Volunteers Needed!

Oswegatchie is thankful for the volunteers who make this event possible. It takes true volunteerism to travel countless miles, work on complex or dirty tasks, and sacrifice the event highlights because you are needed elsewhere. Often, the volunteers here for a weekend will also need to stay in cold cabins when we overflow our winterized buildings.

We are looking for four types of volunteer work. 
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1. Pre-Event Support - This includes raking, cleaning, heavy lifting, and all sorts of things that help us wake up Oswegatchie from a long winter. This stuff is not glamorous, but it can be done in the month leading up to the event. This is ideal for groups looking to earn service-learning hours and support the community. Also, Individuals just looking to do good deeds and get exercise are suitable for this task.
2. Event Support - This includes work throughout the weekend for getting the place ready. Everything from raking to parking staff is needed. People who are good at one thing in particular but not experts at Oswegatchie are beneficial. 
3. Oswegatchie Fluent Volunteers - This refers mainly to former staff who know where to find things on the property. Understanding camp protocol is very useful for programs and emergencies. This reduces the training volunteers need and allows us to prepare the property more quickly. We average 50 former staff members each year who help out significantly.
4. Roving Acoustic Musicians - Since the day is already packed with good food and entertainment, we are looking for volunteer musicians who can wander or find a spot to stand and play. We think increasing the amount of interesting things to do and see will make this day even better. Any musician who wants some time in front of live audiences will benefit from this opportunity. Contact us to talk specifics.​

Oswegatchie does have preferences for seasoned volunteers during the AdironDUCK Race weekend. Returning volunteers tend to be reassigned to the same job year after year to make improvements and create consistency. As volunteers prove themselves as competent, they are moved to more involved tasks! This does not mean better jobs, since every volunteer task is challenging. In 2013, we had 1,950 people on the property in 6 hours. We parked 680 cars! Everybody had to hustle and be creative. It was an excellent day!

Due to our lack of winterized housing, we are looking for more volunteers who can come from the local area. Background checks may be a part of the volunteer process. Contact us with questions.

2026 Volunteer registration