Last night, Alex and I attended the Winnipeg Harvest board meeting and gave a presentation on the Harvest Kitchen Project.
As a couple, we have been involved in many volunteer and community-based projects over the years but it has been a long time since I have felt so excited about working with an organization and the work we are doing. The whole story, of course, starts with a regular customer at the Bistro who has beautifully shifted into a friend. Sherri Walsh is a lawyer, a wife and mom, and president of the board of Harvest. One night, she started to tell me about her work at Harvest. She has been a volunteer there for 20 years and clearly loves it. Until recently, Harvest has been housed in a series of warehouse buildings on Winnipeg Ave. Harvest has been adapting to space constraints for years. When the federal government created stimulus infrastructure grants, Harvest recognized an opportunity to get rolling on some space designed for their needs.
Currently, there is a wee room in the old building that has some counters, a household sink and a household stove. Every day, a group of (mostly) women come in, set up crock pots and electric skillets, balance cutting boards on rolling carts, and make lunch for 80 people. It is amazing. So, the first goal for the new space is to provide these 'lunch ladies' with some proper work space. The second series of goals relate to training and education, and this is where Alex and I really step in. The goal is to provide educational programming for clients of Harvest: cooking with diabetes; cooking for kids/teens; cooking for new immigrants; cooking for families, etc. WIth a general theme of working with low-cost foods. We also hope to expand this part of the program to include some gardening skills to supplement the food supplies. (Last year, Harvest used old blue boxes to have container gardens!) We're hoping to write some curriculum and get some community members out to teach some of these classes.
The Training Program is going to be more intensive and about creating job-ready candidates, hopefully shifting clients away from needing the services of Harvest. We plan to offer 6 or 8 week courses that will teach people basic kitchen skills that will prepare them for entry level positions in kitchens at nursing homes, hospitals, cafeterias. We will also offer some extended training courses on meat cutting and baking for jobs in butcher shops and bakeries. This is the part of the project where will be tapping some of our chef friends for some support (head's up!) I also think there might be some room to teach a course of being a server but I haven't quite sorted that out.
We have many more ideas percolating away: fundraising dinners executed by students, pea soup making contest entries at Festival du Voyageur (split peas are a frequent item in Harvest baskets),recipes for obscure items provided for clients in their baskets, more Hot in the Kitchen calendars? We are very excited about it and hope that some folks out there in our lovely city will generate some ideas and get into the project with us.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
The Year that Was
I have mulled this post over for months. I have written it in my head 20 times, at least. It is tough one to write. My goal is to not be too personal, yet at the same time provide a glimpse of our lives over the past year; to eke out some context. My other goal is to not be too bleak. It is dark material yet it is simply life. I think this past year will take a long time to process and so very little of it has to do with the bistro but so much of it has impact on the bistro. Complicated, non? Further complication: I need to write about things that are personal to people I love and I don't want to make them uncomfortable. *sigh* I am going to give this a quick go and then move on to what comes next.
It has been the year of deep, painful, life-changing tragedies in our lives. I think it began in the spring with one of our family members being diagnosed with cancer. They are fine now, essentially a clean bill of health, but the process of surgery and complications and treatment were very intense.
Someone in our chosen family had a baby at 28 weeks. That is a scary and long ride which has been really hard.
Two children in our extended family died this year.
My grandfather died. He lived on Dominion St. and was really funny and quirky. My sister and I had to spend two weeks sifting through his hoarder house and tending to his life possessions.
Our eldest child broke her foot and was on crutches for 5 weeks.
Our youngest child broke her arm in the most horrific version possible that has meant surgery, 3 casts, nerve damage, physiotherapy, and to this day, on-going appointments with doctors. We still cry sometimes over this one, she and I.
I have been wondering why I feel compelled to share all this deeply personal and dark information. Really picking it apart in my therapist brain. In the end, I really feel that these events have meant that I have shut myself down, preserved my mental and emotional energy for our personal lives. I am sure that I have still managed to be present at the bistro and I am still able to have fun at work yet there hasn't been space for anything beyond that. And so, I think I feel a need to talk about this year so that I can move beyond it. I want to shift out of this place of difficulty and look toward a dynamic and full year. There are many interesting projects coming up. The lawyers are negotiating the lease for the expansion. We have been invited to Ottawa to cook representing Manitoba. We're giving a talk at a business conference talk on using social media in business, we're doing Folk Fest nuttiness and we've got a new project cooking with Winnipeg Harvest that is going to a crazy fun ride.
