As I closed last week I noted I would list some of the praise that comes along with the appreciation of CAMT’s service. It is that appreciation that brings us back year after year.
Sometimes it’s just the recognition by group leaders – “When I saw you, we realized we really lucked out to have your menu and your food this week”. “We were with you two years ago at Gaulley Bridge. We brought a stock of food of our own to fill in the expected gaps. Your food was so good we never even touched our own stock”
If you had read any of the past CAMT blogs about our service with Christian Endeavor, you know each week we are here they post an envelope for campers to write notes. Here are just a few from last week:
“You are a blessing to all of us! We are served top-notch meals everyday. Your ministry through food touches everyone here. Thank you for all you do.
“You take very good care of us, I don’t eat this well at home.
“Thank you for being our cook again this year. Food is one of the most valuable parts of camp.” (This one from Mid Atlantic Christian Endeavor executive Sam Yeager.)
Sunday June 27, 2010
Mollie Hughes, her granddaughter Mackenzie and Betty Bowes arrive at the Glen Ferris Inn right on time. Or at least the time they are expected and get settled in their room. We gather at the restaurant at 4:45 for dinner. The time is dictated by the fact that I have to meet with the incoming group leaders at 6:00.
During dinner I drop the bomb that we have to build the sandwiches for tomorrow morning. As penance, I pick up the tab.
I go off to my meeting and the rest start building sandwiches. Many hands make light work. They are done within the hour and head back to the Inn.
As you know, I stay at the school for the 9:30 serving of Ice Cream--our second Dori Gillstrom ice cream memorial. While I wait, Rich Smith and Ann Zayaitz arrive at the school. They got to the Glen Ferris area after visiting Ann’s mother. It just meant they were later than usual. They stay with me to serve the ice cream and clean up. We are home at the Inn by 10.
Monday June 28,2010
We are running 30 minutes ahead of schedule. Every shift we have been out 30 minutes ahead. Life is good. But I am ahead of myself in the narrative.
Monday morning went well. We are benefiting from what we learned last week. Molly Hughes is doing the baking. Betty Bowes handles the lunch set up and salad bar. Rich Smith and Ann Zayaitz cover the breakfast buffet and serving dinner. Mackenzie Hughes floats helping Molly bake and Betty set up the salad bar. She also serves the soup on the evening salad bar. Carl handles the griddle and Pat is the runner tying everything together.
OOPS!
Our only problem is one of supply. I don’t have enough syrup for the French Toast this Morning. The school seems to have four gallons on hand. I have a food order due later today that includes syrup. I decide to “borrow” syrup to get through the meal. In the warmer I put what little syrup I have and start to ad the borrowed. The consistency doesn’t seem right as I pour, and the smell is not syrup. I look at the label, it is actually Worcestershire.
Now we are really in trouble. Rich heads to the local Krogers in the hope that they open at six a.m. He is not back by 6:30 and I am working on plan “d” when he comes through the door. The store hours say six a.m. but they really don’t open until six fifteen or later. I am saved.
The French toast goes well. After breakfast the girls* make the lunch sandwiches and replenish the breakfast items ready for tomorrow.
*Last week I referred to our group as women – this group decided on girls to separate themselves.
As I mentioned, everyone is out by 8:30, a two and a half hour shift.
I have a food order due in at 11:30. But often there can be an hour difference, usually on the long side. We go back to the Inn and rest, and head back to the school at 11. Eleven thirty comes and goes, no truck. So we are joined by Rich and Ann for lunch. When we return an hour later the truck is there and unloading.
Everything fell into place for our Sloppy Joe dinner. Everyone not only did their job but jumped in to help each other. Rich, when finished serving dinner, gravitates to the dish washing machine and keeps the flow of soiled items humming through. Again we are out 30 minutes early. Another 2.5 shift....
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
June 25, 2010
It's Friday.
What a difference! TGIF has a new meaning. For breakfast we serve basically whatever is left over from the week. French toast and eggs over easy from the grille and Nancy baked the last of the cinnamon rolls. But the best part of the morning is we do not have to build any sandwiches for Saturday. Everyone is going home tomorrow. Including the CAMT members.
After breakfast Millie, Nancy and Nancy drove the 30 miles to Charlestown to explore one of West Virginia’s large cities. They return raving about the pizza they had for lunch. The real test is we are having pizza for dinner; can they really take pizza for two meals a day?
