STONES ROCKS

After years of this event occurring right outside our doors; messing up our regular steak-eating customer base, our parking, our ability to book functions, our trash collection and our normal day-to-day, we finally won the bid to manage the food and beverage for the main event-tent and re create our annual Folk Festival all-hands-on deck routine, only with mittens on!  (No, seriously.  As part of planning this huge event, we actually considered the outdoor grill concept and how certain food items would be made prohibitive depending upon the temperature–you can’t assemble certain things with gloves on.  Of course, what we learned instead is, that warm cider doesn’t sell so well when the temperature reaches into the high 40’s–downright balmy by local definition this winter!)

If I shared all I could about this weekend, this would be a book.  Likewise, if I named all the names that made it happen.  Two days before this shindig, I was asking myself “why” did I bid?  The old, be-careful-what-you-wish-for syndrome.  Of course, thanks to my always-incredible team of managers, and family, and their incredible friends and family–we managed to pull together a schedule of nearly (50) “temp” employees for the weekend–get them positioned and trained (“Figure it out…FAST”), and went about the business of kicking some festival ass!  (This year’s “rock stars” included Kim Mello, moonstones beverage manager and 9 year Stones employee, who managed ALL beverage operations, i.e. Two beer trucks with 40+ kegs, a micro brew event with 23 brewers in attendance and all 500 wrist bands issued, three satellite beverage stations featuring specialty wines, beers and whiskey, a boss who likes “more” selections (that’s me!), and a sponsor event that used the entire 2,000 cups inventoried for its use!  Kim rocked, as usual.  Not to be outworked, COBBLESTONES management team doesn’t blink an eye at 12 hour days in succession.  Or 14.  The unspoken motto around COBBLESTONES– “Try and keep up with Robin.”

moonstones contributed numerous employees to assist.  Daughter Tara came up from NYC, with Cape Cod best friend Joe both busing in for the weekend.  Brother Dave, nephew Lucky, and girlfriend Denise (“Queenie”) via London, hitched a ride with “Pop”–another Festival in Lowell for the Plath clan–and OF COURSE, what would a Stones festival be without the entire L’hereaux family working a grill.  Or the door.  Or the crowd.  They show up in the family minnyvan–like migrants… from Dracut!

A huge Stones thank you goes to the “also” made it special– Anna from La Boniche (I didn’t even have to beg!), Teddy from Athenian Corner–a real Lowell sport and supporter as everyone knows, Long from the Viet Thai (OK, so Pho wasn’t a great idea.  Pho sho.  Sorry Long!) joined us, and Manny from Cavaleiro’s.  (who didn’t sell so well–so when I went to Cavaleiro’s to say thank you, to offer some gift certificates to The Stones, to buy some gift certificates from him to share with the other Planet Lowell participants, and to say thank you–instead, Manny bought my drinks and sent me a filet mignon on a Stone.  What a class act.  (What a steak!)

Finally, for today (maybe some bloopers later) a special thanks to The Lowell Health Department, The Lowell Fire Department, The Lowell Police Department and The Lowell License Commission.  Many people–in general–like to portray these entities as “ball busters” or “hard asses”–you all know the dialogue.  But we found ALL departments extremely helpful, supportive and attentive in one way or many.  When we messed up, they pointed it out, and we fixed it.  When we needed a problem resolved, they helped in the resolution.  This may sound like some City-brown nosing but, no shit, between DPD, CVB, COOL and the aforementioned, Winterfest was a kick-ass event!!

151 shopping days to Folk Festival.  Rest up kids…