Popular Alameda tradition needs a new coordinator
The 43rd Annual Alameda Holiday Boutique, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, November 4 and 5, will once again benefit the Alameda Recreation and Parks Department (ARPD) Leisure Club [1], a recreation program for developmentally disabled teens and adults, underwriting the cost of scholarships, field trips, and supplies. The all-volunteer-run marketplace features handmade arts and crafts works of 58 vendors, offering every sort of holiday gift, from olive oils to stained glass to baby blankets.
[2]Three years ago, the event’s coordinator announced that if someone new didn’t step up as volunteer manager, the largest and longest-running holiday arts and crafts fair in the area would essentially just “go away.”
Rob Schmidt, who valiantly signed on to keep the event running, is now ready to step down. And he says that if his efforts to find the right person don’t get results by December, he’ll be sending out a similar “step up or lose it” message to the community.
[3]But for his third—and possibly last—year, the beloved boutique is being run by a person who could not be better suited for the job. Schmidt’s background includes serving as an event producer for Kaiser, hosting and DJing the popular Boomer Dance Party [4] at the Mastick Center, as well as being a street vendor at events from Ashland, Oregon to Los Gatos. His cut-out metal words and quotations were also featured in a shop he used to have in San Leandro.
“Having been a vendor, I have a special affinity for people who make things,” he said, and he enjoys his role as a master curator. For the boutique, he very carefully considers the issue of placement designed for maximum effect. He brings in special lighting and places some vendors in strategic corners where barrels can be utilized to display products. He’s created a “Foodie Way” section where you’ll find olive oil, biscotti, honey, pasta, and upscale chocolate treats. He limits the number of people selling the same sort of items.
Schmidt says he has made a concerted effort to “move the event out of the eighties and bring in new vendors representing Gen X in addition to the Greatest Generation.” The newbies will supplement the 95% of “incredibly loyal” vendors who’ve participated for years.
He has made a number of positive changes to the event, including upgrading its technology to create a website, utilizing social media for promotion, and replacing paper registration with online forms. Food this year will be offered for the first time by Cera Una Volta, with budget-friendly personal pizzas on the menu.
[5]The event moved from a cramped space at the Veterans’ Memorial Building to the much roomier Albert H. DeWitt Officers Club (The O’ Club) on Alameda Point in 2016, with space provided by ARPD. Admission to the event is free, and there is no charge to nonprofit vendors, including the Girl Scouts, Meals on Wheels, and Mastick Senior Center.
While the 2023 Holiday Boutique is expected to be very successful—they are hoping to raise $5,000 for the Leisure Club—Schmidt has expressed his desire to have this be his last year in a leadership role. He is actively trying to recruit a person/persons willing to manage the database, vendor relations, and social media. He says that the time commitment of a couple of hours a week starts in June, and then rapidly accelerates the week of the event for setup, and three full days of the event itself. If no one steps up to take over, there will be a lot of disappointed vendors and visitors, not to mention the families participating in the Leisure Club, who rely on scholarships funded by the Boutique.
Here is a quote from one parent about the impact of the program scholarship on her child: “He has been attending your summer camps since he finished kindergarten. They have helped him enhance his social skills and lower his anxiety. His favorite part of summer camp is meeting new friends and going on field trips. Thank you for making this happen for my family.”
Patrick Russi, who has worked at ARPD for over three decades and is the point person for the Leisure Club, calls the boutique/fundraiser “a great event that helps us to create more opportunities to support families and populations of people who need more safe, fun, and social experiences.”
He’d also miss the event as an attendee, claiming that he goes every year for holiday gifts. Asked to list some of his purchases, he mentions pictures, wine glasses, “tons of wreaths,” lots of gifts, and last year, artisanal doggie treats.
Schmidt is trying to remain hopeful about finding someone new to run the boutique next year, but acknowledges that it’s really hard to recruit a volunteer event coordinator.
“Most of the truly experienced candidates can’t get past the ‘unpaid volunteer’ in the job description,” he said. He hopes that interested folks will remember that this is a nonprofit event, with all revenue after some recurring administrative expenses going to serve a very special segment of our community.
Anyone interested in contacting Schmidt about the opportunity can reach him at [email protected] [6]
The Alameda Holiday Boutique will be held November 4-5, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. [7] (both days), at the Albert H. DeWitt Officers Club (The O’ Club) on Alameda Point, 641 West Red Line Ave.
C.J. Hirschfield served for 17 years as Executive Director of Children’s Fairyland, where she was charged with the overall operation of the nation’s first storybook theme park. Prior to that, she was an executive in the cable television industry. She now contributes regularly to KQED’s Perspectives series, The Oaklandside, and eatdrinkfilms.com [8]. She holds a degree in Film and Broadcasting from Stanford University. Her writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/C_J_Hirschfield/ [9].