Actually Friday’s dinner starts with chili on the salad bar, a dinner buffet line to build their own tacos and a choice of plain or pepperoni pizza. This menu is Friday's for one main reason. (See Saturday).
While we are eating dinner, an unknown to me adult tells me we do not have to clean up. They will take care of the tables. Someone forgot to tell me that Valley School was having their 1978 to 1982 class reunion starting at 7:30 here in the cafeteria. Here’s another fine mess Sam (Mid Atlantic Christian Endeavor) has gotten me into. We have scheduled another ice cream party for the campers here at 8:15. Adaptable is us!
The school library has many posted signs – No food or drink. Guess where we have to have our ice cream?
I have free time until 8:15. So I mingle in the cafeteria. Eventually I sit down and thumb through one of the 1980-year books on the tables. It doesn’t take long before someone asks what class I was in. Now I just turned 70 last Saturday. These people are in their late forties, and someone asks what class I was in. It’s a commentary on how hard life is here in WV.
My main problem in answering their question is should I extend a character from one of the murder mysteries Pat has written, or should I fess up. I fessed up--but enjoyed a conversation with the person of what the school was like when they attended.
With special care for neatness, the library is no worse for wear considering the number of ice cream sundaes that are served. I finish up and am back to the Inn by 9.
CAMT sometimes means: Can Adapt Many Times
What a difference! TGIF has a new meaning. For breakfast we serve basically whatever is left over from the week. French toast and eggs over easy from the grille and Nancy baked the last of the cinnamon rolls. But the best part of the morning is we do not have to build any sandwiches for Saturday. Everyone is going home tomorrow. Including the CAMT members.
After breakfast Millie, Nancy and Nancy drove the 30 miles to Charlestown to explore one of West Virginia’s large cities. They return raving about the pizza they had for lunch. The real test is we are having pizza for dinner; can they really take pizza for two meals a day?
Actually Friday’s dinner starts with chili on the salad bar, a dinner buffet line to build their own tacos and a choice of plain or pepperoni pizza. This menu is Friday's for one main reason. (See Saturday).
While we are eating dinner, an unknown to me adult tells me we do not have to clean up. They will take care of the tables. Someone forgot to tell me that Valley School was having their 1978 to 1982 class reunion starting at 7:30 here in the cafeteria. Here’s another fine mess Sam (Mid Atlantic Christian Endeavor) has gotten me into. We have scheduled another ice cream party for the campers here at 8:15. Adaptable is us!
The school library has many posted signs – No food or drink. Guess where we have to have our ice cream?
I have free time until 8:15. So I mingle in the cafeteria. Eventually I sit down and thumb through one of the 1980-year books on the tables. It doesn’t take long before someone asks what class I was in. Now I just turned 70 last Saturday. These people are in their late forties, and someone asks what class I was in. It’s a commentary on how hard life is here in WV.
My main problem in answering their question is should I extend a character from one of the murder mysteries Pat has written, or should I fess up. I fessed up--but enjoyed a conversation with the person of what the school was like when they attended.
With special care for neatness, the library is no worse for wear considering the number of ice cream sundaes that are served. I finish up and am back to the Inn by 9.
CAMT sometimes means: Can Adapt Many Times
June 24, 2010 - Soup Saga
The morning routine for breakfast is the same. After breakfast we (CAMT members and Cindy) sit down for the relaxation of breakfast and some time for fifteen minutes fellowship before we break down the lunch and breakfast line. The women are out on time
Pat and Carl hang out at the school waiting for a food order from USFood that is due about nine o’clock. We usually give them plus or minus sixty minutes on the delivery schedule. Sure enough he is there by ten. The driver brings the products in grouped by frozen, refrigerate, and dry. This makes putting them away easy and efficient.
There is still one problem with the order. On Monday’s order we received a case of Tomato soup marked and identified as Cream of Chicken. So on this order we tried again to get Cream of Chicken. However we get a case of Chicken Noodle marked as if it is Cream of Chicken. OK I give up. It’s the logistics that the others never get to see.
Only Nancy Carpenter has cell phone service in this area. My Nextell has no service, so I head to where I know I do have service so I can check for messages. Unfortunately that’s over near Fayetteville on route 19, about 18 miles away. I document my 18 messages and call some of them back, just to tell them I am in West Virginia.
Some days are easier than others....
