Closing a Chapter

 

Today was my last day at Eat ’n Park.

I started on June 18, 2002. That adds up to 23 years, 7 months, and 23 days.
Or 8,638 days.
Or 207,312 hours.
Or 12,438,720 minutes.
Or 746,323,200 seconds.

No matter how you measure it, that’s a long time. And today was my final shift.

There are big things ahead, and I’ll talk about those in another post. For now, I want to look back—because when you spend nearly a quarter century somewhere, the memories pile up fast.

Settle in. This one’s a long read. You’ve been warned.

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How It All Started

I originally went to college in Erie at Gannon University, but later transferred to Penn State to pursue archaeology. After the fall semester of my sophomore year, I moved back to Philipsburg with plans to enroll at Penn State the following fall.

I needed a job.

A family member helped me land work at a small bar called the Moshannon Park Inn, where I bartended and cooked. I loved that place. Unfortunately, after about a year, the owners sold the bar and I was out of work.

Around that time, my friend Casey was working at Eat ’n Park and told me she could get me an interview. I had been trying to get hired at Best Buy or Circuit City, but with no retail experience, that went nowhere.

At the interview, I was completely honest with the general manager. I told him the job would probably only be for the summer, since I expected one of the electronics stores to hire in the fall. He shrugged and said that was fine—he really just needed a third-shift server for the summer.

It seemed like a fair deal for both of us.

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First Shifts and Early Chaos

I’ll never forget my first day, sitting in the break room with another brand-new server named Tom. We ended up working a ton of shifts together early on, and we had a lot of fun.

One of my favorite nights came after the Violent Femmes concert at the HUB lawn on July 13, 2002 (still wild to me that you can find that exact date online). The GM scheduled a bunch of late-night staff just in case. It didn’t look busy, and the manager on duty—Lark, who somehow always seemed to be there on the wild nights—asked Tom and me if we could handle the rest of the shift ourselves.

Of course, we said yes.

The concert ran way later than expected, and when it let out, we got absolutely crushed. The entire dining room was full, and it was just the two of us. I was running nonstop all night—but it was worth it. We both walked out with a ton of money.

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The Blizzard of 2003

Another day I’ll never forget was during the blizzard of 2003.

State College was buried. Everything was shut down. I was at my apartment in State College Park when the phone rang. I assumed they were calling to tell me not to come in.

Instead, it was Lark.

“Joshy, can you please come in early?”

So I bundled up and started walking. A normal 15-minute walk took nearly an hour through the snow. When I arrived, I found two servers who had been stuck there since the night before. They were exhausted and ready to go home.

Surprisingly, it was already busy.

Once those two left, it was just me, Lark, a cook, and a greeter. Then something happened: people started pouring in. A couple nearby apartment complexes had lost power, and we were the only restaurant within walking distance that still had electricity.

The next few hours were pure chaos.

I ran nonstop while the greeter kept asking how she could help. Lark jumped between helping the cook and helping me on the floor. It was exhausting, ridiculous, and unforgettable.

And yes—I made a ton of money. So it was all good.

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Football Sundays and Kitchen Madness

Then there were the Sundays after home football games.

Once I became a cook, I worked plenty of those shifts, and they were absolute insanity. Tickets flying, shouting across the kitchen, barely controlled chaos—but somehow, a blast.

The most memorable one was after Ohio State. There were six of us in the kitchen, but one guy was badly hungover. At some point, he disappeared. We eventually found him asleep on the break room floor.

When the GM showed up to help and saw him, he just laughed and said,
“Well… he did warn me not to schedule him today.”

There was also the Sunday I cut my hand badly—blood everywhere. Another cook grabbed me, rinsed it, bandaged it, wrapped it in tape, and said,
“Come on, dude. We don’t have time to bleed. Too many checks.”

And back to the line we went.

Good times.

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The People Who Became Family

During those first five years, I met people who became some of the most important in my life—Jason, Ryan, Offord, James, and Gideon. Some of them stood with me at my wedding. I still talk to some of them almost every day.

There were so many others I’m grateful for: Hannah, Allison, Stef, Kacie, Tami, Michelle, Christine, Josh, Sean, Dustin, Travis, Kenny, and plenty more I’m probably forgetting.

One of the coolest parts of my time at the State College Eat ’n Park was getting to work with my brother.

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Moving Into Management

After five years, I realized grad school might not be in the cards, and I needed to make more money. That’s when I decided to move into management.

I entered the training program in Pittsburgh, starting at Banksville, then moved to Cranberry, where I spent several years. That’s where I really learned how to be a great cook, working alongside people like Chris, Sam, Ryan, and Kelly.

Eventually, an opportunity came up to return closer to home at Altoona, where I spent three years. That’s where I truly learned how to manage—how the restaurant really works, top to bottom. It’s also where I met Lindsey.

I was promoted to Manager and moved to Indiana, where I spent about nine months before being offered the General Manager position in State College.

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General Manager Years

I’ve written before about my time as GM in State College. When that location closed, I moved to Westmont, where I spent nine years.

As a GM, I had the privilege of working with incredible colleagues—Brian, Matt, Angela, Greg, Scott, Dave, and many others—and an amazing team of employees: Goldie, Chris, Lindsey, Nikkita, Rebecca, Jacob, Riley, Caleb, Madison, Jena, Rachel, Tyra, Carey, and more than I can possibly list.

Then there were the managers: Ryan, Carrie, Jess, Derek, Ian, Phil, Olivia, Nichole, Lacie, and last—but definitely not least—Ben. That guy has been with me almost as long as my wife. He deserves a medal.

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The Final Chapter (For Now)

For the past year, I’ve been at the Richland Eat ’n Park. The company trusted me to help open a brand-new restaurant, and I was truly honored. I was excited by the challenge.

Then another opportunity came along.

I decided to take the chance—and that meant leaving Eat ’n Park.

I’m proud of the work I did here. I’m grateful to the leaders who shaped me into the manager and person I am today: Ben, Scott, Becky, Amy, Chris, Scott, Brian, Bill, Robin, Matt, Dave, and Joe.

Thank you for your patience, your guidance, your answers, and for showing me what it means to lead and inspire people.