Pizza Part 2

Several have asked about the follow-up of the pizza day- this is long overdue.

Dad, Mom and I were on deck at 7.20 am Saturday (the following day) to help sell pizzas. There were 30 teams working Amish neighborhoods. I drove; my cousin and 1 of her young cousins took the pizzas and the collection bucket to the doors. We started out with 95 pizzas; by 10.10, we were out of pizzas.
Note- you can show up at 7.something AM at an Amish house and sell them stuff... and they'll be smiling and dressed and buying... and in the middle of their day's work. Well- if you're Amish or your cause is tied to them, that is! ;)
Amish areas have an 'Amish Directory'- sort of like a plat book- very detailed maps showing individual property- only they include only the Amish of that area and are organized by church district. Each team had copy of a page or 2 from the Directory with a highlighted route to follow. Our route was about 4 - 5 miles long. We drove into the yard of each Amish home, the 2 girls with me went to the door, explained what the pizzas were for and usually sold at least 1 pizza. Everything was by donation. Money (or checks) were collected in a plastic ice cream bucket with a hole cut into the lid. Several people gave $$ but wouldn't take a pizza.
Since they have no health insurance (or any insurance), they expect to help each other. It's part of being a member of the church, as nearly as I could tell. We only stopped in at one 'English' (non-Amish) place because of close ties between them and my aunt and uncle and their family. The area our team was in is so heavily populated with Amish that there is some sort of fund-raising drive there nearly every weekend.
Our group got back in pretty good time. Mom and Dad were way out on the western edge of things so were among the last to get back. While I waited for them, I hung around drinking coffee and chatting with my uncle's family while they sorted and counted the proceeds (and then sent them to the bank). They needed to average just over $5/pizza to break even and had nearly doubled that by the time we left. My uncle was pleased. (I have no idea what kind of a dent that made in the total cost of the operation.) 

A Pizza Day

Mom and I had an interesting day today. We made pizzas. Lots of them. Or rather, we helped make pizzas. And when I say lots--it definitely was lots. Like about 2200 - 2400. Yep. (I said we helped...)

Here's the story. Last fall, Dad's nephew M (20) got sick and sicker. In the end, he was put on kidney dialysis while he recovered his strength enough to have a transplant. (As far as I know, no one really knows why his own kidneys failed.) Initial plans were for his twin bro to donate a kidney but because of a prior accident and scarring, he was eliminated. Two of his older sisters were also matches. One is a mom; one isn't. I don't know how they worked that out between them but K, the unmarried sis with no children gave one of her kidneys to her bro 2 1/2 weeks ago. Both are doing very well.
Both are Amish, as is the whole family. ie- No insurance. The church will help cover the costs. But they're also doing a pizza drive tomorrow to help defray costs.
So, this morning, a pole barn (clean; very clean, thanks. No kidding.) was set up for assembly line pizza production. Three long rows of tables covered in clear plastic. Eight or nine stations marked out on each side of the tables. Tubs of ingredients down the middle of the tables- someone on each side of the table working out of each tub.
A pizza supply company brought refrigerated trucks with the pre-cooked, shredded, diced, etc, ingredients.
The pole barn was set up right to left with the far right end being for opening huge cans of sauce; bags of ham, sausage and pepperoni; big bottles of oil... whatever was going (I only worked on meat lovers; have no idea what went on the supremes) and dumping them into big tubs. Production started with stacks of pre-baked crusts. Each person did one thing to the pizza and pushed it down the line. Crust on cardboard circle -> Oil -> Sauce -> Sausage  -> Ham -> Pepperoni  -> Pepperoni -> Cheese -> Bag it (2 man job) -> Box it. Someone at the end of each table marking pizza boxes with an 'M' (meat lovers) or 'S' (supreme). And 3 guys like my uncle (Dad of the surgery kids) loading boxes on dollies and running them back up into the refrig trucks.
Production was supposed to start at 12. Word at my aunt's yesterday was get there early, it'll start earlier. We got there about 11.15 - right in the middle of lunch. They'd started sometime around 9.15 and had already done 1000. Things started back up at noon. Sometime around 2 or 2.30 we ran out of sauce (this was a major miscalculation or something. There was more on the way but the truck hadn't arrived yet) and everything stopped. Mercifully. There was coffee and lots and lots of very yummy homemade cookies and cakes and trailmix and that sort of thing. And coffee. Did I mention the coffee??? ;)
Mom and I left about 3.15 (no sauce yet; I think there were a bunch more of the cousins' friends and relatives coming later... I hope). My aunt estimated that they had about 600 - 800 left to make at that time. They were planning on making 4000, total.
So, from 12 - 2, 2.30 approx 2200 - 2400 pizzas were assembled.
No kidding- that's a lot of pizza.