Pat and Carl hang out at the school waiting for a food order from USFood that is due about nine o’clock. We usually give them plus or minus sixty minutes on the delivery schedule. Sure enough he is there by ten. The driver brings the products in grouped by frozen, refrigerate, and dry. This makes putting them away easy and efficient.
There is still one problem with the order. On Monday’s order we received a case of Tomato soup marked and identified as Cream of Chicken. So on this order we tried again to get Cream of Chicken. However we get a case of Chicken Noodle marked as if it is Cream of Chicken. OK I give up. It’s the logistics that the others never get to see.
Only Nancy Carpenter has cell phone service in this area. My Nextell has no service, so I head to where I know I do have service so I can check for messages. Unfortunately that’s over near Fayetteville on route 19, about 18 miles away. I document my 18 messages and call some of them back, just to tell them I am in West Virginia.
Some days are easier than others....
Saturday, June 26, 2010
A Change of Pace
Wednesday June 23, 2010
Wednesdays are different; we have the day off after we serve breakfast. We are half way through the week and the days are flying by. The groups will work a half-day and then spend the afternoon at a myriad of activities from a cookout to whitewater rafting.
As a result we serve a big breakfast. It includes scrapple we brought from home. It is always surprising how some people look forward to a simple food item that reminds them of home. Along with the scrapple we prepare scrambled eggs, fried eggs over easy, and my experiment. This year I brought a deep fryer and experimented with something we do in boy scouts. Take off the shelf Pillsbury biscuits that are in tubes, separate into the individual biscuits, cut each into quarters, fry for a couple of minutes and dust with powdered sugar. They taste like donut holes and are a great addition to the meal.
After breakfast we seem to be a little slower building the sandwiches for Thursday and spend more time talking—and before we know it - it’s 9:30. OK we’ll come back tonight and do the PB&J sandwiches.
We all agree to meet at 11:00 and head to Hawk’s Nest State Park. Millie Williams, Nancy Carpenter and Pat Lotz get dropped off at the hotel parking lot at the top of the mountain. The hotel has a gondola that takes you down to the river.
Nancy Reynolds and Carl drive on to the nearby town of Amstead to the rail trail that follows the stream that intersects the river at the bottom where the gondola lands. It’s like the letter “V” with each group starting at a different location but coming together at the point (river).
The rail trail is a beautiful shaded walk at a 3% downhill a little over two miles. Nancy and I arrive at the bottom gondola station after about a one-hour walk. Nancy heads for the ladies room and finds it locked. We look around for Pat, Nancy and Millie and they are nowhere in sight. In fact no one is in sight, the river area is deserted except for two state workers painting the under carriage of he gondola station. The gondola is now closed on Wednesdays. They tell Nancy the men’s room is unlocked and she goes off. While I am waiting for her I carry on a discussion with the two workers. I am not sure that they just wanted to get rid of me, but within a short time they offer to start up the gondola and take us up to the Hotel. Because of the gates being locked one of the workers has to ride with us and unlock the gates at the top so we can get out.
And there the women are in the hotel lobby waiting for us to show up one way or the other. It’s only a few minutes after one so we go up to the restaurant on the top floor and enjoy the view through the big picture windows and a good lunch.
A little time to rest in the afternoon before we head back to the school to make the PB&J. Pat Lotz takes the time to make the creamed dried beef for Thursday morning’s breakfast.
We are between storms. When the clouds hit the mountains around us the rain seems to increase to the point that visibility is almost impossible. Earlier a storm raced through the Kanawha Valley with lightning and thunder that makes you want to hide. As we approached the school tonight another storm just like it passed through. The thunder just echoes off the peaks with amplified sound.
Wednesdays are different; we have the day off after we serve breakfast. We are half way through the week and the days are flying by. The groups will work a half-day and then spend the afternoon at a myriad of activities from a cookout to whitewater rafting.
As a result we serve a big breakfast. It includes scrapple we brought from home. It is always surprising how some people look forward to a simple food item that reminds them of home. Along with the scrapple we prepare scrambled eggs, fried eggs over easy, and my experiment. This year I brought a deep fryer and experimented with something we do in boy scouts. Take off the shelf Pillsbury biscuits that are in tubes, separate into the individual biscuits, cut each into quarters, fry for a couple of minutes and dust with powdered sugar. They taste like donut holes and are a great addition to the meal.
