Dads take a turn in canteen

Men at work: Dads from Alstonville Public School worked the canteen yesterday.

Cathy Adams

HOW many men does it take to run the canteen at Alstonville Public School for a day?

The answer is six, and they were being closely watched by canteen supervisor Robynne Surtees as they prepared for the lunch-time rush yesterday.

“I actually think they’re the ones keeping me in line,” she joked.

The canteen’s usual volunteers were given a well-earned day off as the group of dads got busy making ‘apple slinkies’ and salad sandwiches for a special Men At Work Day in the lead-up to Father’s Day this weekend.

“Our students love seeing a mum’s face in the canteen, so this time we put it to the male members of the school community and the response was amazing and overwhelming,” canteen convenor Jane Sproule said.

“We had a special menu of a sausage sizzle plus fruit juice. Men are so much better at barbecues.

“But the men also had to do the normal duties, such as making sandwiches and serving the students at the meal breaks.”

One lucky dad, Pete Duesbury, was sent out of the kitchen and to a place where he felt more at home – the barbecue.

He was in charge of cooking the 170 sausages that were required.

“This is more like it,” he said.

And while the sandwiches might not have been perfect, the students loved seeing the fathers behind the canteen counter.

P&C president Scott Turner said it was great to help out.

“It’s really good to see all the good work that gets done in this canteen,” he said.

“It raises a lot of money for our school.”

And there’s a real emphasis on healthy food at the Alstonville Public School canteen.

One of the dads, David Kirsch, is often seen helping out in the canteen, and he said its job was also to encourage students to eat well.

“Once a year we have a fruit week and we give away fruit to the kids,” he said.

“We’ve also got this thing that makes apples into slinkies. It just makes it a bit more fun.”

The school will continue to prepare for Father’s Day today and tomorrow with a stall where children can buy presents for their dads.