Neat stuff

• 2 tables (4 lines) doing meat lovers; 1 table (2 lines) doing supreme.
• 2 pepperoni stations/line- each person did half the pizza; one did 8 slices, one did 7
• Sharpie marker instructions at each station telling specifically what to do (ie- 1 level cup of cheese/pizza; 7 slices pepperoni; etc...)
• lots of boxes of latex gloves around-- not so neat if you have a latex prob :( . 
• backless Amish church benches with legs collapsed along the outside edges of the length of the tables, also covered in plastic. This provided a raised working space for us to slide the pizzas along. It also meant the tubs were in a depression in the middle of the tables and easily available to both people with no sliding around of the tubs. 
• there were a lot of men involved. Now, a lot of the guys were somewhere else at a job. But there were a lot of them there, too. I don't know how many people helped but I'm guessing around 100 - 150 while we were there. 

Tomorrow morning, the family goes at 6.30 to divide the pizzas into 'bundles'; each bundle goes with a clear plastic-wrapped map with a fairly small route marked in red. Cars are supposed to be on site at 7.10 to be loaded. Each team - consisting of a driver and a 'runner' - takes off and covers their designated area. There will be people back on site with cell phones monitoring the whole thing. If a team finishes their area and has pizza left, they'll be sent to someone who needs help; if a team runs out of pizza, another team will come to help or more pizza sent out to them. 

One thing that stands out to me about this is how supremely well organized it all is. Believe me, today's work (from where I was working- cheese first and then pepperoni (8 slices, thanks))- went off with only the sauce hitch. I mean- 2200 pizzas in 2+ hours... that's efficient. We walked in and started working. There were a few ladies (aunts on the other side of the family, I think) running the thing and they had it under control. 

Dad, Mom and I are going in the morning with 2 cars... maybe my bro, P, too? 

So- did you also notice that there are a lot of cars involved? ;) I don't know how many teams there will be but quite a few, I think. Here's the thing- My cousin M is a young guy- 20. He's not married (but has a girlfriend). He has a truck (a NICE truck) and so do a lot of his over-16-also-not-married buddies. NE IN has a very large Amish population. The area we'll be working in is heavily populated with Amish. There are a lot of vehicles in the neighborhood. ;)

And No, I didn't get a pic. I wanted to. Very much. I even had my camera. But I didn't. It was an impressive setup and operation. But, well, they're my family, a lot of them; they officially don't want pictures taken. They might have let me had I asked. But in the end, I didn't want to put anyone on the spot. 

UPDATE:
Several have asked about the follow-up of the pizza day- this is long overdue.



Dad, Mom and I were on deck at 7.20 am Saturday (the following day) to help sell pizzas. There were 30 teams working Amish neighborhoods. I drove; my cousin and 1 of her young cousins took the pizzas and the collection bucket to the doors. We started out with 95 pizzas; by 10.10, we were out of pizzas. 
Note- you can show up at 7.something AM at an Amish house and sell them stuff... and they'll be smiling and dressed and buying... and in the middle of their day's work. Well- if you're Amish or your cause is tied to them, that is! ;)
Amish areas have an 'Amish Directory'- sort of like a plat book- very detailed maps showing individual property- only they include only the Amish of that area and are organized by church district. Each team had copy of a page or 2 from the Directory with a highlighted route to follow. Our route was about 4 - 5 miles long. We drove into the yard of each Amish home, the 2 girls with me went to the door, explained what the pizzas were for and usually sold at least 1 pizza. Everything was by donation. Money (or checks) were collected in a plastic ice cream bucket with a hole cut into the lid. Several people gave $$ but wouldn't take a pizza.
Since they have no health insurance (or any insurance), they expect to help each other. It's part of being a member of the church, as nearly as I could tell. We only stopped in at one 'English' (non-Amish) place because of close ties between them and my aunt and uncle and their family. The area our team was in is so heavily populated with Amish that there is some sort of fund-raising drive there nearly every weekend. 
Our group got back in pretty good time. Mom and Dad were way out on the western edge of things so were among the last to get back. While I waited for them, I hung around drinking coffee and chatting with my uncle's family while they sorted and counted the proceeds (and then sent them to the bank). They needed to average just over $5/pizza to break even and had nearly doubled that by the time we left. My uncle was pleased. (I have no idea what kind of a dent that made in the total cost of the operation.)