So many of the clients at the Bistro are really important people to me and have provided me with friendship and laughter which has buoyed me throughout this year. Thank you all for that support and kindness.
It has been the year of deep, painful, life-changing tragedies in our lives. I think it began in the spring with one of our family members being diagnosed with cancer. They are fine now, essentially a clean bill of health, but the process of surgery and complications and treatment were very intense.
Someone in our chosen family had a baby at 28 weeks. That is a scary and long ride which has been really hard.
Two children in our extended family died this year.
My grandfather died. He lived on Dominion St. and was really funny and quirky. My sister and I had to spend two weeks sifting through his hoarder house and tending to his life possessions.
Our eldest child broke her foot and was on crutches for 5 weeks.
Our youngest child broke her arm in the most horrific version possible that has meant surgery, 3 casts, nerve damage, physiotherapy, and to this day, on-going appointments with doctors. We still cry sometimes over this one, she and I.
I have been wondering why I feel compelled to share all this deeply personal and dark information. Really picking it apart in my therapist brain. In the end, I really feel that these events have meant that I have shut myself down, preserved my mental and emotional energy for our personal lives. I am sure that I have still managed to be present at the bistro and I am still able to have fun at work yet there hasn't been space for anything beyond that. And so, I think I feel a need to talk about this year so that I can move beyond it. I want to shift out of this place of difficulty and look toward a dynamic and full year. There are many interesting projects coming up. The lawyers are negotiating the lease for the expansion. We have been invited to Ottawa to cook representing Manitoba. We're giving a talk at a business conference talk on using social media in business, we're doing Folk Fest nuttiness and we've got a new project cooking with Winnipeg Harvest that is going to a crazy fun ride.
So many of the clients at the Bistro are really important people to me and have provided me with friendship and laughter which has buoyed me throughout this year. Thank you all for that support and kindness.
Friday, October 8, 2010
City vs. Country
As a kid, I grew up in both the city and the country. We weren't so wealthy as to have two houses; we spent the first 5 years of my life in the city, moved to the country, then moved back to the city when I was 15. I have a complicated relationship with rural living. I am an extrovert. I love engaging with people and I get a surge of energy from any interaction. When we lived in the country, our nearest neighbours were a mile away (and they were a little weird, they kept a phone in their house that was reserved for conversations with God...) My only sibling is 5 years older than me and wasn't around much. Most days, I was lonely and bored.
On the flip side, I grew up with 3 acres of gardens, pigs, horses and generally some skills with country living. I can grow all sorts of things, pickle and put up preserves, and capture a chicken. I like putting on rubber boots and stomping around in the field. I have a great affection for this life. But, when we moved to the city, I felt like someone had flipped a switch. I couldn't get enough of being around people. I don't think I was alone for the first five years! I felt buzzy and happy.
It's funny how fundamental this all remains within me. On our travels, I was so happy in Napa. We were staying in Rutherford, a town of 500 people. It was pitch black at night, it was so quiet and pastoral, you could watch the mice skitter and the hawks circle. We travelled through vineyards and organic gardens and discussed ways to garden better. It was perfect.
Then, 2 days ago, we landed in San Francisco. As we drove in, the 2 hour drive, you could feel the shift starting to happen. Gradually, we were surrounded by more and more people. Then all of a sudden you're in 4 lanes of bumper to bumper traffic. Once we ditched the car and started walking and walking and walking, amidst thousands of people on the streets, you couldn't wipe the smile off my face! I felt buoyed by the energy of the city, I could feel it pulsating through me. My city girl came alive! We have been to as many parts of the city as we can cram in, met people in every place we've stopped, eaten some of the best food I've ever had, tried new cocktails, ridden street cars, jammed our days as full as possible. It makes me so happy!
