If you were one of the over 50,000 spectators that attended the first two WaterFire Sharon events, you would have noticed volunteers dressed in black as they worked the fires on the water.
In each boat, there are five to six fire-tenders who are responsible for restocking the fires. In addition, there are two captains. While one is at the helm, the other acts as first mate and is responsible for lighting the fires, navigation, communications, and volunteer safety.
“The task of driving a small boat full of wood and people into a burning brazier on a river at night is daunting and requires practice,” says Mike Kovach (South Pymatuning, PA) one of Waterfire’s ten captains.
The most unique challenge of Sharon’s Waterfire is, in fact, the Shenango River. It not only has the swiftest moving water of all of the world’s Waterfire venues, its varying water level influences both the channels and currents. It calls for patience and focus to master.
All of the volunteer captains were first required to take the PA Fish and Boat Commission Safety Course. Then each captain spent countless hours working on proper techniques for everything from safety procedures and loading boats to lighting and refilling braziers. “The safety of our captains and our firetenders is first and foremost,” says Operations Director, Jennifer Barborak. “Our captains assume a lot of responsibility and they take their volunteer positions very seriously.”
Photo by Karen McIltrot
Waterfire Captain Brandi Baros (Hermitage, PA) thinks it’s been well worth the effort.
“The city of Sharon looks amazing from the water, even when the braziers aren’t lit. It feels incredibly rewarding to be a part of this fabulous event. It’s exactly the kind of thing we need to help revitalize the Shenango Valley both economically and psychologically, and to remind folks what a treasure the Shenango River is.”
Each Waterfire event requires approximately 350 volunteers. Interestingly, the feedback from volunteers has been unified, and Waterfire captain Jeff Krecek (Sharon, PA) has comments that reflect this. “I wanted to get involved and some friends of mine told me about Waterfire… I signed up. The people I’ve had the pleasure to meet have been great, and from my perspective, the creation of this new volunteer community might be the single biggest benefit of Waterfire for our valley.”
Captain Rick Barborak reported, “During their visit to Sharon, the Providence captains were impressed with the talent of our Sharon Captains.” Rick also commented that even though it has been a lot of work, “We have a tremendous amount of fun and have built a great team that we can call on to get the job done!”
The success of this year’s events has been measurable and significant. Waterfire is looking to double the number of captains for next year’s dates. If you are interested in volunteering in this or any other capacity, please contact; Jen@waterfiresharonpa.org
