From toddlers to teenagers, children poured through the doors at the National Western Complex as two dozen volunteers tried to keep the traffic flowing without incident.
“The hard part is getting them to move past the horse,” said volunteer Barbie Latoski, a Jefferson County extension agent.
Each year, more than 500 volunteers give up two weeks to help run the show, from escorting visitors to taking meals to rodeo cowboys, and all manner of administrative tasks.
“We have a pretty good time,” said volunteer captain Glenn Sanger, who herds cattle on a family spread in Morrison that goes back to frontier days. “It helps to really want to do this – and if you have a lot of patience.”
On opening day, volunteers Keith Chamberlain, a retired teacher, and Virgil Holtgrewe, a rural land appraiser, addressed a group of about 30 first-time volunteers.
“Don’t feel bad if your head is spinning,” Chamberlain said at the end of orientation. “The main thing is have a lot of fun. You’ll know this place backwards and forwards in no time.”
Holtgrewe added: “If you don’t know the answer to a question, don’t worry about it or just guess at it. Just ask someone who’s been around longer for help.”
Holtgrewe said the mission of the volunteer program is education – for students and volunteers. Information and entertainment enthuse the public about the Western lifestyle and keep its traditions alive, he said.
The freshman volunteer group included men and women, young and old, white, black, brown and Asian.
“I think diversity of our volunteers makes the entire program richer,” said Pat Grant, president and CEO of the stock show. “But the things that they have in common is the most important – a love for Western life and an enjoyment of helping others.”
Would-be volunteers sign up a year in advance and take a program on how to manage people and schedules.
“We’ve got lawyers, accountants, doctors,” said Kellie Lombardi, the stock show’s volunteer coordinator. “We can find things for everyone.”
For Gerald and Phyllis Brooks, husband-and-wife volunteers for more than a decade, the children make it worthwhile. Their own grandchildren don’t live nearby, so they enjoy the opportunity to be around kids.
Gerald, 81, retired from the Navy 22 years ago. Phyllis is his “child bride” at 68, he said.
“I have an old philosophy about staying active,” he said. “When people retire and sit down in a rocking chair, they die. I’m not going out that way.”
Staff writer Joey Bunch can be reached at 303-954-1201 or jbunch@denverpost.com.
