THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 3, 1994 TAG: 9406010099
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: S03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Rebecca Myers
DATELINE: 940603 LENGTH: Medium
Just to name a few, there's Portsmouth's Seawall Festival and Norfolk's Harborfest, Hampton's Bay Days and Suffolk's Peanut Fest, Chesapeake's Jubilee and Virginia Beach's Neptune Festival.
{REST} And when Marsha Hardee attends any one of these, her mind isn't on funnel cake and cotton candy. She's thinking about work.
``Whenever I go to a festival, I'm comparing it,'' said Hardee, who as assistant director of Ports Events is coordinating this weekend's Seawall Festival on the Portsmouth waterfront.
So what, exactly, does Hardee think about when she's at one of those other city's parties?
``Layout is probably the biggest thing. And aesthetics, the way things look. And printed material,'' she said. ``I can't go to a festival and not really work, you know what I'm saying? Whenever I go, I'm always thinking about what they're doing differently, what we're doing right, what we're doing wrong.''
Hardee, 27, is the ``behind-the-scenes'' person who, with the help of hundreds of volunteers, helps pull the entire festival together.
``I work with the volunteers one-on-one and basically see that they get their jobs done because they help me get my job done,'' she said.
It is Hardee's job to make sure things such as sound, electricity, tents, stages, signs, portable toilets, etc., are all in place and in working order for the duration of the three-day event. And because the biggest part of the festival is held in the Signet Bank parking lot, the most difficult task for Hardee is having minimal time to set up everything.
So, after three years, has it gotten any easier for Hardee?
``I think each year there's a different challenge,'' she conceded. ``It's just a lot of details and they're going to be there every year. It's easier in that I know more what I'm doing and what I need to do, but it's still time-consuming.''
And if you think she'll have time to actually enjoy herself once the weekend arrives, think again.
``I'm working the whole weekend,'' she said, ``and it could be anything from manual labor to just making sure the volunteers are doing all right, and everybody's where they're supposed to be when they're supposed to be there.
``By Sunday, I'm a zombie!'' she said. ``I don't get a chance to relax until afterwards, the week after!''
And in just three short months, believe it or not, Hardee starts planning next year's Seawall Festival all over again.
When asked what advice she would give a successor, Hardee paused, then chuckled.
``I would tell them to try to relax, because it gets real stressful at this time of year!''
Name: Marsha Hardee
Nickname: Susan and Marsheeta
Neighborhood: Grew up in Hatton Point
Number of years in Portsmouth: 23
Birthplace: Norfolk
Birthdate: May 9, 1967
Occupation: Assistant Director, Ports Events Inc.
What other job than your own would you like? Film critic, journalist or FBI agent
Marital Status: single
Children: None
Fondest childhood memory: Summers by the pool, on the boat and at Nags Head
First concert: Bee Gees in 1977 or '78
What song or book title best describes your life? ``Great Expectations''
If you won the lottery, what's the very first thing you would buy? Probably Commerce Bank stock, immediately followed by an extended trip to New Zealand to visit my Kiwi friends.
If you could trade places for just one day with anyone in the world, who would it be and why? Murphy Brown because she's a successful, single woman who gets away with a sarcastic sense of humor and blatant honesty.
Biggest accomplishment: Surviving as the middle child between two boys and still remaining sane.
Most embarrassing moment: I can't publish that.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? I would think more before I speak.
Perfect way to spend the day: Sitting on the beach or skiing out West with my friends and then on to Happy Hour.
I can't resist: Shoes, pocketbooks and lipstick
Favorite Portsmouth restaurant: I have to say Greater Grinders because my mother owns it.
Favorite Portsmouth hangout: Carney Creek
Biggest problem facing Portsmouth: Image
If you had three wishes for Portsmouth, what would they be?
A large convention center for indoor events
A huge, grassy park on the downtown waterfront
Fill all the empty storefronts in Olde Towne.
{KEYWORDS} PORTSMOUTH SEAWALL FESTIVAL
by CNB