And so, I love that I have these parts of me and they both get turns. Our son has lobbied hard for the past few years for some property in the country and this trip has clarified for me that this is a worthwhile investment. When we get home, we'll step up the hunt for someplace to be quiet, build tree forts, plant some vegetables and watch the stars. And then return to the city to get amped up again!
On the flip side, I grew up with 3 acres of gardens, pigs, horses and generally some skills with country living. I can grow all sorts of things, pickle and put up preserves, and capture a chicken. I like putting on rubber boots and stomping around in the field. I have a great affection for this life. But, when we moved to the city, I felt like someone had flipped a switch. I couldn't get enough of being around people. I don't think I was alone for the first five years! I felt buzzy and happy.
It's funny how fundamental this all remains within me. On our travels, I was so happy in Napa. We were staying in Rutherford, a town of 500 people. It was pitch black at night, it was so quiet and pastoral, you could watch the mice skitter and the hawks circle. We travelled through vineyards and organic gardens and discussed ways to garden better. It was perfect.
Then, 2 days ago, we landed in San Francisco. As we drove in, the 2 hour drive, you could feel the shift starting to happen. Gradually, we were surrounded by more and more people. Then all of a sudden you're in 4 lanes of bumper to bumper traffic. Once we ditched the car and started walking and walking and walking, amidst thousands of people on the streets, you couldn't wipe the smile off my face! I felt buoyed by the energy of the city, I could feel it pulsating through me. My city girl came alive! We have been to as many parts of the city as we can cram in, met people in every place we've stopped, eaten some of the best food I've ever had, tried new cocktails, ridden street cars, jammed our days as full as possible. It makes me so happy!
And so, I love that I have these parts of me and they both get turns. Our son has lobbied hard for the past few years for some property in the country and this trip has clarified for me that this is a worthwhile investment. When we get home, we'll step up the hunt for someplace to be quiet, build tree forts, plant some vegetables and watch the stars. And then return to the city to get amped up again!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Napa valley
We're on our last day in Napa Valley. This has been a beautiful and educational three days. I feel like so lucky to have had the opportunity to meet all these amazing people and learn so much about wine and wine-making. The first day, we went to Joseph Phelps and had this VIP tour with a gentleman named Keith. I'm pretty sure he was actually Garrison Keillor. He spoke in this soothing midwest accent and told us stories about the property and the development of Napa and winemaking. I listened to him for two and a half hours and I could have stayed around for more.
After Phelps, we made our way to Quintessa. Phelps is an old well established winery. Quintessa are sort of the new kids on the block. I think they bought their land twenty years ago. Here we had a young woman named Kaitlyn take us on a hike through the property and sat on a hill drinking one of their sister wineries' sauvignon blanc, Illumination. Quintessa was hands down my favourite tour. They are bio-dynamic and after some gentle prodding, Kaitlyn opened up and gave us some really great information about how that works. I particularly like the use of animals to tend to the crops. Kaitlyn explained that some wineries are quiet about being bio-dynamic as it is considered flaky and can keep some 'serious' wine drinkers away. I have to say, I did notice an odd reluctance to discuss organics, bio-dynamics and the environmental impact of say, hundreds of thousands of new oak barrels, at other wineries. I was surprised.
Our final tour that day was Caymus. Caymus is a wine we've stocked for most of the time we've been open. This event was actually just a tasting, with some quick notes about the history of the business from the wine educator. The group had a very drunk couple from New York in it and that kind of made the dynamic a little wonky. In the end, it was the weakest event of the day.
Yesterday, we did Cakebread and Sequoia. Cakebread is a consistently fabulous wine that has always been a popular wine on our menu. It's pretty high end but when you see the production, it starts to make sense. Essentially, the winery tracks every barrel and mixes the barrels in specific lots to achieve a specific profile. It is painstaking. Once they have achieved the profile they are after, they then mix the same combination of barrels to create a run of a wine. The other wineries we met worked in a more 'batch' approach. They played with the chemistry but they didn't track each barrel from each lot. We had a very passionate tour guide at Cakebread, who had been a winemaker himself in Oregon, who clearly felt Cakebread was simply the best. He said that their 2007 Cab had such high ratings that they have pulled it from the tastings! He was also the least interested in talking about organics or the environmental impact of winemaking! Ironically, my favourite part of the tour was meeting with the Master Gardener and touring the organic gardens!
