain. My advice is to build sale items in the weeks prior to the event, and just sell them in the booth.
2-3 weeks out -- plan the float
Secure items for float build. Likely need adult volunteers here.
Week before -- Build the float.

Founders Day Weekend Schedule

Friday 5:30 to 7:00

Parade Staging: Scouts need to be in the parade staging area by 5:30 for a 6:30 start. The staging area is the old Walnut Springs School Parking area. Parents dropping off scouts for the parade need to park at Dripping Springs High School, and walk their scouts down Sportsplex Drive to the staging area. There is a sidewalk, but please watch the traffic, as that day is a little crazy.

The black, 16-foot, flat-bed trailer that the Troop has used in the past has a 2-inch ball. I’m not sure if this trailer belongs to the Troop or if it’s on loan from a Scout’s family (Brian Johnson, I think).

There needs to be at least 6 adult volunteers to walk in the parade to ensure that kids don’t run out to the trailer, and that scouts similarly don’t have negative interactions with the trailer.

After the parade, the trailer can be dropped off at the church. If the adult driver is also staying for Friday night trash pick up, the trailer can be parked back in the staging area, but must be out by midnight.

Friday trash pick up – This is the most congested night of the Festival. MINIMUM of 4 Adults to pick up trash from 8-10:30. Men with loud voices are highly encouraged. Seriously, this shift is a bit intense – just ask Timmie. This shift is adults only.

Saturday (the long day)

Set up: The Commission will issue at time to enter to set up - it is time specific. We came late (8:00 am) in ‘22, and it wasn’t a problem, but could have been. Try to honor the specific time from the commission. Cars off the street by 9:00 am for a 10:00 am start.

You must have a vendor pass provided by the Founder's committee to enter. See 2022 example.
You will be given an entry map. See 2022 Example.

For the Day: Popup tent, weights, chairs, tables, stuff to sell and give out, Troop sign & flags, gorilla tape, Notebook & pen/pencil for sign ins, Cooler with bottled water. Some way to take credit cards or cashless payments of some kind is a must. We turned away sales in ‘22 because we were cash only. Lots of buyers asked for credit/cashless, and had to go get cash at the ATM.

Saturday Trash Pick Up – Start in the morning before 10:00. Lots of teams cook breakfast on Saturday morning. It’s a long day. Final Run of the night around 9:30 – 10:00. Last shift of the night is adults only.

Sunday

The important thing to know about Sunday is that there will be trash early from overnight and breakfast activities, and the BBQ club expects a last trash run near the end of the day. The ATV needs to be hosed down (the same building as the gloves/trash bags), and returned to the club HQ.

Other Items

Parking

For all participants, on Saturday is at the Dripping Springs High School parking lot, and there is a shuttle from the DSHS parking lot to the festival. In ’22, there was no shuttle on Friday nor on Sunday.

There are some free on-street parking options available in the vicinity of the festival, but you’re on your own there. Additionally, there also may be parking options for $ closer than the high school – the Baptist Church is an option in this category.

Parade Float Build

SPL needs to coordinate with Scoutmaster on float build. Ideally, the build should happen the weekend before the parade. Scouts and adult volunteers build the float. I would suggest getting the plan in early April to allow time to secure items for the build. Adult volunteers will likely need to ask local businesses for their help in securing donations of items for the float.

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