The Woodstock B&B on the Green to the Rescue!
Finally, I realized there might be hope at the end of the parking lot. There was a barn down there with a dirt floor, a long, unpainted rattlety trap building that nobody paid attention to. Several times I’d observed that this old, unnoticed structure was filled with treasures. The guys at the Woodstock B & B on the Green stored seasonal decorations they hauled out at appropriate times of the year to dress up their B & B: wreaths, lights, statues, furniture. Occasionally, I’d gotten a peek at what appeared to be antique furniture: chairs, tables, accent pieces. If I could get a corner of that place, I could put a refrigerator on a pallet and we could use it there. Dare I hope?
Dare I hope!
I didn’t know those two guys from Adam, as my grandmother used to say but there just weren’t any other options left. I’ll call them!
“Hello. This is Thurman Greco from the Good Neighbor Food Pantry. How are you and Larry doing today? I’m wondering if we can rent a little corner of your barn for a refrigerator. I’m desperate for a place to store eggs. I’ve asked everywhere and no one in this town has space to spare. You are my absolute last hope.”
“I’ll ask Larry and get back with you. But we can do this. And, there won’t be any charge.”
“Thanks. You guys are going to go to heaven for this.”
I might be able to pull this one off, I thought. When the inspectors come, I just won’t mention the barn. If they see the refrigerator out there sitting in the mud, it’s all over. They won’t have a choice…What the hell.
I took a real chance on this one. However, the inspectors all knew how the town was treating the pantry. The people in Latham were getting tired of the phone calls from the Woodstock pantry deniers. I just had to trust the Food Bank people to look the other way…and not ask about the eggs that I’m buying from the Food Bank.
It worked!
Thank you for reading this blog/book.
In the next post, we get a storeroom for the refrigerator!
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Food Pantry Blog – The Pantry Needs a Refrigerator
I dread talking about politics because I don’t like politics. Never have. Never will. Don’t understand it. Don’t trust it. Politics scares me.” – Kathy Bates>
As I attended classes in Latham, I became more aware of the nutritional needs of the shoppers. One thing I learned: eggs are important.
Eggs offer a lot of nutrition in a small package.
Eggs cook quickly.
Eggs can be prepared in many ways so they’re adaptable to many kinds of cooking environments.
Eggs are acceptable to many different palettes, dietary needs, and food preferences.
Eggs are easy to store.
Eggs don’t take a lot of space.
Eggs are not heavy to carry.
Eggs can be taken right home (whatever and wherever that is) and cooked, safely eaten even if there is no refrigerator.
The one drawback to eggs is that they need to be refrigerated in a pantry. That was a real obstacle in our pantry because we had no refrigerator.
Solution? Get a refrigerator.
Several people offered refrigerators and freezers to the pantry. For the first couple of years I was the coordinator, I declined these offers because there was no space in the building. We had no storeroom and the room itself was just too small.
So…I sought a storage place for our new refrigerator. I planned to store the eggs in the refrigerator and then bring them over to the pantry right before opening time.
I began to contact people I knew in town who might help. After all, I was an officer in the Woodstock Democratic Committee. I had helped several of these people get elected. Maybe I could get help from a local politician:
“Hello Angela. How are you doing? Can you put me through to Jeff Moran? Thanks.”
Please follow this story on the next several posts.
Thank you for reading this blog/book.
Share this article on your preferred social network.
Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