Sequoia is a beautiful winery right next door to Cakebread. Aptly named for the giant sequoias growing on the property, they are a teeny winery with some lovely wines. However by this point, I was pretty worn out and got distracted by a great cheese book from a collective cheese shop in Berkeley. The wine educator liked Alex so she poured him a lot of a big variety of reds, most of which we can't get because they only sell them from the winery. By the end of the tasting, Alex was pretty looped so we made our way to the Rutherford Grill and had a fantastic lunch.
Today, we are heading to Rubicon (Francis Ford Coppola's winery) and then to Boon Fly Cafe in Carneros. I love the name so hopefully we'll have fun! Tonight we head to San Francisco for a different type of fun and hopefully some night life!!
Finally, I just want to send a big thank you in Tina Jones' direction. I know that we buy a lot of wine from Banville & Jones and it makes sense that they would want to get us connected with the winemakers but Tina has gone above and beyond in taking care of this leg of our trip. She's pretty awesome and a great role model for business women in Winnipeg.
After Phelps, we made our way to Quintessa. Phelps is an old well established winery. Quintessa are sort of the new kids on the block. I think they bought their land twenty years ago. Here we had a young woman named Kaitlyn take us on a hike through the property and sat on a hill drinking one of their sister wineries' sauvignon blanc, Illumination. Quintessa was hands down my favourite tour. They are bio-dynamic and after some gentle prodding, Kaitlyn opened up and gave us some really great information about how that works. I particularly like the use of animals to tend to the crops. Kaitlyn explained that some wineries are quiet about being bio-dynamic as it is considered flaky and can keep some 'serious' wine drinkers away. I have to say, I did notice an odd reluctance to discuss organics, bio-dynamics and the environmental impact of say, hundreds of thousands of new oak barrels, at other wineries. I was surprised.
Our final tour that day was Caymus. Caymus is a wine we've stocked for most of the time we've been open. This event was actually just a tasting, with some quick notes about the history of the business from the wine educator. The group had a very drunk couple from New York in it and that kind of made the dynamic a little wonky. In the end, it was the weakest event of the day.
Yesterday, we did Cakebread and Sequoia. Cakebread is a consistently fabulous wine that has always been a popular wine on our menu. It's pretty high end but when you see the production, it starts to make sense. Essentially, the winery tracks every barrel and mixes the barrels in specific lots to achieve a specific profile. It is painstaking. Once they have achieved the profile they are after, they then mix the same combination of barrels to create a run of a wine. The other wineries we met worked in a more 'batch' approach. They played with the chemistry but they didn't track each barrel from each lot. We had a very passionate tour guide at Cakebread, who had been a winemaker himself in Oregon, who clearly felt Cakebread was simply the best. He said that their 2007 Cab had such high ratings that they have pulled it from the tastings! He was also the least interested in talking about organics or the environmental impact of winemaking! Ironically, my favourite part of the tour was meeting with the Master Gardener and touring the organic gardens!
Sequoia is a beautiful winery right next door to Cakebread. Aptly named for the giant sequoias growing on the property, they are a teeny winery with some lovely wines. However by this point, I was pretty worn out and got distracted by a great cheese book from a collective cheese shop in Berkeley. The wine educator liked Alex so she poured him a lot of a big variety of reds, most of which we can't get because they only sell them from the winery. By the end of the tasting, Alex was pretty looped so we made our way to the Rutherford Grill and had a fantastic lunch.
Today, we are heading to Rubicon (Francis Ford Coppola's winery) and then to Boon Fly Cafe in Carneros. I love the name so hopefully we'll have fun! Tonight we head to San Francisco for a different type of fun and hopefully some night life!!