Growing Up Amish

No, not a post of my stuff, just a link to a blog whose author wrote a book... and I think it should be interesting. Mom, are you going to get it? ;) 

Encyclopedia of the various groups of 'plain people'

Haven't written anything about anything Amish in a long time... and not really fixing to now... but there is an interesting new book out... link to Amish America blog

Dutch Blitz, Acacia, homework.... (in short- Life)

again. 'S just like that folks... not that you didn't already know that, of course.

These people are back... they're mentioned at the end here, too. (There are times when I feel so completely vulnerable and smashed and like a baby that if you can't have your own Mom and Dad, it's sure nice someone else is sharing theirs and you've got them...) So, besides the fact that it's great to see them- and No, I don't yet have a pic of them... at all- anyway, besides that it's great to see them again, they brought mail- letters (and I'm amazed anyone still writes... amazed and happy and in awe and ashamed) and this:
2 cd's of this guy. I love hearing the songs of my childhood. Thanks Mom! Love them. (the first one was taped in Mom's hometown; the 2nd has the most familiar songs, but it's great to hear that old familiar tongue.) :)

The end of May is the end of the school year, without exception, in Ukraine. The last day festivities (which you could hear from my open window) at the school near us. The last day is always called 'The Last Bell'. aside: Graduates are nearly always called 'school leavers' by Ukrn's speaking Eng- which is technically correct but always gives me the urge to grin for some reason... not that they don't have plenty of reasons to kill themselves laughing at my Ukrn...

For the past week or so the scent of the Acacia tree in bloom has been on the air... it is exquisite.

close-up

Found a pic of the lupine I saw recently... not such a great one- but I love lupine!

and this- well, yes. I've done things in reverse... I'm off to do 'homework' now! ;) My homework is more pleasant than this poor kid's, though. (Is this Billy? Or Jeffy?) Public Service Message #forty-leven

Ukraine is called 'Ukraine' not 'The Ukraine'- which implies that it is a region within a larger area or country. Not that it matters so much... but it's a fact. ;)

once I was 2

This pic provoked some memories/feelings. Not the pic so much as the photog's blurb underneath it. My oldest bro and I fall into that category- the 'there are no pix of me at that age' category. I'm not sure when I really began to wonder what I looked like at 6 mos, 1 yr, 2, etc (and just for the record, I don't spend a lot of time worrying about it now- it's just a curiosity sort of thing) and I don't really know when I first noticed that although a lot of people have pix of themselves and their babies from birth on, there weren't many of me or my bro Paul... Mom has one of the 2 of us- he was about 1 or 1 1/2 and wearing a shirt and some heavy duty rubber pants (you know- the old kind that go over the old style cloth diaper); I'm standing beside him in a non-descript dress of some kind and must be about 2 or 3. We're hanging out in someone's yard beside either the clothes line or a volleyball net (can't quite remember); the pic is fuzzy and not all that great. By the time my little brother and sister came along, if Dad and Mom didn't have a camera of their own, there were other people around taking pix. And let me tell you- those 2 are/were cute...like really cute... like adorable. Paul and I are ok- but we're just old enough at that point to be rather (completely) overshadowed by our beautiful younger siblings. Ken was golden and beautiful-that's all there is to say about it. He had gorgeous hair- long curls (Dad nearly cried when someone else gave him a haircut and didn't ask if they should/shouldn't). (K's own kids are also beautiful and blonde... doesn't help that it runs on their mom's side of the family!) Then there was Gina- chock-full of personality, brunette and just plain beautiful. The earliest pic I have of our family was taken when she was about 6 mos old and believe me, she looks like a little porcelain doll with dark hair. (And surprise- her & D's kids? Drop dead gorgeous...) ;)

