Kitchen Crew
A good portion of life at St. John’s included crew work for the students. For some this was the first time they had operated a vacuum or dishwasher, or had to feed horses and dogs on a large scale.
There are stories of great crew leaders, and of not so great crew leaders; and stories of some interesting times on crew. What was your favourite crew? Send us your memories of working on crew duty.
May 9, 2011 at 8:54 am
Grade 10 had me working the chicken crew. This job was unique in that the crew comprised of four students total to manage the operations. It meant a quiet and peaceful walk for the 1/4 mile walk to the barn to attend to the responsibilities. It offered a retreat from the chaos of the day to day activities back at the school. The daily tasks were watering and feeding of the flock (3000 birds, four cycles a year) and the removal of the dead chicken carcasses that may have died in the last day. Beginning in the fall, following the snowfall and freezing temperatures, the logical place for these carcasses were a heave hoe over a plowed mound of snow near the entrance to the barn. Out of sight, out of naive mind. All was good! It was a quiet winter…… until the spring thaw and from behind the melting snow pile came the waft of decomposing chicken carcasses. Needless to say a hastily convened meeting by the ‘master’ in charge of the barn detail that year had me immediately identified as the culprit at large. It was a Saturday in spring during a full afternoon duty day I could be found, alone, behind the almost disappeared snow bank picking approximately 20 to 30 decomposing chicken carcasses, infested with the wriggling and chewing of maggots. Every sense and emotion of disgust was at peak performance that afternoon. How could I ever forget the experience. It amazes me to this day of my short sighted outlook of my actions. That day certainly taught me to look beyond the present day. As I write this I cannot help but laugh about the event.
May 9, 2011 at 9:33 am
Sent in by Sherwood Botsford:
Two crew stories:
I got a deal on whiskey barrels — 7 bucks each, from the Seagram’s distillery in Minnedosa. I figured they would make great non-edible doghouses.
The first task was to get one end of the barrel out. 4 of my crew were busy doing that. I left them to it, and went to check on the others who were repairing sleds.
The barrels hadn’t been rinsed. Danny Lynes noticed liquid running out of a bung, and clicked his bic.
BOOOOOMM!
I ran back. Danny was dazed. One end of the barrel was in 3 pieces, burning, a hundred yards away, having missed Villiancourte working on canoes, by only a foot or so.
Danny was dazed. His tee shirt was burned off him. He had patches of red skin much like sunburn, and a bit of ringing in his ears, but otherwise was unhurt.
***
Later, that same spring.
Whiskey barrels are charcoal inside. I didn’t want a year of black dogs smudging charcoal everywhere, so I wanted to get the worst of it out.
It was evening. Hot spring day. I used an angle grinder with a cup brush on it, Black dust was flying everywhere. I was dressed in only sneakers and running shorts and goggles because of the heat.
Study was on. It was thirsty work, but none of the outside taps worked. So I wandered in the back door of the kitchen to the drinking fountain in the dining room.
I was black from head to toe, Except where the goggles had been. And where the charcoal was streaked by sweat. Didn’t even think about it. Just walked in.
I brought down the house. Took the DM 5 minitues to calm the study down. Later I apologized to him for my thoughtless interruption. He laughed. “We needed the break. No one was concentrating. Too hot. Too nice outside.
May 9, 2011 at 10:09 am
I spent my second year at SJSA on dog crew, and it’s a wonder all the dogs survived. My aptitude with animals is zilch. The final humiliation was at Open House when I had Rex, a large donated mutt, out on a leash and he got away from me. My 250-pound aunt caught him. Of course she had the weight to hold him, and at that time I didn’t.
The next year they made me the office boy, which was a far more suitable assignment.
May 9, 2011 at 12:14 pm
My Favorite crew was dog crew because even if it was the hardest, it was where I had the most fun because it was outside and sometimes we would be able to go dog sledding which was the best.
May 9, 2011 at 4:45 pm
As I have heard from many an SJSA alumni who came before me, we had it way too easy. Case in point……In ’91 or ’92 I was in charge of the “Games Room’ complete with pool table and foosball. By far the best crew ever.
May 9, 2011 at 5:16 pm
I was on outdoor crew and it was cool in that we were always left alone! I figured out how to gut a snowshow properly and always enjoyed doing that.