After breakfast we seem to be a little slower building the sandwiches for Thursday and spend more time talking—and before we know it - it’s 9:30. OK we’ll come back tonight and do the PB&J sandwiches.
We all agree to meet at 11:00 and head to Hawk’s Nest State Park. Millie Williams, Nancy Carpenter and Pat Lotz get dropped off at the hotel parking lot at the top of the mountain. The hotel has a gondola that takes you down to the river.
Nancy Reynolds and Carl drive on to the nearby town of Amstead to the rail trail that follows the stream that intersects the river at the bottom where the gondola lands. It’s like the letter “V” with each group starting at a different location but coming together at the point (river).
The rail trail is a beautiful shaded walk at a 3% downhill a little over two miles. Nancy and I arrive at the bottom gondola station after about a one-hour walk. Nancy heads for the ladies room and finds it locked. We look around for Pat, Nancy and Millie and they are nowhere in sight. In fact no one is in sight, the river area is deserted except for two state workers painting the under carriage of he gondola station. The gondola is now closed on Wednesdays. They tell Nancy the men’s room is unlocked and she goes off. While I am waiting for her I carry on a discussion with the two workers. I am not sure that they just wanted to get rid of me, but within a short time they offer to start up the gondola and take us up to the Hotel. Because of the gates being locked one of the workers has to ride with us and unlock the gates at the top so we can get out.
And there the women are in the hotel lobby waiting for us to show up one way or the other. It’s only a few minutes after one so we go up to the restaurant on the top floor and enjoy the view through the big picture windows and a good lunch.
A little time to rest in the afternoon before we head back to the school to make the PB&J. Pat Lotz takes the time to make the creamed dried beef for Thursday morning’s breakfast.
We are between storms. When the clouds hit the mountains around us the rain seems to increase to the point that visibility is almost impossible. Earlier a storm raced through the Kanawha Valley with lightning and thunder that makes you want to hide. As we approached the school tonight another storm just like it passed through. The thunder just echoes off the peaks with amplified sound.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Monday, June 21 & Tuesday, June 22
Monday June 21, 2010
The knock on the door at five o’clock was Nancy Carpenter with a cup of coffee for Pat. Nancy Carpenter brought her own coffee maker from home. She and I pass in the hall as I head out to Smithers. I try to be on site at 5:30 to get out the foodstuffs we will use in the morning. The women will arrive by six.
It’s still dark as I head toward Smithers. As I travel the nine miles in the dark, I pass through towns named Falls View, Alloy, Boomer and a few others, all unincorporated. Which means they are communities, but have no local form of government except the county of Fayette.
Cindy, the kitchen representative from the school district,is right on time and gives me the ins and outs of the equipment we will be using.
Nancy Carpenter starts baking the cakes needed for desserts for dinner. Millie Williams and Nancy Reynolds set up the lunch tables with the items the kids will pack in the lunches. Pat Lotz oversees the breakfast buffet.
I heat up the griddle that travels with us and start making Texas style French toast. The problem with the first day is the kids are not tired yet from working projects so they show up for breakfast en-mass. We serve breakfast from 6:30 to 7:30 but on Monday morning everyone is in line at 6:45. This keeps us hopping
We sit down to eat at 7:30 and a well-deserved break. Nancy Reynolds and Millie Williams start building 50 ham & cheese and 50 turkey and cheese followed by 50 PB&J (peanut butter & jelly) sandwiches for Tuesday. Yes we pre-build PB&J even though they won’t be distributed for 24 hours. We mix the jelly in with the peanut butter which speeds up the process and then freeze them overnight. They are still frozen the next day when the kids add them to their lunch bag. They love them. Who knows kids?
We are out by nine o’clock. All I want to do is nap for several hours, so Pat and I head back to the Glen Ferris. Millie Williams and Nancy Carpenter are riding with Nancy Reynolds. They head to the town of Fayetteville, about ten miles as the crow flies, but 22 miles by road.
The town of Gauley Bridge has an unmarked police car this year. Nancy Reynolds was stopped on the outskirts of town and given a ticket for being over the speed limit. Then the girls go on to Fayetteville and try to have a good time.
I head back to Valley school at 3:30. A routine I will duplicate every day but Wednesday. I put out all the foodstuffs needed for dinner along with some of the items Millie and Nancy Reynolds will prepare for the salad bar. The women are right on time at 4:00.
