Senior Volunteers Keep Film Festival Crowds Calm, Collected

Thousands come to the desert for the film festival, and it could not happen without the volunteers.

“They do a great job — get people in quickly, no complaints, no fights this year over seats. It’s been very good,” Ernie Berkowitz said as he stood in line.

“I retired in 1984 and ever since then, I’ve been very involved in non profit organizations, and this being the Palm Springs International Film Festival, it is awesome. It is overwhelming working (something) that is international,” volunteer Edie Groesbeck said.

Of the 800 volunteers making sure the film festival runs smoothly, 500 of them are seniors.

“I enjoy working with people and helping people, and this is a good opportunity to give back to the community that has given so abundantly to me,” volunteer James Forneris said.

“I have friends that I’ve had for 12 years, and because we’re nomadic, we’re here in the desert, and then we’re gone in the summer. We come back together, and it’s just as if we saw each other yesterday,” Groesbeck said.

Many of the these volunteers are part of the Festival?s Senior and Active Retirement Programs. The Auen Foundation, a local foundation dedicated to enhancing quality of life for the aging, awarded a $25,000 grant to these programs, something many senior volunteers say they feel thankful for. The funds help build the Festival’s volunteer network, which volunteers say is essential.

“All wonderful people who give up their time in support of the film festival, and I think without the volunteers, there wouldn’t be a film festival,” Forneris said.

“I take tickets. I distribute ballots, and then take the ballots at the end of the movie. Also, at the end of the evening I even help clean out the theater,” Groesbeck said.

The seniors also say they need the film festival as much as the festival needs them.

“As a retiree, as a senior, you’re still wanting to obviously constantly be aware of keeping your mind active, and this does. It’s a challenge,” Groesbeck said.

Groesbeck says she loves the challenge enough to come back for her twelfth year.