“March or Die” as the French Foreign Legion say—a phrase that can apply to first time volunteer parents and veteran volunteer parents working high school concession stands.
Teen-age kids and adults hit the concession windows like the cutting chain of a chainsaw—one after the other after the other—till the volunteers are shredded.
As concession stands go Grossmont High Schools’ newer facility isn’t too shabby, compared to others it’s a five star deluxe facility.
“March or Die” as the French Foreign Legion say—a phrase that can apply to first time volunteer parents and veteran volunteer parents working high school concession stands.
Teen-age kids and adults hit the concession windows like the cutting chain of a chainsaw—one after the other after the other—till the volunteers are shredded.
As concession stands go Grossmont High Schools’ newer facility isn’t too shabby, compared to others it’s a five star deluxe facility.
Lise Nystrom on-site manager during Friday nights’ Homecoming game against Mar Vista commented on one person’s observation “You should see Mission Hills’ concession stand.”
Other stands offer up shacks, trailers, and small buildings resembling Quonset huts. Most do the job of supplying items like churros, soft pretzels, candy, and BBQ’d hot dogs and hamburgers.
Nystrom supervised a crew of 12 volunteers on a recent Friday night made up of parents, grandparents who were selling $2,000 in products purchased from places like Smart & Final.
Volunteer mom, Marla Kenniston, who pulled front line duty at the windows, describes the experience as “Madness and getting slammed.”
Yet Kenniston stepped up to the challenge admirably even selling their $6 “shout outs” where the home team and visitors can purchase an announcement to be run over to the p.a. booth and, well – hit the football field airwaves. Asking a girl to go to prom, positive affirmations, and then some shout outs that had to be sort of censored and edited are par for the course.
“Non –stop hectic” said volunteer Kevin Donahue, noting that some kids’ want you to “read their minds.”
Yet, by all accounts and appearances these volunteers were remaining calm, cool, and collected under the circumstances processing the non-stop orders one after the other.
Elsewhere in East County’s smaller snack bars phrases like “Order of Skittles and nachos….excuse me, excuse me” with a rear-to-rear closeness and many apologies for invasion of personal space persist.
Grossmont’s concession stand has refrigerators for drinks; other schools’ use ice buckets that freeze volunteer’s hands as they paw thru the ice to quickly obtain the sodas and Gatorades. Back door deals like kids asking to be “hooked up with some nachos” did not surface on Nystrom’s watch.
Nystrom runs a tight ship along with her husband, Scott, and other family members. Dads grilling hot dogs and hamburgers on the BBQ grills are another part of these crews.
“It’s fun and it’s a way to give back to the school,” Donahue said.