Soooo- when Ken and Gina each got married and eventually had kids- it was fascinating to look at pix of the babies, trying to ferret out their personalities from their facial expressions and examine every feature, trying to figure out where each one came from and (I'll admit it) trying to see myself somewhere in that little tiny person... for sure we found great-grandma J's (Mom's mom) forehead in there... and then one of the kids looked like my dad... and then last summer, my sis posted this pic... the youngest of the twins. Beside it she wrote: Who does Miki look like here? Welllll, even I'm not that dumb... except for the too-dark eyes, it could be me at that age. So now I know... I've always had messy hair...

fyi

I've written about our family background a few times. Several months ago, I came across a link to a very interesting blog written by a man who grew up Amish; he's had some very thought-provoking posts lately- and often writes about his Amish background. I wanted to post a link here to his page and to some of his specific posts. With his permission, here they are:
home page
an Amish funeral
here and here and here (these 3 about 1 man- interesting look at the practice of 'law enforcement', excommunication in the church)

Vernon Daudy

It wasn't a long wait... My little brother, Ken, skyped an hour ago with the news; I'm glad he and Miss and the boys could be there this weekend. My little sis, Gina, is looking for tickets to fly back. They were still trying to get in touch with my other brother, Paul. Dad and Mom are with Dad's family.

Last night before going to sleep, I was remembering Grandpa. We always called him 'Vernon Daudy'- 'daudy' is 'grandpa' in their/our dialect; Vernon is my dad's only brother and making his name part of Grandpa's title made it clear to us kids which Grandpa we were talking about, a common practice among the Amish. He was always a big gentle man (I thought of him as big; in reality, he wasn't all that big... just bigger than me). He loved to hold little kids and I'm sure I had 'knee time' when I was little. I was born when Mom and Dad still lived with them, but Mom and Dad moved to a separate place fairly soon after that. When I was little and we'd go to their place, he was always out working- I remember walking back across the pastures with (Aunt Luella? Uncle Vernon? Dad? not even sure who now) looking for Grandpa, finding him back there in a field or a pasture... we roamed Grandpa's cow barn, too. It was an amazing place- in my memory. I loved to be down in the 'kee schtall' when they were milking... and I loved to hang around the tank where they cooled off the milk cans- they milked by hand, poured the milk by the bucketful through a filter into big metal cans, then fitted a lid down onto the cans and stood them in a tank of cold water. Someone told us we'd drown (this is how I remember it, at any rate) if we got into that tank and I was fascinated by it. There was a stock tank down in the lower part of the barn, too, that fascinated me even more- I suppose it was 'drownier' or something- it was certainly dark. Later, Grandpa and Grandma built a 'Daudy Haus' (Grandpa House) just up the hill from their big old house and moved into that so that Uncle Vernon could live in the big house with his family. In the early years after moving into that smaller house, Grandpa still spent lots of time outside and stopping by the house wouldn't necessarily find you Grandpa. The last times I was there, though, he was nearly always sitting in his big chair in the living room. He looked cold a lot and had slowed down so much. After I graduated from high school, I never was around that part of the state so much again, so the changes were more dramatic. But Grandpa was there, in the living room- he liked to hear about what was going on. Where are you? What are you doing? Is it interesting? I think he suffered from depression the last several years- sometimes sitting there and crying. Most recently, they were worried that he'd fall- he already had and with no phone in the house, there was no way to get help fast if there was a need. People had to stop by often to check on them. And they did. Uncle V and his large family just down the hill on the home place- they have one daughter, Susan who is the unabashed pet of the whole family- and she's a cute sweet little thing. Our cousin Ray and his also large family right across the road from them. And then several daughters and their families nearby; my dad about 20 min by car- they all checked in frequently.
Our family history includes awkward times, especially with my dad's family- but Daudy's love towards us grandkids was never a question.
He was 88 and 4 months. In April, he and Grandma would have been married 68 years.
I have one pic of him- a not-very-good one from my brother's wedding- taken from a distance. Dad's side of the family has never been keen on having pix taken- but the wedding photographer, a friend of Ken and Miss', pretended not to know and just shot away at the reception. The pic is somewhere in my stuff at Dad and Mom's. Last night, I was really wishing I'd insisted on getting pix of all 4 grandparents when I was home...

