A Note from the Chair

The concession stands at the stadium are known as the Big Mac Band Stands.  This is the largest and most-profitable fundraiser in which our organization is involved.   The profits from these sales benefit the entire band and it is important that we make each year as profitable as we can.

The #1 thing to remember is:  If you are having fun while you are helping, then you are doing it right.  We are all non-paid volunteers for this organization.  What we do for the band should benefit not just the band students, but ourselves.  We spend hours together in these stands and if we can do it with a smile on our face and making some great friends and cherished memories in the process, then we will have a very successful season. 

Anyone who knows me well knows that I like to have a good time with good friends.  Sometimes it's just the silly things, and funny instances, and the friendly smiles that make volunteer-work pleasurable.  It's not just the sense of satisfaction you get from helping others that make us return each game, but knowing that you will be there amongst friends.  And with this upcoming season being my 3rd in the Band Stands, I have made a lot of new friends.  But as the saying goes...one can never have too many friends.  So I happily look forward to making more this season.

Come join us!  We'll have a blast!

Anita Brecosky
Band Stands Chair

About the Big Mac Band Stands

We will be hosting 4 home football games this season at Canon-McMillan Stadium:

• September 9 - Greater Latrobe
• September 23 - Montour
• October 7 - Bethel Park (Homecoming)
• October 21 - Peters Township (Senior Night)

The concession stands provide food, drinks, and snacks for all visitors to our stadium.  There are three stands which our organization operates:

• Home Side Food & Drink
• Home Side Drinks & Snacks
• Visitor Side Food, Drinks & Snacks

  Each home game begins with preparation long before game night.

• Transport non-perishable items (roasters, percolators, utensils, food prep items, etc.) from the dungeon (basement) of the school to the stadium (August - after Band Camp)
   
• Beverage deliveries from Coca-Cola come by truck in the form of 2-4 pallets of beverages per week.  These deliveries take place on the Thursday prior to each home game and are off-loaded from the truck via forklift.   These pallets' beverages must then be distributed to each of the three stands and stocked in the coolers at each location in order to be properly chilled prior to each game.
   
• On Friday (Game Day), the volunteers for Set-Up arrive at the Visitor's Stand at the Stadium at 10:00 a.m. to begin prep.  This includes unloading the vehicles which were used to pick-up our food order.  At this time we separate the items into those that can go directly to the home stands without further prep, and those items that will stay in the visitor stand, and items that will be further prepped (hot foods).
   
• As each stand is set-up for use later that night, a group of "cooks" begin the preparation of the hot foods that will be served that evening on both sides.  While most of the prep is completed by 2:00 p.m. and volunteers are then free to leave to go home to change, the cooking food must be monitored the entire day to ensure the quality of the foods we serve our visitors.  Anita stays to perform this duty.
   
• The "Popcorn" shift works the entire game under the Home Side bleachers between the two concession stands.  The objective is to provide fresh popcorn to our guests throughout the game.  The smell of fresh-popped  popcorn really drives concession sales. 
   
• The next "shift" begins with the volunteers who signed up for the "5:30 p.m.  through Half-Time" portion.  These volunteers will be assigned to either counter or prep duties.  The counter staff take the guests' order and calls it back to the prep workers to be filled.  The counter staff collects the payment and retrieves the items from the prep staff to fill the order.  New this year:  calculators and note pads for orders will be provided for the counter staff.
   
• The following shift is the same as the one above and is denoted as "3rd Quarter through Clean-Up".  In addition to the tasks listed above, the clean-up portion of this shift involves storing all non-perishable and perishable food items and cleaning of the equipment used that game.  We return all of our items to the Home Side stands for storage until the following game.
   
• In two weeks, we do it all over again. 
   
• At the end of the season we perform a final beverage inventory so that we may return unused beverages to Coca-Cola for a credit to our account.  We also inventory all non-perishable items and pack them for storage in the dungeon (basement) at the high school.  These items are then transported to the high school to be used as needed for our other events.   

SIGN-UP SHEETS FOR THE 2011-12 SEASON

If you would like to sign-up to volunteer at any of the games (in any position), please send an e-mail to Anita Brecosky via abrecosky@yahoo.com with your name, student's name, date of the game, and area where you would like to volunteer.

Home Game #4 – Oct. 21^st Senior Night (Baldwin)

Set-Up & Pop Coolers (Thursday evening prior to game)

Morning Set-Up and Food Prep (10 a.m. – 3 p.m. or any hours you can give)

Home Food Stand (5:30 p.m. to through Half-Time)

Home Food Stand (3^rd Quarter through Clean-Up)

Home Drink Stand (5:30 p.m. to through Half-Time)

Home Drink Stand (3^rd Quarter through Clean-Up)

Visitor Stand (5:30 p.m. to through Half-Time)

Visitor Stand (3^rd Quarter through Clean-Up)

Popcorn (Whole Game)