Cindy Most, of Dowagiac, volunteered for the Dowagiac Fine Arts Festival, which recently concluded its 2018 season. She primarily volunteered on the author committee, which, this year, chose author Karen Dionne to speak for the festival.

How long have you been volunteering for the Dogwood Fine Arts Festival?

This will be my fourth year.

What do you do for the festival?

It began by selling the author title, and last year, I became the presenter of the author. This year, I helped find the author, Karen Dionne, and I am already working with a couple authors for next year. I’m very excited about continuing down this path. I am now the person that seeks out the authors and interviews and presents the author.

What do you like about volunteering with the festival?

Getting involved with the festival started out as a way for me to get my foot in the door with the Dowagiac community. I love reading. I’m in awe of people that can put words together and produce a book and get it published. So, it’s really fun for me to interview and talk to authors and learn more from them about what it is like to come up with those ideas and put them together. For me, it’s just fun. It’s something that I’m interested in, and it’s fun.

Why do you think it’s important for people to be involved in local festivals?

I think there is a need to be filled, so when someone can volunteer and help out in a certain situation, that’s wonderful. Not everyone is equipped for every role that is out there, so each of us can help out with whatever our ability is.

This winter, I can crochet, so I made scarves and donated them. Even little things like that, depending on what your abilities are, can help other people.

How would you encourage others to volunteer with the Dogwood Fine Arts Festival?

It’s a good organization. There is a lot of planning and development that goes into it and the outcome is always wonderful. It’s deciding to be part of the festival and contributing to something that makes a lot of people smile.