BEHIND THE LIGHTS
Fridays stay busy at concession stand during home games in Perrysburg
11/5/2017
People stand in line at the concession stand during a football game at Steinecker Stadium.
THE BLADE/JEREMY WADSWORTH
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It takes a small armada of enthusiastic volunteers to smoothly operate the concession stands at Perrysburg’s Steinecker Stadium on a bustling Friday night.
Perrysburg booster club president Chris Gulgin said it takes about 35 people to run the concession stands that will serve about 75 pounds of popcorn at a typical home football game.
VIDEO: Concession stand at Steinecker Stadium in Perrysburg
Gulgin, who arrives at Perrysburg Junior High by about 4:30 p.m., said most of the volunteers are members of the booster club who have student-athletes in Perrysburg schools.
“It takes a small army,” Gulgin said.
The Perrysburg boosters operate out of a near state-of-the art facility at the newly constructed concession stand, part of the Huskisson Athletic Center that opened this fall in the north end of the stadium alongside I-75.
The best-selling items this season at the always-busy stands has been a soft pretzel.
“We struggle to keep up with demand,” Gulgin said.
The crew will serve more than 300 soft pretzels at a game.
In addition, the concession stands serve freshly grilled brats, hamburgers, and hot dogs along with the typical items such as candy bars, soft drinks, and pizza.
The specialty item at Steinecker Stadium is a grilled bologna sandwich, according to Gulgin.
“We will do about 600 sandwiches,” she said.
Booster club member Lisa Riddle handles the money, and fellow members Pete and Tina Carella organize the volunteers.
“We also have a grill team and our Booster barn workers,” Gulgin said.
The workers run two shifts and overlap at halftime, when its usually the busiest time of the game.
“Halftime is very busy. We build up before the halftime crowd and then start to wind down starting the fourth quarter,” Gulgin said.
The money raised goes to a variety of equipment and facilities for all levels of sports at Perrysburg.
“We have assisted with the purchase of the field turf [at Steinecker Stadium], which thus far has been our biggest contribution,” Gulgin said. “We have also helped to organize and sponsor the fundraising for the new Huskisson Center.
“We have also been involved in track equipment, nets, balls, ice machines, locker room remodeling, scoreboards, clocks, as well as record boards, and events to support school spirit such as sponsoring spirit buses to playoff events.”
Contact Mark Monroe at mmonroe@theblade.com, 419-724-6354, or on Twitter @MonroeBlade.