Volunteer Guidelines
Thanks for volunteering to help with the parade and formal ceremony.
Dress: Men, please wear a dark sport coat with grey slacks and organization head gear and arm band provided.
Volunteer meeting at the Capitol at 6:30 AM on Saturday, November 8th.
Please refer to the map to follow the guidelines shown below.
Map: Parade route map, as a pdf file or as a jpeg image.
The State has approved parking lots 18 and 20 (shown on the map) for exclusive use by the parade and ceremony participants, and the volunteers. PLEASE STUDY the attached maps. (See links, above.)
LOT 18:
To ensure that the lot 18 is not taken by those coming to watch the parade and take part in the formal ceremony we must have personnel stationed at three entrances to lot 18. The entrances on Jones and Edenton Streets must also be guarded against trucks and busses from entering. Last year, although the sign at the entrance indicated that no trucks or busses were allowed, a high school bus came in the gate on Jones Street and knocked the small building off of its foundation. This was a costly mistake and we must ensure that no trucks or busses enter those two gates.
Cars or vans can enter either from Jones or Edenton Street.
It has been policy to have two personnel at each of the entrances on Jones, Blount and Edenton Streets. With two personnel, one may need to leave for a few minutes and that still leaves the other to watch the entrance.
There are a few handicapped parking spaces by entering lot 18 from by entering from Edenton Street. We will allow non participants to park in those spots if they have a handicapped sign.
Busses and or trucks need to enter lot 18 from Blount Street.
LOT 20:
State lot 20 can be entered from Blount, Edenton, Jones and Person Street. This is a total block of parking area and there are no restrictions on parking in this lot. We will not stage volunteers at the entrances to lot 20 since it is large and should provide adequate parking.
GENERAL INFORMATION AND GUIDELINES:
Most or at least many of the participants will be parking in State Lots 18 and 20. Unfortunately, the Raleigh Police will not block Blount Street and maybe not Wilmington Street during the arrival of the participants and their movement to the line-up streets shown in orange color. We will need volunteer personnel in both lots to show the participants how they should walk to their line-up spots. The route to the line-up streets and the line-up spots will be west down Edenton Street in front of the capitol then left onto Salisbury Street. Both those streets are to be blocked at 8:00 to allow safe passage. Once on Salisbury Street they should be able to find their line-up spot. We will have several volunteers along Salisbury Street and the side streets to help the participants locate their line-up spots.
Many of the participants may forget their line-up spot. I will give the volunteers a spread sheet with all the participants’ names in numerical -alphabetical order so look up of the spot should be easy. The spread sheet will show the line-up number, the group name, the line-up street and if a vehicle it will show that they are to back to the curb at a 45 degree angle to save line-up space. In addition, I will provide a blown up map of the line-up streets that will also show the line-up numbers.
Again this year we will need two volunteers at the intersection of Edenton and Wilmington Streets to control the parade traffic after they pass the Capitol. All vehicles need to turn left onto Wilmington Street. For the marching groups, one group should be sent down Wilmington Street and the next straight across Wilmington Street and continue on Edenton and enter the parking/assembly area at the first entrance on the left. You will have to use judgment because some groups have both marching and vehicles and probably should not be split up. From that intersection you should be able to look both down Wilmington and Edenton street to see if there are any bottlenecks and determine which way is the best to send the groups. One year we did not have anyone directing the traffic and they got bottlenecked and stalled the parade for a couple of minutes.
For those helping to control the parade participants you need to watch for a couple of things. We need to keep them spaced at about 15 to 20 steps between each major group. For those groups that have marchers and vehicles, they can be closer. Your sheets depict the makeup of each group as best it was told to me. We also have to watch to ensure that groups do not stop and linger to hold up the parade. Some will stop for a few seconds in front of the Capitol, turn and salute the veterans and then move on. We need to keep track of the Helping Hands Mission band as they have a tendency to stop for long periods and we have to keep them moving except for a few seconds in front of the Capitol. Please remember that the parade must be completed preferably by 10:45 but no later than 10:50 because the formal ceremony needs to start at 11:00.
After the parade, I will need volunteers to help control the public by the Veterans Monument. We need to keep the people off of the brick area from the street up to the Veterans Monument until the Color Guard has been retired. The reason for this is that the Color Guard and those laying the wreath will be marching down the brick area from the street. Once the Color Guard has been retired the public can then be allowed to move onto the brick walkway.
Once the formal ceremony is completed I would appreciate it if the volunteers could help move the chairs back by the Capitol for the concert by the Enloe Band. After the concert, we also need to make sure that the chairs are stacked on the East side of the Capitol. We will also need to move the podium back into the Capitol and generally make sure that the Capitol grounds and parking lots are clean.
We are planning on having one or two portable toilets in the parking/assembly area and some at the intersections on Salisbury Street. These are primarily put there for the participants and volunteers.
I will have some volunteer arm bands and ask that volunteers wear them on their left sleeve so that participants know who to contact for help. I also plan on having orange colored tags to hang around your neck to designate that you are a parade volunteer to help with the parade and ceremony. Personnel on the gates should inform the participants to look for the armband if they need help.
A few of us will have portable radios so we can communicate. I will be roaming the line-up area to answer any questions and will be on call if any problems arise.
My Cell Phone number is 434-7395 if you cannot get me by radio or if you do not have a radio.
Toilet facilities are scarce so you may wish to limit your fluid intake. As in the past, I am sure that the restroom in the Capitol will be closed. If the museum is open there are restrooms there.
Thanks in advance to all of you for your splendid support. Without the volunteers, we could not put on the parade.
Bill Dixon
Chairman, Veterans Day Parade & Ceremony