Last Winterskol for Veteran Volunteers

Locals+and+visitors+walk+around+Soupskol+filling+trashcans+with+empty+soup+cups%2C+which+AHS+volunteers+had+the+task+of+taking+out.+

Jessica Tyler

Locals and visitors walk around Soupskol filling trashcans with empty soup cups, which AHS volunteers had the task of taking out.

Students of the class of 2015, Margo Wagner and Bentley Rager, will be graduating this year, and leaving along with them will be the coordination and leadership which they have brought to Winterskol in Aspen for the past four years.

The weekend of January 9-11 marked the 64th Annual Winterskol in Aspen. Some of the main events of the weekend included, the Soupskol, the Fat Cycle Challenge, and the Canine Fashion Show, and these events were made possible because of AHS student volunteers. Wagner and Rager have been volunteering for the past four years at all Winterskol events, and three years ago they stepped up and became the coordinators for student volunteers at these events.

“I first decided to become involved through the Outreach program, from the senior leader at the time. I had no idea what I was getting myself into and didn’t realize that I would be covered in soup! But nevertheless I love to contribute to this event and the community,” Wagner said.

Rager agrees and feels the past four Winterskol weekends, where she has been involved, have been a success.

“The most rewarding thing about coordinating volunteers for Winterskol is creating the same magic for the guests that I witnessed when I was younger,” Rager said. “Volunteering helps make the event look seamless and to visitors that is important when sustaining the magic of the event.”

This year at Soupskol, however, the visitors did not have the opportunity to experience the same level of magic from previous Winterskol weekends. The event took place on one block of Cooper Street, versus in years past where booths have stretched over two blocks of Cooper and South Hunter Street. Many students still participated and donated their time to help with Soupskol Friday night and the Canine Fashion show and Fat Tire Bike Race on Saturday morning.

“Not only was Winterskol a great opportunity to get service hours, but it was also fun to be able to attend the events while actually helping out the town. I think Margo and Bentley do a great job of telling everyone what to do and keeping people focused while also giving us volunteers time to have fun while we are working,” senior Marie Wolf said.

Volunteers were able to enjoy themselves during the events because Rager and Wagner began recruiting volunteers a week before Winterskol, and the opportunity for service hours was mentioned to all Outreach Club Members in an email sent out before winter break.

“Margo and I used social media and talking to people in the commons to reach out to potential volunteers,” Rager said.

This year, approximately thirty people signed up to help with all three events. Rager and Wagner were responsible for making sure that these students were on time and met at a central location, and then for each event they made sure volunteers were helping to take out the trash at Soupskol, serving as course marshals for the Fat Tire Bike Race, or setting up and registering people for the Canine Fashion Show.

“I think Winterskol is so special and unique because the whole Aspen community comes and works together to create great silly memories and soup,” Wagner said. “It is also so special because it reminds me of how spirited our little town of Aspen is and that I am so fortunate to live in this incredible valley; no other towns or cities are quite like ours.”