Miranda, our New Cashier at JMU

The day started with Peggy, Chuck and I at JMU, joined by Miranda, a new cashier from Aramark, on a perfect football afternoon.  Only, because JMU is having a terrible year compared to their lofty standards set during recent seasons, attendace was off considerably.  While I didn’t get actual numbers, there were empty seats in the stands and that is unusual for JMU games.

Still, we had a good game, but not a great game.  Lemonade sales were better than I thought, and as always, corn dogs did very well.  But, we were off several hundred from the record setting games of earlier in the season.  I was able to let Chuck do more of the cooking and he is getting good enough to handle an operation on his own.  Something to consider in the future.  Who knows?  Maybe by next year we can look at two locations at each game covering both sides of the field. 

We still have one home game left at JMU on November 21.

Meanwhile, Tank, the future Mrs. Tank, and Jean got slammed as soon as the gates opened at Liberty at 5PM and stayed slammed most of the night.  Despite it getting pretty cold by the end of the game, it was our best game of the year there, short of our record games at JMU, but still a great outing for Big Red’s crew.

Liberty won the Bowl by over $250.

My thanks to Jeff and Pat at Sodexho and to Kevin and crew at LU.  It was a good season for us despite the two awful rain games, and with the stadium construction project getting started, I’m already excited about next year.

Last night doesn’t end things at LU for us this year as basketball season starts this weekend, and barring any difficulties with a meeting early in the week, Big Red will be there for the first tip off.  More about that in future posts.

Tank at Work

 Funnel Cake Bowl is Saturday.  And, for Big Red, that is THE Bowl Game.

If you remember from a couple of weeks back, the first semi-annual Funnel Cake Bowl was won by Liberty as it downed JMU handily revenging its football loss to the Dukes earlier in the year. Saturday offers the rematch between the two Virginia schools as both will be playing home games simultaneously with the Big Red Crews at both locations.  The final score of the games means little or nothing.  It’s who buys the most funnel cakes, corn dogs and lemonade that counts.

Start of Liberty Game

Despite its victory in the first Funnel Cake Bowl, Liberty is once again an underdog as JMU has been given the nod by Vegas bookmakers and is a $47.50 favorite to take the game.  Most of the difference is because Big Red will be at JMU, while Tank, the future Mrs. Tank and sister, Jean, will be toiling from our tent set up.

Peggy, Chuck and I will handle things from Big Red  at JMU.

A detailed report on the outcome, which may not make ESPN News, will be available on these pages by Sunday night (after I get home from Harrisonburg).

Grant Jason Watch Japanese Chef

This week, I made a quick trip to Louisville to take Nancy out for a belated birthday dinner, to spoil the grand kids a bit, and to have an adult beverage or two with Jason.  I got back in time to set up Big Red at Liberty for a Saturday afternoon game.  We started off really well, then by early in the second quarter, the rains came and we, unfortunately, were closed by shortly after halftime.  Not a good game, but at least better than the JMU-Liberty game (the real one) which was a total disaster.

Pictures of both (Louisville and Liberty) are posted on Flickr.  Just click on the thingy to the right.

Good luck to both Liberty and JMU in the second semi-annual Funnel Cake Bowl.

Green Flag

Big Red’s racing season came to an end Sunday after a mixed weekend.  Our outside stand on vendor row in the merchandise area was a complete waste.  They sold a decent amount of bottled drinks but their food sales were horrible.  And, I’m not sure why.

Inside, at our stand under the Turn 1 Grandstands, we had a great day on Sunday after disastrous days on Friday for practice and qualifying and the truck race on Saturday.  Two reason for the poor showing on the first two days:  Rain, rain and more rain; and it was a terrible location as the stands nearest us were closed for the smaller crowds.  Sunday for the Cup Race when everything was open, we rocked.  Peggy and Jean worked the front, Ryan sugared, Oswaldo, who I borrowed from Salim in Richmond, and I cooked and Chuck kept us in batter and handled the corn dogs.

Oswaldo Pours Funnel Cake

A great crew and probably the best service we’ve ever given at a major event.  We were cranking out 8 funnel cakes per minute so our lines never got out of hand.

At least we made a decent recovery on Sunday.  Hopefully, Danny and Todd from Americrown and I can make an adjustment or two before the next race in March so that we don’t lose the Saturday sales.

I’m off to Louisville.

Linda Tries To Stay Warm During Pregame

Big Red has never run two college football games simultaneously until Saturday.  Liberty drubbed somebody by about 100-7, while Villanova snuffed out the last chances of JMU making the playoffs by some silly score like 28-0.

Tank and Laura were handling the Liberty game and had a great game, while Peggy, Chuck and I, with Linda once again serving as the cashier, froze to death in the rain and cold at JMU.

