Wednesday

Absolutely no excuse at all for this tardiness: I could beg fatigue from yesterday's fresh air and strenuous exercise, or morning preoccupation with watching mist rise from the lake, but ..........


It looks, from a quick look at The Weather Channel as if it's going to be a good day in Bouckville.

This is the start of a really long and busy few days for members the Oriskany Falls & Madison and Waterville chapters of the Rotary Club who operate a Food Tent right at the center of the Antique Show grounds. (Look for the "1,000 Dealers" sign. They’re right under it!) I asked Rotarian Deb Mayne to tell me how it all works, and she did!

“The initial planning starts immediately after the clean up is done from one year to the next. There have been many additions and changes of how jobs get handled, from the ordering, months in advance, to the days of the show and right after. In all the years I have yet to see anyone sent home because there were too many people. The set-up starts weeks prior to the event with checking the cooking equipment as well as being sure all the food and supplies will be there when needed. Within the week of the show the tents come in and are put up by the tent company and then everything is brought to the field including the cooking equipment and the picnic tables from the Waterville Fire Dept. The first round of cooks gets started between 4:30 . and 5:00 A.M. on Friday and work in shifts till just after dinner time. The crews are set up in three shifts with the lunch time needing the most amount of staff. There have to be over twenty people a day working different shifts to have it work successfully with everyone helping each other when needed. Rotarians, friends of Rotary as well as many of the family members of Rotary get involved in the work. Rotary's Breakfast is important to the Vendors as it is the start of the day for many of them before the visitors get to the field. Rumors abound that the Waterville Rotary has added some Blueberries to the pancakes in the past - depending on picking schedules - and that’s has been a hit for the breakfast crowd. We've also strayed in other areas with the likes of chicken parm sandwiches at lunch time, but most of the menus are preset by the management of the show. The pricing is also preset and is the same at all the food areas.”

We're off to find a "food tent." Our favorite, for breakfast, is Howard Johnson's -
remember those restaurants with the orange roofs that used to be all over the country and offered those famous 28 flavors of ice cream? The one here in Lake Placid is one of only FOUR left in the country, and it's still run by the Butlers, who opened it 50 years ago!

We've been coming here nearly that long and are delighted that a huge company has been formed to resuscitate the whole Ho-Jo image and bring orange roofs (and twenty-eight flavors) back to the country!