[Sca-cooks] Leaving the site cleaner than we found it

[Mary Denise Smith]

Some years ago when the Canton of St. Pyr's Well in Staten Island NY
still existed, I did a feast called "The White Feast". One of our
knights was a member of a local Presbyterian Church, and got permission
for us to hold the feast there. The pastor was quite dubious, and the
church business manager charged us a HUGE damage deposit (more than the
rental fee, as I recall).

When I got to the kitchen on Saturday morning, these were the things
that we fixed BEFORE we could begin cooking:

Cleared flower stems, grease and a drowned mouse out of the sink drain trap

Snaked the drains

Swept/vacuumed a dozen dead mice (or more) out from under/behind the
restaurant stove and industrial fridge

Swept/vacuumed dead birds from atop the cabinets

Hosed down the cabinetry and floors with Lysol, then bleach, then Lysol again

Disassembled the stove, grill and oven burners, took them outside and
cleaned them with propane torches to remove 1/2" of grease clogging the orifices

Scoured the stove top and steel backsplash

Washed every plate, dish, spoon cooking pot and pan etc., in the place
in dish soap and bleach solution

Sent Staten Island residents home to get their vacuum cleaners and
bought bags for the church's vacuum cleaner

Vacuumed then mopped the hall floor

Vacuumed the window frames and drapes

Vacuumed the stage and as much of the stage drapery as we could reach

Scrubbed the tables AND chairs

Sent a squire out to the local laundromat with the table cloths and
napkins stiff with encrusted food with orders that if the tablecloths
disintegrated in the wash, he was to come back for more $$ so he could
go and buy new ones

We held the feast, the pastor having declined our invitation to attend.

On Monday when our knight went back to conclude business, the pastor
insisted on a walk through. Our knight got weak in the knees, worrying
what we had damaged, broken, etc., that he hadn't known about. On the
contrary, beamed the pastor. He had been with this church for 10 or
something years, and the place had NEVER been so clean (!). Henceforth,
we never paid a site fee at that church as long as St. Pyr's Well
continued to exist.

MD/Marged
back in the Outlands for more than 10 years now, thank you very much