Feeding a small army

Even with 12 hours of work under their belts, the volunteers in Kathy Ashton’s kitchen at Cam-plex still have smiles on their faces.

For three meals a day, Ashton and her helpers prepare food for up to 150 National High School Finals Rodeo volunteers. Breakfasts are a usually lighter crowd with dinner being the heaviest.

Even though the rodeo was only in its fourth day, the kitchen staff had been slaving away for weeks.

The committee spent months in planning trying to prepare for the rodeo. The members came up with some easy, but delicious, meals that make a lot of food and something they could easily streamline. They also contacted community sponsors who donated food and money, and they went grocery shopping, loading at least four trucks full of food.

For Gina Carpenter, who is a Cam-plex employee and on the committee with Ashton, this is her first rodeo. So she wasn’t sure what to expect, but she did know that she had never made a meal, let alone several, for 100 people.

The weekend before the rodeo started, they had a big cooking session where they assembled breakfast burritos and made eggs, sprinkled with sausage and cheese in a big pan for breakfast sandwiches. Anything that could be done ahead of time, they did.

Their first day was a little intimidating. Cheat sheets were made about schedules, what everyone needed to do, where they needed to go and the week’s menu.

“I call all the volunteers rock stars,” said Ashton. “The people in the community are awesome and they stepped up to the plate and wear smiles on their faces while they do it.”

At the start of the week as volunteers were working overtime to get contestants checked in and get Cam-plex ready, the kitchen volunteers were making and delivering three meals a day, plus water, ice and snacks to eight drop-off points around Cam-plex.

Their routine each day has been to come in early and start making breakfast in order to have it served by 7 a.m., then deliver ice and water to volunteers, then prepare and deliver lunch and then water and ice again. By they time they arrive back to the kitchen, it’s time to start preparing and delivering dinner, then ice and water again and a snack box for volunteers who stay late for the performance.

“Thank God for volunteers who show up every day and know the routine,” said Ashton.

About half of the meals are prepared in to-go boxes and then delivered out to the volunteers. The rest are served cafeteria style in the kitchen for volunteers who take a break to eat.

The menu for the week consisted of pancakes, biscuits and gravy, chili dogs, tacos, wraps, sloppy joes and even leftovers. Several of the meals made from donated foods from restaurants, both locally owned and local chains.

The committee includes a few who work in food service and their contributions have been invaluable to the team. Tami Waldner, who runs the concession stand Home Fired Foods at the event, helped figure out foods to streamline and gave advice on what would be best to feed a crowd.

“We made sliders one night,” said Ashton. “I’ve never heard of sliders (but) they were yummy and so easy.”

When the group couldn’t figure out how much food to make, Kyle Ruen, a Sysco foods salesman, helped figure out that in every taco there is about 3 ounces of meat.

Devin Shimic, a family and consumer science teacher at Twin Spruce Junior High, has been through food safety and handling certificates to make sure the food they are serving is safe.

They are truly a kitchen team. They are always looking out for each other and helping out where they can.

“The best is that everyone cares about each other and if anyone needs help, we help each other out,” said Ashton.

The hardest part of the whole week was just being worn out and tired. Any mother or chef knows that long hours go into fueling the kitchen and the mouths that need feeding.

“It’s hard being tired and working so many hours, when you can’t even remember your own name,” said Carpenter.

Ashton brought her camper and parked it outside the kitchen. Even if it was a few short minutes in a 16-hour day, it was a getaway.

“I turn the TV on, turn off the radio and lay with ice packs on my eyes,” she said.

But even in the longest hours, they are all having fun and keeping smiles on their faces.

“This is literally my first rodeo and you don’t really get it until you are out there in the rain, the mud and the hail,” said Carpenter. “Then you really get an appreciation for it all.”