As the Austin ArtWorks Festival winds down, I would like to take a moment to thank all the community members who volunteered their time.

The festival would not be possible without their hard work and dedication. Bonnie Rietz and Belita Schindler once again shared their talents in co-chairing this event. Bruce Loeschen with the help of Kandee Feist and Don and Karen Brezicka have organized all the visual artists participating in the Festival and have laid out all the gallery spaces.

Mary Anne Wolesky and Pat Ray have made their mark on the Festival by brainstorming and organizing all the creative and innovative aspects that make the Festival unique.

They have also gone above and beyond in helping raise financial donations. In fact, a special thank you goes out to all the businesses and individuals who helped sponsor this event.

It literally would not happen without your help. Some of the less glamorous work has been done by Mark Nibaur and Jim Burroughs and the rest of our logistics team including Marijo Alexander and Joel Nelson.

They have worked hard to ensure the Festival runs smoothly and is clean and well organized.

Jeff Baldus with help from Tim Duren organized the Festival vendors. However, Jeff went beyond simply helping with vendors to share his event planning expertise and lending a hand in several other aspects of the Festival.

No one would know the Festival was even happening without our marketing committee led by Gretchen Ramlo and Dave Sylte with support from Janet Anderson, Dave Hagen, Karen Brezicka, Nakayla Majeski, Natalie Baudler, and our talented graphic designer BJ Witts. George Brophy, John Garry, and Melissa Trihus helped keep our finances in order.

Our music committee started with help from Scott Anderson, Coni Nelson, Matt Anderson, and Mary Anne Wolesky, and then grew to include Randy Kramer, Matt Cano, and Kathy Serratore when we added the concert at Marcusen Park.

The authors have been wonderfully organized by Milly Burroughs, Sue Grove, and Janet Anderson with help from the Friends of the Library. Our huge host of volunteers is aptly organized and led by Alice Holst and Lora Lee Bauer.

The expanded Children’s Activities were organized by Amy Baskin and Mary Kleis. These are the volunteers who spent numerous hours planning the event; many, many more brought it to life.

Thank you to everyone, including those I may have inadvertently missed from this article. I feel truly grateful to live in such a wonderful community.