We are looking forward to a great rowing season! This requires assistance from all rower’s families…it is simply impossible for this team to exist without your help, and many hands make for light (and really fun) work!
The Team, The Team, The Team, we are the team for our children. While we sign up for specific roles, once on site we are one inclusive team. While each job has it’s specific responsibilities please know that in the end the job is not limited to just those responsibilities, meaning, if you see where help is needed, please help. If you are planning on being on site please sign up for a job as every parent is needed to play a role in this huge endeavor for our children. Signing up gives us the knowledge ahead of time to make sure we have appropriate coverage before landing on site; if you can’t make it to the regatta, there are food prep tasks that you can do ahead of time to get us off on the right foot. The Team, The Team, The Team, we are the team for our children.
Links to signup will be emailed to you and repeated in this site’s announcements.
Description of Jobs
The Pioneer Rowing Club strives to provide healthy and nutritious foods for our athletes. Breakfast, lunch and all day snacking are served at most regattas for rowers, volunteers and fans. Volunteers plan, shop, prepare and serve meals at the PRC Tent site.
Helping with regatta food is a fun way to meet the rowers and get to know other parents. Many of these options do not necessitate attendance at the regatta, but if you do attend, the food tent is a fun place to pass the day, when your rower is not on the water!
The following duties are needed for each regatta, bearing in mind that some have multiple meals:
Things you can do at home
These volunteers help to prepare food at home prior to a regatta. Deliver food with your rower to bus/carpool drop off. If you want to drop off earlier, please contact the Food Coordinator. If you would like to be reimbursed, forward your receipts to the team Treasurer. If you want to retrieve your containers, please securely label with your name and watch for the email.
Meal Prep
Shopping and pre-cooking pre-planned meals for regattas. See the regatta meal plan for specific instructions.
Baked Goods
Please provide 2 dozen muffins, scones, etc. Bake yourself, or purchase. As healthy as possible – whole grain, low sugar, fruit rather than chocolate, etc. Label package with any inclusion of nuts or unusual ingredients. PRC does not reimburse for baked goods, but the kids love this stuff!
Fruit Prep
Please provide 6 lbs of fruit, cleaned and prepped (ready to eat). Berries are the heavy favorite, but expensive, so try to find them on sale. Apples, melons, peaches, pineapple, orange slices, and grapes are all good options. Variety is much appreciated! When deciding on packaging, remember that it will be transported in a cooler packed with ice.
Vegetable Prep
Please provide 6 lbs of raw vegetables, clean and prepped (ready to eat). Pea pods, carrots, celery, cucumbers, bell peppers, cauliflower, broccoli are all good options. When deciding on packaging, remember that it will be transported in a cooler packed with ice.
Things you can help with on-site
Tent Site Set-Up
Unload tents, stoves, and supplies from the trailer and get the site prepared to shelter and feed our team. Review the detailed regatta notes and archival photos beforehand so you’re aware of any unique regatta characteristics. Bring a headlamp/flashlight and a copy of the on-site checklist.
Tent Site Set-Up Coordinator (most commonly done by Food Coordinator)
This lead set up person should be a Varsity or Junior Varsity parent with site setup experience. He or she should contact the other members of set up team, the trailer puller, and the head breakfast cook to determine logistics for set up. These include:
- Check the regatta website in advance for details on gate opening/closure, allowed route for bringing in the trailer, when help is available on site (e.g., with golf carts), where/how to unload, parking, tent rules, map of site, etc. Communicate necessary info to trailer puller so they are not running blind on all of this.
- If tent sites are first-come-first-served, see if someone will volunteer to get there early and nab a good spot. They might need to take a small tent and/or water buckets and caution tape to mark out a spot.
- If tent sites are assigned ahead of time, find out where our spot is (often, Rich gets the spot when he registers the team but you need to confirm). Be sure trailer pullers and site setup volunteers know the spot.
- Coordinate arrival time of trailer with setup volunteers. Reach out to other parents who might be arriving early. Share phone numbers among all. It may be possible to get a headstart by setting tents halfway up.
Breakfast Staff & Cooks
You can’t heat water and make coffee early enough, but try! The Cowboy Coffee recipe is posted on the trailer door and inside lid of the box containing coffee grounds.