Finally, I just want to send a big thank you in Tina Jones' direction. I know that we buy a lot of wine from Banville & Jones and it makes sense that they would want to get us connected with the winemakers but Tina has gone above and beyond in taking care of this leg of our trip. She's pretty awesome and a great role model for business women in Winnipeg.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Travelling
About a year ago, Alex and I committed to trying to travel more. As young folk, we were very poor (can we buy a ladle this week? No? Ok, the coffee cup will work for another week... ) We had lots of fun and had dinner parties and went camping a lot. Then we bought a house at 23 and poured all our energy and spare money into renovating it. After that, we had kids. No time, no money, no energy.
So, here we are. We work like crazed people at the Bistro all the time. Most people don't know that we start dealing with stuff from home by about 9 am and usually don't leave work until midnight. I stay home with the kids during the day and we have our adventures in homeschooling. Generally life is very full and we really felt it was time to start travelling. It seems like a good way to unplug and recharge our batteries. Also, about two years ago, we figured out that our kids are fantastic travellers and they are all game for an adventure.
In the past year, we've been to Montreal, Toronto with the kids, Toronto without the kids, Vancouver with the kids (we are avid air miles collectors now!) This week, Alex and I are in Napa Valley and San Francisco. This trip was a gift from both our families to Alex for his fortieth birthday. We have talked about this trip, fantasized about this trip, since we were 18 years old. And now we are here!
Of course, all trips come with hiccups: our flight was delayed out of Calgary so we missed a bunch of stuff that we wanted to do in San Francisco yesterday. And, they lost my luggage. Which has meant not only am I without my things, we had to waste valuable time yesterday shopping for socks and underwear and a toothbrush for me. But we are here! And today we are going to go on 3 VIP wine tours that TIna Jones from Banville & Jones organized for us. I am just in awe of this whole experience. I plan to try to chronicle it as we go. But, who knows, I may just be eaten up by the moment.
I am very grateful that Alex and I have shifted away from buying things for each other and toward creating experiences. It also seems to be rubbing off on our kids: our son asked that no one give him any gifts for his birthday or Christmas. He asked for people to donate money instead. As a family, we decided to also pool our resources to send him on a trip to Vancouver to see his cousin and his buddy. I hope he has the adventure of a life time.
So, here we are. We work like crazed people at the Bistro all the time. Most people don't know that we start dealing with stuff from home by about 9 am and usually don't leave work until midnight. I stay home with the kids during the day and we have our adventures in homeschooling. Generally life is very full and we really felt it was time to start travelling. It seems like a good way to unplug and recharge our batteries. Also, about two years ago, we figured out that our kids are fantastic travellers and they are all game for an adventure.
In the past year, we've been to Montreal, Toronto with the kids, Toronto without the kids, Vancouver with the kids (we are avid air miles collectors now!) This week, Alex and I are in Napa Valley and San Francisco. This trip was a gift from both our families to Alex for his fortieth birthday. We have talked about this trip, fantasized about this trip, since we were 18 years old. And now we are here!
Of course, all trips come with hiccups: our flight was delayed out of Calgary so we missed a bunch of stuff that we wanted to do in San Francisco yesterday. And, they lost my luggage. Which has meant not only am I without my things, we had to waste valuable time yesterday shopping for socks and underwear and a toothbrush for me. But we are here! And today we are going to go on 3 VIP wine tours that TIna Jones from Banville & Jones organized for us. I am just in awe of this whole experience. I plan to try to chronicle it as we go. But, who knows, I may just be eaten up by the moment.
I am very grateful that Alex and I have shifted away from buying things for each other and toward creating experiences. It also seems to be rubbing off on our kids: our son asked that no one give him any gifts for his birthday or Christmas. He asked for people to donate money instead. As a family, we decided to also pool our resources to send him on a trip to Vancouver to see his cousin and his buddy. I hope he has the adventure of a life time.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Still alive
We survived the Folk Fest!!! I believe that I felt at 3 am on Saturday morning wandering around Festival Camping that my survival may in fact have been in doubt. Fatigue had set in. I was surrounded by mayhem. Delightful mayhem but mayhem nonetheless. People dressed up as teddy bears, minstrels of varying quality, a giant sphinx and multiple pyramids, one of my staff in a housecoat wandering around muttering and gesturing to himself, a LOT of glowy stick people and one Christmas light guy, mussels being cooked, lasers being shone into the sky, the smell of pot and booze and cigarettes, seas of tents, and a giant lit up roving dragon. Oh yeah, and we were sleep deprived in a way I haven't been since having a newborn baby.
