Meet the Volunteer Relations Intern

May 4, 2017
Intern's picture

Hello everyone! I’m Abbi Gilson and I am the 2017 Blue Ribbon Foundation Volunteer Relations Intern. Next year, I will be a senior at Northwest Missouri State University. I am on the Northwest softball team which takes up the majority of the time. I am also involved in Lambda Pi Eta, which is an honor society for communication students. I love being a Bearcat! I am majoring in Organizational Communication and I would love to get a job with a Non-Profit Organization after graduation.

I grew up just south of Prairie City, Iowa. My memories of the Fair unfortunately are not in the show ring. Growing up, I was thoroughly involved in athletics and apparently I chose softball over animals. My memories of the Fair include going through all of the barns and begging my mom and dad to get me a horse or whatever animal I liked on that particular day. Aside from my bitterness towards my parents during Fair time, I always enjoyed watching my friends show their animals, seeing how much fair food I could consume, and going to different concerts.

This year, I will be working with the volunteers for all the different events the Blue Ribbon Foundation puts on including the Corndog Kickoff and the Iowa State Fair. I started working during the fair for the Blue Ribbon Foundation after my senior year of high school. I’m glad I have some background knowledge of everything the Foundation does and provides for Fairgoers. If you would like to get involved in volunteering throughout the fair, feel free to reach out to me at Volunteer@BlueRibbonFoundation.org.

For my first few days in the office, I have realized the amount of work that everyone puts into make the Fair successful. I can’t wait to meet all of the volunteers and continue learning about our great Iowa State Fair! I will see you in 97 days!

-Abbi

My brothers and me after a game

My brothers and me after a game

Working in Fair Squares

Working in Fair Squares