Grab a meal and help local high school students
COSHOCTON – If you want to grab a meal at the Coshocton County Fair and help a good cause, try one of the high school music boosters’ food stands.
Jacob Panteloukas, a senior at Ridgewood High School, has worked at his school’s food stand for four years.
“It gives you a lot of opportunity to interact with fairgoers,” he said. “We sign up to work four hour shifts and taker orders, do drinks in the back and clean tables. The adults do the cooking.”
Panteloukas likes working during the fair.
“You can sign up with your friends and have a good time,” he said. “We’re usually not terribly busy other than lunch and dinner.”
The students also can learn lessons from the experience.
“I enjoy waiting on people,” said Evan Youker, who also is a senior at Ridgewood. “I’m generally quiet so this gets me to open up and talk to people.”
Money raised from the food stand is a big help to the schools.
“It allows us to buy new instruments, get our piano tuned, pay for instructors who come during the summer and get our show and drill written because we have it written privately for us,” Panteloukas said. “We don’t buy a generic one.”
Both Panteloukas and Youker agreed that the most popular item at Ridgewood’s food stand is the General Burger.
“It’s a double cheeseburger with the works,” Panteloukas said. “We also have all the standard eat stand foods for ‘fair’ prices.”
A popular item at River View’s food stand is the Bear Nachos.
“They are the only thing I get,” said Hannah Shaw, a senior at River View. “They have meat and cheese on them and are better than regular nachos.”
She also thinks people come to their stand because they get good customer service.
“We have a positive attitude and work well together and I think the public sees that,” Shaw said.
Kaleb Klusty, who also is a senior, looks forward to working with everyone at River View’s food stand.
“It’s fun and exciting to see the new faces of the junior high kids that we don’t see during the year,” he said.
Senior Cornelius Lewis also enjoys the experience.
“I like getting to smell all the food,” he said. “The smells of the fair make it exciting, but I’ve also gotten to learn how to work with people I don’t know.”
Lewis’ favorite menu item is the Double Bear Burger and Seth Kittner’s is the pie.
Kittner, who is a senior, appreciates the support of the community.
“It shows that they respect us for what we do,” he said.
Michael Blowers, director of choral studies and activities for Coshocton City Schools, also appreciates fair goers who stop by Coshocton’s stand.
“The food stand at the fair is our single biggest fundraiser all year,” he said. “It helps with things like uniforms, travel expenses and awards at the end of the year.”
The student and adult volunteers put a lot of effort into making the food stand the best it can be.
“What’s really neat is that we open before the fair officially does and serve breakfast for all the workers there,” Blowers said. “We run three shifts. It’s an amazing operation and requires 15-20 people per shift. It’s a huge undertaking and the new kids are always a little hesitant until they hear the older ones talking about how much fun it is. A lot of times they will sign up for one shift and come back to work more.”
He feels Coshocton’s stand has the best French Fries around and highly suggests the Redskin Melt.
“It’s a special sandwich that is a tradition,” Blowers said. “It’s been around for years and years, but I think people also look forward to coming to our stand because we have a wide menu. We also have a lot of fun. In the past we’ve had parents and kids dancing behind the grill and counter. It’s just a good time.”
Ridgewood and River View high schools food stands are located off the main midway at the fairgrounds and Coshocton High School’s is under the grandstand.
josie@coshoctoncountybeacon.com
Category: Arts & Entertainment
