Arctica enjoyed a stellar event in 2009, continuing to provide ice in three locations without ever running out. This was due in large part to the experienced returning crew, as well as some amazing new additions to the team that knocked our alpine socks off.
We promoted two new assistant operations managers who stepped into their roles with positive can-do attitudes and genuine enthusiasm for not only placing ice into the hands of anyone who walked into our sales locations, but also being available nearly 24/7 to support the entire crew’s needs. The need to split the logistical details of three sales locations between three upper level managers was obvious and well received.
Additionally, we added a second commercial driver to assist with moving the semi trailers throughout the event. This removed considerable overtime hours and stress from the previous year’s lone driver. We also doubled the number of truck escorts to decrease their shifts from an average of 10 hours each day to six hours.
Communication between management, shift leads and our large number of volunteers is improving by leaps and bounds each year. We experienced some last minute confusion as to when the pre-event training session would be held, so unfortunately two of our newest shift leads missed it and had to suffer through on the job trial and error for the first few days. Luckily everyone in our team knows that a great sense of humor can carry you through most anything. By the time they received their official training manuals they were already up to speed and smiling with the rest of us.
The collective camping area for Arctica volunteers, Frozone, is truly cementing a core community of volunteers into year-round lifelong friends. All of management, the majority of the team leads and a number of our volunteers have found this to be the new central hive of activity and planning. Next year even the official office building will move from the back of Arctica Central to the village. This will improve access to the shared resources and support materials for the entire crew.
As for transportation, once again the repeated practice of staging a considerable amount of the ice trailers on site offered the Crystal Ice drivers a quick drop and exit point. From there, our internal drivers would bring the trailers into the city and place them where they were needed between the three sales locations. With the added staging areas for swapping out trailers at all three locations, the wait times for those in line to purchase ice were virtually eliminated.
There were two safety issues that gave us serious concern this year. One, in a handful of occasions, different motor vehicles came in contact with our structural guy lines. One particular vehicle hit the line with enough velocity to shake the entire structure. To avoid this in 2010, we will mark all the guy wires with both highly-visible markers during the day and bright lights when we close for the night.
The second severe safety problem is the increase in the number of pedestrians and cyclists who cross the streets directly in front of our moving delivery trucks. We can not emphasize the extreme danger of this enough. Even though the tractors are following the 5 mile per hour speed limit they are weighing in at 80,000 lbs with a full load of ice. This means that even if by some miracle the driver were able to see you and slam on the breaks it will still take 20 to 25 feet before the semi reaches a complete stop. Anyone who walks, rides, drives or otherwise finds themselves between the golf cart escort and the truck grill could potentially lose their life. In 2010, we will do our best to inform Burning Man participants about the importance of looking in every direction and being certain you have plenty of distance from motor vehicles before crossing any of our city roads.
To end on a happier note, this year our generous volunteers pooled their personal tips together to donate a whopping $5,067.81 to help preserve polar bears and their habitat through Polar Bears International. Learn more about their organization here: http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/
Equally exciting, the proceeds from this year’s ice sales made donations to the following organizations possible:
Best Friend’s Animal Society (in memoriam Bill Carter)
Mariposa’s Art (Art, Music, Dance in Santa Cruz)
Dogpatch Neighborhood Association
The Crucible
Leave No Trace
Surprise Valley Chamber of Commerce (Cedarville)
Yick Wo School
Lawyers for Burners c/o Trip Knight
Nimby
Black Rock Arts Foundation
Circuit Network
Gerlach Medical Clinic
Empire 4-H Club
Gerlach Volunteer Fire Department
Gerlach High School
Gerlach General Improvement District
T1 Line for Gerlach
Gerlach-Empire Senior Citizens Palace
Crisis Call Center
Friend’s of the Black Rock
Nevada Museum of Art
Nevada State Museum
Historical Society of Dayton Valley
Sierra Arts Foundation
Bruka Theatre
Nevada Discovery Museum
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Nevada
Pershing County Government General Fund
Eagle Scholarship
Pershing County Community Center
Pershing County High School (Athletic Department)
Pershing County Domestic Violence Intervention
Pershing General Hospital & Nursing Care
Pershing County Humane Society
Lovelock Frontier Days
Lovelock Lion’s Club
Friends of the Library
Marzen House Museum
Kids, Horses & Rodeos
Lovelock Food Bank
Lovelock Boy Scouts Association
Lovelock Little League Association
Lovelock Chamber of Commerce
Pershing County Arts Council
The Close Up Foundation
National History Day
Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary
Racecar Sponsorship
Project Graduation
Submitted by,
Xandra Green