I loved it, tho. Love the festival, love festival camping. We are now plotting on how to get to Burning Man to cook. I love the idea of bringing fabulous food to fantastic places and being part of this enormous creative energy. We cooked and cooked and cooked. I'm sure that over the next few weeks I will continue to process this whole time in my life because it was so full and amazing.
We moved into our new digs which I have to say I was very worried about. I was not wanting a building, I was happy with my cooking tent and outdoor dishpit and cajoling the health inspector into our perspective: grass if fine flooring. However, change comes and you have move with it or get knocked over. I'm more of a move with it and see where it takes me kind of person. The building is phenomenal! It's huge and airy and bright and has the potential to be enormously efficient. It is cavernous so I had almost no voice by Monday. It was the place everyone wanted to hang out! We had musicians come and play for us and busses drop off folks right at our porch. We have a porch! it is really a beautiful space.
The food was good, too. There were some hiccups: chicken on the bone is tricky but extra tricky when there is no prep time and you have to make it on the fly! Potatoes (most starches, really) for 5000 are just challenging. But there were some highlights: bison short ribs falling off the bone, 3-bean salad out of this world!, grilled cheese sandwiches, and some crazy apple pancake thing that Alex said, "It worked!!" when he saw it (I sense he may have had some fears on its viability). We also cooked in "guerilla tents", setting up tables and burners wherever we could find a bit of space, on the folk fest site and the camp site, we simply started cooking and people would come to get food. When we ran out of food, we shut it down. It was so great! It also has opened up ideas for me around travelling food and bringing food to places.
I have left this festival with many great ideas rattling around in my head and we'll see what they lead to.
I loved it, tho. Love the festival, love festival camping. We are now plotting on how to get to Burning Man to cook. I love the idea of bringing fabulous food to fantastic places and being part of this enormous creative energy. We cooked and cooked and cooked. I'm sure that over the next few weeks I will continue to process this whole time in my life because it was so full and amazing.
We moved into our new digs which I have to say I was very worried about. I was not wanting a building, I was happy with my cooking tent and outdoor dishpit and cajoling the health inspector into our perspective: grass if fine flooring. However, change comes and you have move with it or get knocked over. I'm more of a move with it and see where it takes me kind of person. The building is phenomenal! It's huge and airy and bright and has the potential to be enormously efficient. It is cavernous so I had almost no voice by Monday. It was the place everyone wanted to hang out! We had musicians come and play for us and busses drop off folks right at our porch. We have a porch! it is really a beautiful space.
The food was good, too. There were some hiccups: chicken on the bone is tricky but extra tricky when there is no prep time and you have to make it on the fly! Potatoes (most starches, really) for 5000 are just challenging. But there were some highlights: bison short ribs falling off the bone, 3-bean salad out of this world!, grilled cheese sandwiches, and some crazy apple pancake thing that Alex said, "It worked!!" when he saw it (I sense he may have had some fears on its viability). We also cooked in "guerilla tents", setting up tables and burners wherever we could find a bit of space, on the folk fest site and the camp site, we simply started cooking and people would come to get food. When we ran out of food, we shut it down. It was so great! It also has opened up ideas for me around travelling food and bringing food to places.
I have left this festival with many great ideas rattling around in my head and we'll see what they lead to.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Delightful Bedlam
Oh, it's been a whirlwind. Every year around this time I think to myself: Why? Why in the world did you think this was a good idea? Surprisingly I am not talking about a) being married b) having children c) owning a restaurant. In fact, I am talking about running the backstage kitchen at the Winnipeg Folk Festival.
When I was eight years old, in 1978 (gasp, I know I don't look it, do i?!), my dad's best friend was on the board of the folk festival and invited my dad to come. My dad and I have similar senses of adventure so he brought me along and we both fell in love with it. We volunteered the following year (this is before people worried about age restrictions, seat belts, smoking while pregnant, general safety, etc.) and were put in the kitchen. I was given jobs to do and started a life long love affair with the place. My dad still volunteers (somehow he got the 30-year volunteer jacket and I didn't?) but he has defected from the kitchen and is now a schlepper. They drive golf carts and look pretty.