The line for the salad bar starts promptly at 5:00. Dinner is at 5:15. Our goal is to be out the door of the school by 7 o’clock, a three-hour work shift. We do it.
But we are all tired. This schedule takes a little getting used to.
Tuesday June 22, 2010
Nancy is right on time with coffee, as the knock on the door could have actually been our alarm clock. She hands me Pat’s coffee cup, which I pass over to Pat. Then to my car for my nine-mile commute. I am not alone on the road at five am. Ahead of and behind me are the large tractor-trailer trucks hauling coal. Each is loaded with 80,000 pounds, of which in West Virginia, is black gold. Or tandem trucks hauling wood logs used by the mill at Alloy that makes metal castings, each with their brake retarders howling as they negotiate the curves.
This morning we make egg, sausage & cheese on English muffins. Nancy Carpenter, who has handled our baking, makes cinnamon rolls and coats them with vanilla icing. She is now the hands down favorite of most of the campers. But since we are having strawberry shortcake for dessert at dinner tonight, her fame is short lived. She has to make a hundred short breads yet this morning.
We are getting used to this schedule enough to spend less time napping. Or to put it in the positive, we are spending more time doing things during the day. Millie and Nancy Carpenter spend a lot of time on Nancy’s computer. Pat and I have lunch at the Inn dining room.
Because we worked out of Gauley Bridge for the last two years, Christian Endeavor has a charge account at the Gauley Bridge Foodland. As a result I also make a daily stop there to get milk and any other item we need. Today I spot Bonnie. If you read any of the blogs from the past two years you will know Bonnie was our school kitchen helper here at Gauley Elementary. Bonnie and I would kid back and forth and in general enjoyed each other. Enough that Pat and I, when we came through Gauley Bridge on Sunday, went by her house. There was no one home.
She and I catch up on the people we worked with those two years and then I slip into the conversation. “I need a ticket fixed”. I explain the ticket issued to Nancy Reynolds, and without hesitation Bonnie offers to go by the station and talk with an officer she knows to see what he would do. We break off the conversation because it is after three and the police shift changes at four. I agree to call her later tonight.
After dinner I get the good news form Bonnie, the officer checked out the record and agreed to “take care of it” when he got in in the morning. I break the news to Nancy only to find she went to Town Hall during the day today and paid the ticket.
Once again governmental corruption has been thwarted by an honest citizen.
The knock on the door at five o’clock was Nancy Carpenter with a cup of coffee for Pat. Nancy Carpenter brought her own coffee maker from home. She and I pass in the hall as I head out to Smithers. I try to be on site at 5:30 to get out the foodstuffs we will use in the morning. The women will arrive by six.
It’s still dark as I head toward Smithers. As I travel the nine miles in the dark, I pass through towns named Falls View, Alloy, Boomer and a few others, all unincorporated. Which means they are communities, but have no local form of government except the county of Fayette.
Cindy, the kitchen representative from the school district,is right on time and gives me the ins and outs of the equipment we will be using.
Nancy Carpenter starts baking the cakes needed for desserts for dinner. Millie Williams and Nancy Reynolds set up the lunch tables with the items the kids will pack in the lunches. Pat Lotz oversees the breakfast buffet.
I heat up the griddle that travels with us and start making Texas style French toast. The problem with the first day is the kids are not tired yet from working projects so they show up for breakfast en-mass. We serve breakfast from 6:30 to 7:30 but on Monday morning everyone is in line at 6:45. This keeps us hopping
We sit down to eat at 7:30 and a well-deserved break. Nancy Reynolds and Millie Williams start building 50 ham & cheese and 50 turkey and cheese followed by 50 PB&J (peanut butter & jelly) sandwiches for Tuesday. Yes we pre-build PB&J even though they won’t be distributed for 24 hours. We mix the jelly in with the peanut butter which speeds up the process and then freeze them overnight. They are still frozen the next day when the kids add them to their lunch bag. They love them. Who knows kids?
We are out by nine o’clock. All I want to do is nap for several hours, so Pat and I head back to the Glen Ferris. Millie Williams and Nancy Carpenter are riding with Nancy Reynolds. They head to the town of Fayetteville, about ten miles as the crow flies, but 22 miles by road.
The town of Gauley Bridge has an unmarked police car this year. Nancy Reynolds was stopped on the outskirts of town and given a ticket for being over the speed limit. Then the girls go on to Fayetteville and try to have a good time.
