hot chocolate, and I was like, ‘I don’t know if I
can go back out there. It is so cold, and my feet
are frozen.’”
But she said the spirit of the weekend
outweighed the cold.
“It was a lot of fun,” she said. “All of the fans
were super nice and fun.”
Super Bowl LIVE consisted of a number
of events and activities for fans ranging from
concerts to zip lines and photos.
For her first shift, Blaalid was tasked with
helping with the zip line. “A group of us were
telling people which Polaris vehicle to get into
to go zip lining,” she said.
On Saturday, Blaalid took on a job that she
had a little previous experience with.
“Having a background working
at Harold’s Photography for several
years, I got to take photos of
people,” she said. “That was really
easy for me and fun to do because
there was an ice sculpture and I
would take photos of people with
the ice sculptures.”
On Super Bowl Sunday, she
got to help out with pre-game
concerts going on in downtown
Minneapolis.
When not on duty, Blaalid took
some time to enjoy some of the
festivities around the game.
“The second day, Dave
Matthews was playing the Xcel
Center in St. Paul, and I had bought
tickets — which is kind of a big deal
and fun,” she said. “There was a
bunch of people from Yankton that
were going to that concert, so I saw
them before I went to the concert.
Then Sunday, I went around and
did all of the activities because
my sister flew from Colorado to
stay with my friend that lives in
Minneapolis.”
While volunteers such as Blaalid didn’t get
to go to the game itself, she said it was still an
exciting spectacle to watch.
“It was awesome watching it on TV in
Minneapolis,” she said. “I stayed up to watch
the Jimmy Fallon special and he held up the
Bold North mittens that the volunteers all
wore, so that was fun and special. It was a
really great experience.”
Looking Back
Blaalid said that even after it was over,
volunteers had a chance to have a little more
fun.
“They had a little party in Sioux Falls
for people around the area that were
volunteering,” she said. “I actually
met someone from Yankton that
was volunteering, but I had no
idea.”
She added that she’s even run
across volunteers well outside of the
area.
“Over Thanksgiving, I was in
Steamboat Springs, Colorado,”
she said. “As I was eating lunch,
I looked out the window and
someone was wearing the volunteer
Crew 52 jacket.”
Blaalid said it was a fantastic
experience overall.
“It was an incredible experience,”
she said. “I don’t know if I’d ever
have this opportunity again. Being
with all of the other people that
were experiencing the same thing
was really cool to share with them.”
But should the opportunity come
again, Blaalid said she’d happily take
part again if the opportunity arises.
“I’d definitely volunteer again,”
she said. n
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