Because of all of that, I’ve dubbed the day as the first semi-annual Funnel Cake Bowl.  The second installation of the Bowl will be in a couple of weeks when both schools play at the same time again.

Rolling Pretty Well Early at JMU

Liberty, who lost a heart breaker to the Dukes several weeks ago in the pouring rain when the two schools met in Lynchburg, got some sweet revenge yesterday. Not only did they record another win on the gridiron, they beat JMU in the Funnel Cake Bowl.  After two record setting games at JMU earlier this season, another record was within sight as it was Homecoming and another sellout crowd.  But, with the cold rains starting during the second quarter, and JMU playing one of the worst games they’ve played in recent years, the crowd was mostly gone by halftime.  While it wasn’t a total disaster, our sales were off by almost $700 from the last game.

At the same time, Liberty had its best game of the year for us by $200 or so and Tank even elicited some help of a couple of 6th graders at halftime.  One kept his batter pitchers filled, the other sugared the cakes to help Laura handle the serving.

It worked and the First Semi-Annual Funnel Cake Bowl Title goes to Liberty in a huge upset.

This week we all go to Martinsville for the NASCAR races.  I’ll be setting up both locations on Thursday, will be open on Friday during practice and qualifying, and have full crews in place for the truck race on Saturday and the Cup race on Sunday. 

A huge weekend is expected.

Sell Out Crowd for JMU-Richmond Game

Three weeks ago, I was stunned when we broke our old football game record by over $500 at the JMU home opener.  Yesterday, the weather was too cool for us to have a great lemonade day, and yet not cold enough for us to have a huge corn dogs day.  So, one would think a new record was out of the question.

Wrong.

We had a great lemonade day, a great corn dogs day and an even better funnel cake day.  The end result, a new record surpassing the previous record by almost $100.  That’s right folks, so far this year, we’ve increased our football game record by over $600.

Chuck Cooking Funnel Cakes

The only thing negative about yesterday was I’ve been battling a case of bronchitis and was a bit off my game.  But, Chuck and Peggy were just awesome.  Especially Chuck, you handled the majority of cooking which I normally do.  And, it went so smoothly that we never had a line with more than 20 people which is nothing for a sporting event.

Once again, Linda handled the cashier duties and did a fine job under difficult circumstances. Not only does she handle the cash and credit cards but she has to communicate to us in Big Red what is needed.  It all went super smooth.

Smooth Day Kept Lines Short

This week is another challenge for the Big Red Crew.  Peggy, Chuck, Linda and I will be at JMU for another game from the trailer.  At the same time, Tank and Laura, with a couple of Laura’s friends, will be at Liberty working from our tent set up.  I’ll spend a good bit of the week between the two getting everything ready, restocked and set up.  Hopefully, the weather will cooperate.

Next week, it’s back to Martinsville Speedway for the truck race on Saturday and the Cup race on Sunday. That will end our racing season for this year but we’re looking at increasing our race schedule for next year to add as many as four tracks.  More to come on that in the near future.

Stand Located Under the Grandstands Near Start/Finish line

Every now and then, something happens in this goofy business that makes all of the work and all of the travel worthwhile.  Something far grander than earning a living and supporting the folks that work for you.  One of those things happened to Peggy and I this weekend at Martinsville Speedway during the Bailey’s 300.

A little lad, about 8 years old, stood in line with his father for a funnel cake.  After I cooked it, Peggy served it to him and said,” Thank you.  I hope you enjoy it.”

The boy beamed and turned to his father and said, “Dad, I heard the lady. I really heard her. She wants me to enjoy this.”

Peggy was stunned.

1st Qualifying Heat on Sunday

The father explained that his son had just been through a Coaklier implant and was just starting to hear things.  Hearing and understanding Peggy was a  first.

The weekend was solid for Big Red.

Saturday, Jean, Laura and Tank had a great game at Liberty.  Laura, who is still fairly new at this, basically took Peggy’s normal position and made lemonade until she thought she would turn into a lemon.  What a difference a week makes from a total disaster last Saturday to a great game this weekend.

Fat Funnel Cake Guy Waiting for Crowds

Meanwhile, Peggy and I were at Martinsville Speedway for the Bailey’s 300.  We knew going in that this would not be like a Cup Race but a pretty good crowd was expected on Sunday.  So, I opted for trying to do the race with just the two of us to save on labor and an extra motel room since I don’t have contacts in Martinsville yet.  Plus, we had only a 10×10 space rather than our usual 15×15  like at Richmond Raceway. An extra couple of people in that space would have been pretty cramped.