Set up tables in U shape, the tables touching only at the corners (if space allows), tucking supplies underneath. Beverages go on one side of the U, hot food will go on the other; the middle is for the all-day assortment. Set out, using platters and bowls as needed:
- fruit
- baked goods (save super sugary stuff for later)
- bagels, cream cheese, butter, jellies, peanut butter
- granola bars
- cereal, oatmeal
- yogurt (there is a cooler to be filled with ice for the things that need to be kept chilled)
List the race schedule on dry-erase board, making note of mealtimes, and set up on easel.
Approximately 30 minutes before mealtime, begin cooking. Prepare the chafing setups, with hot water and lit Sterno, as needed.
Clean and consolidate as you go. Some dishwashing may be needed if pieces will be used again. Otherwise, dirty dishes can be collected in garbage bags for later. Thanks for your help!
Lunch Staff & Cooks
Check coffee and hot water levels, particularly on cool days, and replenish as needed.
Refresh beverages and all-day assortment (bagels, muffins, fruit, etc.) as needed, with an eye to using up whatever can’t be saved for a week but also, not running out before the end of the day.
Begin cooking 30-45 minutes before the meal time posted on dry erase board. Prepare the chafing setups, with hot water and lit Sterno, as needed. Try to put the food out when rowers actually show up.
Clean and consolidate as you go. Repack coolers, emptying and drying out any that you can. Collect dirty dishes in garbage bags for later.
Snack-baggies (of fruit, vegetables, trail mix, etc.) can be passed out for the way home. To-go containers should be made available for leftovers. Thank you for your help!
Dishwasher
We have dishwashing bins and supplies so we can wash dishes on-site throughout the regatta (which is necessary since breakfast dishes are frequently used to cook lunch)! This is an easy job and a great way to get involved!
Tent/Site Take-Down
Takedown begins when the last Pio boat is launched but we try to clean up and consolidate as we go along to make packing up go as quickly as possible. Take down tents and re-pack all equipment in the trailer.
Trip Chaperone
Chaperones ride the team bus and stay in the hotel with the rowers on overnight regattas. Please study the chaperone information for a detailed description of responsibilities. The cost of the chaperone’s room is covered by the team. Please submit the required background check to the Travel Coordinator.
Regatta Carpool Drivers
This involves driving both ways and staying all day at the regatta. Usually, the drivers help out with regatta support activities (e.g., unpacking/repacking the trailer, setting up/taking down tents, helping as needed with food set-up, preparation, serving and cleanup). Read more about carpooling on the transportation page.
Pulling Regatta Supply Trailer
The supply trailer is also known as our “Food Trailer” and some teams call them “Chuck Wagons”. It’s important to remember it’s an “Equipment Trailer” when going through Customs into Canada! It’s a single axle trailer weighing about 3,000 lbs. Inside is everything we need to shelter and feed our rowers and their families each day of the regatta. Tents for shelter, and an extensive inventory of cooking equipment including grills and propane. Not to mention coolers and boxes for food, and large jugs of water.
Pulling requires a full size truck or SUV. At first I used my F150, which I replaced with an F250. (The F250 is VERY over-qualified for the job!) I have found it pulls very easily, both in town and on the highway. A full size Blazer, Expedition or even a Van would do the job. The trailer uses a 2″ ball, and a seven pin plug for lights and charging the on-board battery. There are no trailer brakes, thus the requirement for a large tow vehicle.
Since it would be in service for a non-profit we can only give $0.14/mile — per IRS guidelines (super low) OR the actual cost of gas (likely a better deal). If you’re interested in being reimbursed all you need to do is start the trip with a full tank of gas. Then, after the regatta, fill the tank up again. The fill up after the event represents the amount of gas used for the regatta and that’s the receipt I need. If you go through an entire tank of gas during an event and need to fill it up again that’s OK. We’d need the receipt from the mid-way fill up(s) and then the one where you top it off when you get home. Receipts, along with a self addressed stamped envelope, can be placed in the boathouse drop box or mailed to the team Treasurer.
For overnight regattas the club will reserve and pay for 1 room per night at the team hotel for anyone towing both to and from a regatta and 1/2 of the total charges for 1 room per night at the team hotel for anyone towing one way.