I head back to Valley school at 3:30. A routine I will duplicate every day but Wednesday. I put out all the foodstuffs needed for dinner along with some of the items Millie and Nancy Reynolds will prepare for the salad bar. The women are right on time at 4:00.
The line for the salad bar starts promptly at 5:00. Dinner is at 5:15. Our goal is to be out the door of the school by 7 o’clock, a three-hour work shift. We do it.
But we are all tired. This schedule takes a little getting used to.
Tuesday June 22, 2010
Nancy is right on time with coffee, as the knock on the door could have actually been our alarm clock. She hands me Pat’s coffee cup, which I pass over to Pat. Then to my car for my nine-mile commute. I am not alone on the road at five am. Ahead of and behind me are the large tractor-trailer trucks hauling coal. Each is loaded with 80,000 pounds, of which in West Virginia, is black gold. Or tandem trucks hauling wood logs used by the mill at Alloy that makes metal castings, each with their brake retarders howling as they negotiate the curves.
This morning we make egg, sausage & cheese on English muffins. Nancy Carpenter, who has handled our baking, makes cinnamon rolls and coats them with vanilla icing. She is now the hands down favorite of most of the campers. But since we are having strawberry shortcake for dessert at dinner tonight, her fame is short lived. She has to make a hundred short breads yet this morning.
We are getting used to this schedule enough to spend less time napping. Or to put it in the positive, we are spending more time doing things during the day. Millie and Nancy Carpenter spend a lot of time on Nancy’s computer. Pat and I have lunch at the Inn dining room.
Because we worked out of Gauley Bridge for the last two years, Christian Endeavor has a charge account at the Gauley Bridge Foodland. As a result I also make a daily stop there to get milk and any other item we need. Today I spot Bonnie. If you read any of the blogs from the past two years you will know Bonnie was our school kitchen helper here at Gauley Elementary. Bonnie and I would kid back and forth and in general enjoyed each other. Enough that Pat and I, when we came through Gauley Bridge on Sunday, went by her house. There was no one home.
She and I catch up on the people we worked with those two years and then I slip into the conversation. “I need a ticket fixed”. I explain the ticket issued to Nancy Reynolds, and without hesitation Bonnie offers to go by the station and talk with an officer she knows to see what he would do. We break off the conversation because it is after three and the police shift changes at four. I agree to call her later tonight.
After dinner I get the good news form Bonnie, the officer checked out the record and agreed to “take care of it” when he got in in the morning. I break the news to Nancy only to find she went to Town Hall during the day today and paid the ticket.
Once again governmental corruption has been thwarted by an honest citizen.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
West Virginia 2010: Safe Arrival
Greetings from West Virginia.
It’s Tuesday June 22nd and I (Carl Lotz) am just starting to chronicle our activities. It takes getting into the routine here and adapting to it before our activities come easy to write about.
Pat and Carl Lotz left Frazer for West Virginia on Saturday the 19th of June. The goal is just to arrive here early on Sunday morning with our car loaded to the gills with the items needed to try and make our work here a little easier. More importantly, the goal is to recognize it is the beginning of our vacation. The two step trip here is that beginning.
Millie Williams and her cousin Nancy Carpenter are riding with Nancy Reynolds and will make the six hundred mile run arriving Sunday night June 20th.
Sunday June 20,, 2010
Pat and Carl drop out of the West Virginia mountains to the town of Gauley Bridge along what started as the New River, but now that the Gauley River joins it the name changes to Kanawha River. Just one of many name changes it will undergo on it’s way to joining the Mississippi. Route 60 follows the river and will take us to the next town of Glen Ferris where the inn we will be staying in is located. Down the road another nine miles is the town of Smithers where the Valley High School is located—the kitchen of which will be our home for a CAMT team each of the next two weeks.
We find the school deserted on a Sunday morning. It is a bright sunshiny day and hot. The air conditioning of the school feels wonderful but does not extend into the kitchen. “If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen!” The facilities are great—we should have a great week.
Outside the kitchen back door is a small section enclosed by a five foot cinder block wall. Big enough for me to set up my ten by ten canopy and install the griddle we travel with under it’s shade. In testing the griddle I was beginning to think I had done something transporting it that kept it from working. Then I realized it did in fact light. It was just so bright outside I could not see the flames. It’s up and running and that is most important to me since most of our breakfast items are cooked on the griddle.