Just after my 'big career change'- back in 1994- a soon-to-be coworker and I were driving through the town I've always thought of as my 'hometown' even though I've never lived in it. We were headed down the side street by the dentist's office- she'd never seen a lot of Amish people and we may have even been up at Mom's parents that day, don't remember. There was an Amish man walking down the sidewalk with his back to us and she was noticing him. I said There goes someone's cute little Amish grandpa. We drove past and I looked back and pulled over. It was my Vernon Daudy. He was glad to see us. :)

at times you feel far away

I've been lucky- very lucky. Both my mom's and dad's families are large; there were always plenty of cousins to play with at family gatherings and lots of aunts and uncles...and up until 2 1/2 years ago, I still had both sets of grandparents- and Grandma B and Grandpa J always wrote. Longevity seems to run in the family- on both sides. Grandma J had been in failing health for a long time and I was very glad to see her when I was home, although she didn't know me. She didn't know a lot of things- but one thing she knew- 'Home' was where Grandpa was; if he was there, they were home; if he wasn't, they needed to go home. Grandma J was in her early 90's when she died. Grandpa J is the oldest of them all but will likely outlive them all. He's spry, sharp... and I chatted with him via webcam not so long ago!
Grandma B had a bad spell and was in the hosp for (it seemed like a long time- was it a week?- All I know is the nurses thought she was adorable- she wears a night cap to bed; they'd never seen anything like her)...that was while I was home, so 2 years ago. Grandpa B, however, has long been frailer than Grandma. In the last year, there have been several incidences of falling; he's had seizures and needed med for that. Earlier this week, he landed in the hosp. At first they thought it was a stroke; then said possibly a seizure. For awhile he perked up... Thurs night, he had a massive heart attack... now we're just waiting.
My relationship with my grandparents was never what it is for some people but they cared for me, for us and I'm glad to have had them this long. Leaving the States 2 years ago was a bit tougher knowing that the likelyhood of seeing them again was slim. It feels funny thinking about them being gone- like a piece of me is missing- a funky puzzle with a couple of pieces missing. And although I've been with lots of people at this stage of life, in our family, it's hardly ever happened- as I said, longevity seems to run in the family.

most of you won't get this

My mom sent me this last night. It's a link to a site of some guy who married an ex-Amish lady, learned the lingo and can now sing in it. I guess he sings other stuff, too; but his PA Dutch warms my tiny little heart. There's no way to learn it except to have someone to work with- no books (that I'm aware of)- in fact, it's only a German dialect and not a written language...but it's my very own native tongue. English came along hard on its heels and I don't use this much now except with my family... I miss it.

It's funny because I've had plenty of mixed feelings about my heritage, sometimes had a hard time with my feelings... but I love the language. Period.

Back to the songs. There are some from my childhood here! Unreal... I never EVER thought I'd hear them on the web! #'s 6, 8, 9(!!- Mom, I always loved this one!!! tune's a bit different, though), 11 (I'd forgotten this one!), 13, 14, 17- I used to know them by heart and they come back pretty fast and easy. And then there's the last track- the love song, sung at weddings, I believe- (first half done in the traditional way). I still love to hear this. You don't get the full effect here- there's not enough people singing... but it gives me goosebumps anyway.

So come on, if any of the rest of you know this stuff, leave a comment! haha- I want to know who you are!
edit: just talked to Mom- haha- this guy's wife is some sort of relative of ours- her maiden name is same as our last name. What a hoot. So does this matter? Nope- esp since we're proly all related if you dig deep enough... I mean us Amish! haha! Did I ever tell you what my brothers used to do for fun? Well I'm not going to right now... but it was funny... and it made reference to the mental abilities of kids like us whose parents are distant cousins ;')