As it turned out, Saturday was nothing for practice and qualifying, but Sunday, I could have used another person.  I also underestimated things and ran out of corn dogs and powdered sugar with nearly half of the race left.  I shut down for a few minutes and made a mad dash for the nearest Food Lion to replenish supplies and finish the race.

Race Fans Party at the Motel

Still, a great outing and things look really strong for the NASCAR races there in three weeks.  We’ll have two locations then:  One inside between turns 1 and 2, and one outside in the vendor row with all of  the merchandise trailers.

This week, Peggy, Chuck and I will do another JMU football game and try to eclipse our new record we set a couple of weeks ago.  Should be another great game.

On a sad note, last Sunday Big Red lost one of its most ardent followers.  Bill Spruell passed away rather suddenly even though he’d had health problems for the past few years.  Bill and I went back to my wholesale floral days and he was a regular at my warehouse and at the farm.  His wife, Betty and her sister, went on one of our cruises, and she and Bill went to Mexico once with my sister.  He was a fabulous guy and will be really missed.

Rest in peace, Bill.

An Hour Before Kickoff

Sadly, I’d had visions of sugar plums dancing in my head all week.  Thoughts of breaking our new football game record set only last week at JMU were clearly in our sights.  JMU was visiting Liberty.  The game was sold out by early in the week and standing room only tickets were selling like crazy.  A crowd of over 20,000 was expected which would have made it the largest event ever held in Lynchburg.  I had a full staff scheduled and plenty of supplies.  We were ready.

And then the rains came.  It was raining lightly when I set up on Saturday morning.  It was raining moderately when Peggy and I got there to start our prep work at 2PM.  By gates open at 5PM, it was pouring and it poured all night.

Big Red in the Rain at Liberty

The hoped for crowd only reached a little over 15K and by midway in the 2nd quarter, most of them were gone. We never had a line and only sold one funnel cake at halftime.

Unfortunately, we set another record.  Worst game we’ve ever done.  After I paid Peggy, Laura and Tank, and Sodexho’s percentage, there was nothing left. 

Oh, well.  It happens.  And, luckily for Big Red, it doesn’t happen very often.

This week will be different.  No rain on the weekend.  Weatherman won’t do it to us two weeks in a row.

Soaked Fat Funnel Cake Guy

Tank, Laura and Jean plus another person will be doing another Liberty game.  Peggy, Chuck, Ryan and I will be at Martinsville Speedway for the Bailey’s 300.  That certainly won’t be like the NASCAR race in late October, but should be a good event for us.

Just a little personal note:  As many of you know, mom had a mini-stroke on Thursday. Lost use of one leg and slurred speech.  The symptoms were gone in a couple of hours. She’s back at Heritage Green and is back to as normal as someone her age and condition can get.  It was scary but not overly serious.  Thanks for the calls and messages during the ordeal.

I’ll be updating via the phone to Twitter and Facebook from Martinsville.

Big Red at JMU

Football games have been more important to Big Red than any other venue.  Not that football’s sales are the greatest–football games don’t come close to races–but because it was football games that led me to find my niche in the concession world: that of sporting events.  JMU was the first college games that we handled and have always held a special place for us whether its sales were the greatest or not.

This is the fourth season we’ve been at JMU and the second year we’ve offered funnel cakes, corn dogs and lemonade.  Corn dogs, historically, sell much better later in the year in cooler weather.  Lemonade, obviously does best in hot weather.  Funnel cakes rock anytime. Since it wasn’t overly hot yesterday, nor overly cool last night, I thought my sales of corn dogs and lemonade would suffer.  Boy, was I wrong.

Cashier Linda Ling

This is also the second year that Aramark folks have provided a cashier. Last night, we had a freshman, Linda Ling, and for her first event, she was awesome.  Having a cashier, frees Peggy up for serving customers amd keeping up with the lemonade. I never leave the fryers except to fill my pitchers with batter and make more if needed. 

We got busy when the gates opened at 5pm and stayed slammed all night until after the game.

The end result: we beat our old record for a single football game by over $500.  And, we did it with just Peggy and I working in Big Red.

The sad part, I left some sales on the table and the record could have been even better.  I ran out of corn dogs about 2 minutes into halftime.  And, we really needed an extra person to just keep my batter made and pitchers filled.  Neither of those will happen again.

Kagen, Engrossed in TV Show

It was good to spend a couple of days with Peggy’s grandson, Kagen.  We still speaks some foreign tongue but is getting better with understandable word and phrases.  Saturday morning, he cooked pancakes for breakfast, not bad for a 2 year old.  They were good, too.

This week, it’s back to Liberty for Big Red as they take on JMU.  A big crowd, and a big night is expected.

