St. Anthony's teens make concessions (happen) at homecoming
Members of the Saint Anthony's High School student council take a break from working in "The Canteen" during homecoming on Oct. 13, 2017. Credit: Ian J. Stark
When attending a St. Anthony's High School varsity football game, guests not only get to watch student-athletes perform on the field.
They get to buy burgers from them as well.
Grace Hanrahan, who is also the publicity chairperson for the student council, admits that it does get smoky sometimes in “The Canteen,” the snack shack of Cy Donnelly Stadium. She isn’t complaining, though, as she and her fellow council members were happily tasked at last Friday’s homecoming game with serving the burgers, hot dogs, sodas and snacks to fans.
Most Long Island high school football games feature similar vendors, but they usually consist of parents and other adults. Not so at St. Anthony’s, where the student workers -- supervised by faculty -- do everything but cook, taking orders and making change sans a calculator or cash register.
Senior Lauren Dooley admits she’s merely a “decent math student,” but her counting skills are sharp where The Canteen is concerned.
“We have to be able to say, ‘OK, that’s three burgers, two hot dogs, chips and a Gatorade’ and then count that in our heads,” she explains.
Senior Maggie Riley, another council member, explains why no one complains about the work: “It’s amazing. … Working in there, it gets crazy, and it brings us all closer together.”
The work done by The Canteen crew is impressive. Fans logjam the front from before game time to the very end, and the students behind the counter hustle to and from customers, buzzing by each other, reaching over arms and twisting to get by. But it all tends to work out well.
“I can’t ever remember one accident, or anyone really dropping anything,” Hanrahan declares, adding, “It’s definitely greasy at times, and you do need to shower as soon as you get home.”
“It’s not easy,” Riley agrees, “and we stick around after the game and do the cleanup, too.”
Serving customers means not getting to watch the game. When it’s pointed out that other schools lean on adults to handle food services, which might allow Hanrahan and her friends to watch from the stands, she replies, “Well, it’s kind of an honor that they trust us to do this.”
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