Like most events, I have trouble sleeping prior to them. To many things are flying through my head on last minute items that need to be addressed. With this one, one thing came back to my mind time and time again. I knew that I had too many helpers. I am not very good at that part of organizing and also knew that I would be the one looked at to do it. I remember hoping that they would all just find a place and leave it at that.
I woke up and headed to work with Trinity. When I went out to the car, I noticed it covered in ice. I immediately called the diner to insure that someone had put ice melt outside. The morning was brisk and all of the crew was hard at work.
Judy called around ten and asked me to come and pick her up. I knew that she had been feeling off but also knew that she did not want to miss this big event in the afternoon. We stopped at Costco on our way and picked up all of the last minute items that were needed and then dove back into the busy day.
Around 11, as I walked through the waitress station, I looked at Judy and knew that she still wasn't well. I told her that I was taking her home not giving her a choice. Her best bet, if she wanted to be with us in the afternoon was to get some rest. She didn't feel sick, just weak.
Without Judy around, the day got much harder but the crew worked well together and before we knew it, we were cruising into the afternoon. I pulled back to my office and put my feet up for a second and woke up a bit later to find that it was almost time to shut down.
Jim had all of the buffet well in hand and some of the Band of Brothers arrived to help out with last minute items. I called Judy and she wanted to come down so Vivian (one of our great customers who always wants to help) went out and picked her up.
More and more helpers started showing up and I felt kind of helpless as to where to put them all. I went out to the office to try and pull my thoughts together hoping on the other hand that they would just find their own way. Judy soon came out and got me telling me that I must get them all organized. I walked into the room and stated, "There are probably too many of you here but these are the areas that need to be addressed". I then went over the needs and told them how many people that I needed in the various areas. The Boy Scouts showed up and I set them to work, greeting people, finding them tables, and clearing the tables for more people when they finished. Dick had put other scouts to work selling bricks for the memorial. Bob, who I discovered is the owner from Lazy Boy Furniture along with his family who own the store with him, took on the task of serving the Spumoni ice cream that Bob had purchased for the event. Zin took it upon himself to sell raffle tickets and we put together a list of things that he could raffle off.
Minutes before Four many people had come in and paid their money and were waiting to begin eating. Dick was busy talking with the Bulletin and I asked him if he wanted to say something before we started. I thanked everyone for coming and turned the floor over to Dick who began telling them about the memorial that we were raising money to build. I stepped back in and told them that we were ready to serve and the feed began.
The next two hours went by in a blur as I walked around attempting to resolve any problem that arrived. I was in my element. I know that my best place in these kind of places is to be as many places as possible. Greetings, handshakes, checking the food, watching for spills on the floor that might cause a fall, looking for available seating, and just general directing of traffic, the event was going off with very few glitches. The Thank You's were many and as always, it felt good to be able to make a difference. It is one of the most fulfilling parts of the business. We discussed after the event how that part of it was what made it most worthwhile.
With the help of many, we cleaned up afterwards and closed up sometime after seven in the pouring rain.
There are so many people to thank for making this event a success. First and foremost, Jim, who worked tirelessly to put together all of the food. My buddy, Richard, who always helps in these types of functions who handled all of the money. Bob and his family from Lazy Boy who not only bought the ice cream but served it to all of the customers. Dick for spearheading the monument that we were working for. The boy scouts who worked hard where ever they were. One of them told his scoutmaster, "This is the best community service event that I have ever done.". Zin, whose idea for a raffle netted us over $200. And all of the other Band of Brothers who worked side by side doing whatever it took to get the job done.
At the end of the evening, the money was counted and handed over to Dick. $2233 was raised in all with a few more coming tomorrow as Zin wanted to sell a couple of tickets at the weekly luncheon.
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