When Alex and I were 23, we were asked to take over running the kitchen. At the time, there were about 100 kitchen volunteers and we fed about 1200 people 2 meals/day for 3 1/2 days. Today, there are 3600 volunteers and probably 1500 assorted other people, including performers. This year, our crew has 250 people on it and we will be feeding everyone for seven days. It's a mammoth task.
And, though I ask myself, why in the world did you think this was a good idea?, better than ever before, I know the answer. Three years ago, we were not "hired back" (fired, I do believe) and we had to sit out two festivals. We were given other tasks but truly it was painful. I was so sad I took up running and shed 50 lbs. It was a terrible period of feeling like I didn't control anything and like I didn't know where I belonged. The best part was running. I still love it and I have learned to be somewhat more accepting of the path I find. A smidgen more zen than I once was.
Last year, a new Executive Director landed at the festival and very graciously asked us back. I leapt at the opportunity (Alex did chide me a bit for not at least pretending to think about it for a bit) I have felt completely invigorated by the experience. I am back with my peeps! I love this work more than I can say. Building a kitchen where there was bush, watching cooks become chefs, deciding what song to have the two thousand people lined up for dinner sing for their supper, sharing a glass of wine with an old friend: it is truly magical.
I am currently buried under emails, logistical problems (how to get food to one place from another, how to deal with black pepper sensitivities and vegans with soy allergies, getting people on site when I need them, making sure everyone's ordered their food, do I have enough reefer space?!), personality conflicts (it'll all be FINE, I'm sure), and lost things (I don't even know what those are yet) but I am relishing it. *sigh* I love this time of year.
Now I run to make sure I have my ducks in a row.
When I was eight years old, in 1978 (gasp, I know I don't look it, do i?!), my dad's best friend was on the board of the folk festival and invited my dad to come. My dad and I have similar senses of adventure so he brought me along and we both fell in love with it. We volunteered the following year (this is before people worried about age restrictions, seat belts, smoking while pregnant, general safety, etc.) and were put in the kitchen. I was given jobs to do and started a life long love affair with the place. My dad still volunteers (somehow he got the 30-year volunteer jacket and I didn't?) but he has defected from the kitchen and is now a schlepper. They drive golf carts and look pretty.
When Alex and I were 23, we were asked to take over running the kitchen. At the time, there were about 100 kitchen volunteers and we fed about 1200 people 2 meals/day for 3 1/2 days. Today, there are 3600 volunteers and probably 1500 assorted other people, including performers. This year, our crew has 250 people on it and we will be feeding everyone for seven days. It's a mammoth task.
And, though I ask myself, why in the world did you think this was a good idea?, better than ever before, I know the answer. Three years ago, we were not "hired back" (fired, I do believe) and we had to sit out two festivals. We were given other tasks but truly it was painful. I was so sad I took up running and shed 50 lbs. It was a terrible period of feeling like I didn't control anything and like I didn't know where I belonged. The best part was running. I still love it and I have learned to be somewhat more accepting of the path I find. A smidgen more zen than I once was.
Last year, a new Executive Director landed at the festival and very graciously asked us back. I leapt at the opportunity (Alex did chide me a bit for not at least pretending to think about it for a bit) I have felt completely invigorated by the experience. I am back with my peeps! I love this work more than I can say. Building a kitchen where there was bush, watching cooks become chefs, deciding what song to have the two thousand people lined up for dinner sing for their supper, sharing a glass of wine with an old friend: it is truly magical.
I am currently buried under emails, logistical problems (how to get food to one place from another, how to deal with black pepper sensitivities and vegans with soy allergies, getting people on site when I need them, making sure everyone's ordered their food, do I have enough reefer space?!), personality conflicts (it'll all be FINE, I'm sure), and lost things (I don't even know what those are yet) but I am relishing it. *sigh* I love this time of year.
Now I run to make sure I have my ducks in a row.
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