Big Red's Inside Stand at RIR

The Big Red Crew had a record breaking weekend at the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 at Richmond Raceway.  And, it featured our first offering of gyros at the races.

Everything started on Wednesday which was set up day.  We had our usual location inside at the base of the Commonwealth Tower where we’ve been for the past two races at RIR.  There we offered funnel cakes, corn dogs, and lamb, beef or chicken gyros.  Outside, on the vendor row food court, we offered funnel cakes and corn dogs.

Thursday was stocking day and the health department inspection.  That meant I did a lot of lifting heavy objects (not my favorite past time.)  But, it had to get done.

Outside Stand on Vendor Row at RIR

We opened Friday and had a disappointingly slow day.  But, things started rolling in the late afternoon around qualifying and for the Nationwide series race Friday night.

Saturday, the outside booth was busy during the day and inside we got slammed starting about 4 PM.  We had huge lines all night despite our increased fire power allowing us to kick out 10 funnel cakes per minute.

The Aroma Was Fabulous

In the end, we set records for our biggest day ever, our biggest weekend ever, and our biggest week ever.  The gyros did very well but nothing could compare with the volume of funnel cakes we put out.

Next spring at the Richmond races, we’ll probably make a couple of changes moving the gyros outside where during the day people are more interested in lunch type items.  That will give us more room inside and help produce more funnel cakes faster.  I like the proposed changes.  They make sense and I thank Todd and his crew from Americrown for coming up with the ideas.

Kaitlyn on the Cash Register

While Peggy, Kaitlyn, Chuck, Ryan, Tyler, Gene, Herb and myself were toiling away in Richmond, Tank, Jean and crew were doing the Liberty home opening football game from Big Red.  It was great to be back at Liberty after a year hiatus and the game went well also.  It was a close game so fans were more interested in watching the game rather than getting their funnel cakes so it wasn’t a record setting game, but another very solid outing for us there.  And those numbers certainly added to our new records at the end of the night.

Gene, the Gyro Master

This week, Peggy and I will be at JMU for their home opener on Saturday.  It’s the first week in a long time that I only have one event.  But, it should be a good one.

Just a little teaser for my many readers  (both of you). Plans are well underway for the Funnel Cake Fandango, the national tour of Big Red in March.  It’s looking like there may be stops in Cincinnati, Chicago, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Dallas/Ft Worth and Austin, TX for the SXSW Conference.  Then stops in Houston, New Orleans and Nashville on the way home.  Something tells me there will be a lot more details about that coming soon.

Players Signing Team Photos

The Potomac Nationals baseball season came to an end on Labor Day.  It was also the end of a long 7 game home stand.  And another successful venture for the Big Red crew.

The season has been a fantastic venue for us, eventhough there were something like 11 rainouts, probably a record.  Unfortunately, double headers do not translate to two times the sales of a single game.  So the rainouts hurt.

Emma Bailey Sings

Although nothing is written in stone yet, indications are that we’ll be back next year.  Its been great for Big Red, and apparently management is happy with us.

The last stand started last Tuesday and I worked the first three games by myself.  All three were better than expected so it was a good start.

Friday was my only disappointment of the week.  Plus, I had Peggy there.  I easily could have handled that one alone also, but had no idea the game would be so bad.

Emma Bailey Band

Saturday was another huge game, plus the P Nats had a Fan Fest going most of the afternoon and the Emma Bailey Band performing.  They are fabulous and I spent a good bit of the time dancing while cooking funnel cakes.  Again, Chuck and Ryan took care of the lemonade, Peggy the front and I manned the fryers.

Sunday and Monday were day games and surprisingly, day games aren’t as good for us as night games.  But both were solid so we ended up with a great week to end the season.

Uncle Slam Became Regular Funnel Cake Guy

I’ve posted a bunch of pictures.  If interested, just click on the Flicktr thingy on the right.

Yesterday, I set up Big Red at Liberty for Saturday’s football game.  Tank, Laura and Jean will handle that.  Peggy, Kaitlyn, Chuck, Ryan, and Salim’s crew will join me in Richmond for the races on Friday and Saturday.  We’ll have two locations once again and are trying the gyros at our stand inside for the first time.

Should be a fabulous week.

Fan Fest On Saturday

Just a bit of humor.  One day last week, Peggy made a batch of chocolate cookies and had them cooling on the dining room table.  Kagen was overly quiet so Peggy went in search of him.  He had pulled a chair over to the table, climbed up and was picking up a cookie, taking one bite, and putting it down.  Then, he picked up another one. . . . By the time I got there, there was a cookie jar filled with cookies minus one bite.  Sweet.

I hit the big 60 today.  I’m getting way to old for this.