Next Pat and I inventory the food order that was delivered last Thursday by US Foods and the bread order that was delivered on Saturday. There is always something missing from the orders. That is always a given. An example is the case of Tomato soup that is labeled Cream of Chicken. What we needed was the Chicken Soup. Well, that is why we have local stores.
At six o’clock I meet with the leaders of the groups that will be working on the service projects during the week. I give them printed menus so they will be able to track special needs of some of the kids and adults with them. Everything from diabetes to food allergies.
We are back to the Glen Ferris Inn and find that the rest of our group have checked in and literally come through the door behind us. Even though they have had a hard day on the road I still extend the invitation for the three of them to come with me back to the school for our sixth annual Dori Gillstrom Memorial Ice Cream Party for the incoming groups that will be working this week. The ice cream is served right after the Sunday Night Praise service at 9:30. We usually are back at the hotel by 10:30. Of course we have to be up in the morning at 5:00.
Understandably, they all are too tired. But Nancy Reynolds, the new-comer in the group says she isn’t in the mood for ice cream. I have to explain to her I don’t want her to eat ice cream—I want her to serve/dip ice cream. But don’t misunderstand, Nancy is learning fast.
The ice cream memorial is the main reason why Pat and I arrive early Sunday: so we are up to dipping ice cream. And a good time was had by all!
It’s Tuesday June 22nd and I (Carl Lotz) am just starting to chronicle our activities. It takes getting into the routine here and adapting to it before our activities come easy to write about.
Pat and Carl Lotz left Frazer for West Virginia on Saturday the 19th of June. The goal is just to arrive here early on Sunday morning with our car loaded to the gills with the items needed to try and make our work here a little easier. More importantly, the goal is to recognize it is the beginning of our vacation. The two step trip here is that beginning.
Millie Williams and her cousin Nancy Carpenter are riding with Nancy Reynolds and will make the six hundred mile run arriving Sunday night June 20th.
Sunday June 20,, 2010
Pat and Carl drop out of the West Virginia mountains to the town of Gauley Bridge along what started as the New River, but now that the Gauley River joins it the name changes to Kanawha River. Just one of many name changes it will undergo on it’s way to joining the Mississippi. Route 60 follows the river and will take us to the next town of Glen Ferris where the inn we will be staying in is located. Down the road another nine miles is the town of Smithers where the Valley High School is located—the kitchen of which will be our home for a CAMT team each of the next two weeks.
We find the school deserted on a Sunday morning. It is a bright sunshiny day and hot. The air conditioning of the school feels wonderful but does not extend into the kitchen. “If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen!” The facilities are great—we should have a great week.
Outside the kitchen back door is a small section enclosed by a five foot cinder block wall. Big enough for me to set up my ten by ten canopy and install the griddle we travel with under it’s shade. In testing the griddle I was beginning to think I had done something transporting it that kept it from working. Then I realized it did in fact light. It was just so bright outside I could not see the flames. It’s up and running and that is most important to me since most of our breakfast items are cooked on the griddle.
Next Pat and I inventory the food order that was delivered last Thursday by US Foods and the bread order that was delivered on Saturday. There is always something missing from the orders. That is always a given. An example is the case of Tomato soup that is labeled Cream of Chicken. What we needed was the Chicken Soup. Well, that is why we have local stores.
At six o’clock I meet with the leaders of the groups that will be working on the service projects during the week. I give them printed menus so they will be able to track special needs of some of the kids and adults with them. Everything from diabetes to food allergies.
We are back to the Glen Ferris Inn and find that the rest of our group have checked in and literally come through the door behind us. Even though they have had a hard day on the road I still extend the invitation for the three of them to come with me back to the school for our sixth annual Dori Gillstrom Memorial Ice Cream Party for the incoming groups that will be working this week. The ice cream is served right after the Sunday Night Praise service at 9:30. We usually are back at the hotel by 10:30. Of course we have to be up in the morning at 5:00.
Understandably, they all are too tired. But Nancy Reynolds, the new-comer in the group says she isn’t in the mood for ice cream. I have to explain to her I don’t want her to eat ice cream—I want her to serve/dip ice cream. But don’t misunderstand, Nancy is learning fast.
The ice cream memorial is the main reason why Pat and I arrive early Sunday: so we are up to dipping ice cream. And a good time was had by all!
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