Picnic Providers Grease Palms With Barbecue
There’s no such thing as a pest-free picnic.
You got your flies. You got your ants. You got your yellow jackets …
Spray all the Raid you want. There’ll always be a few sneaky critters crashing your fun.
But pesky insects are a minor league nuisance compared to a hungry swarm of city-paid locusts.
Denise Ullery is hotter than a habanero pepper over five Riverfront Park employees who invaded her private company picnic and bellied up to the ol’ buffet line for a load of free grub.
Besides being shocked at the sheer rudeness, Denise doesn’t believe people working on the public’s dime should take handouts - even when they come in the form of yummy Longhorn Barbecue sandwiches.
Her heartburn cranked up another notch when the caterer told her such freebie feedings were hassle insurance designed to keep park workers happy and out of his hair.
“I’m appalled this kind of thing goes on,” says the angry woman. “Shouldn’t the basic rental fee be enough to ensure peace and privacy?”
Spokane’s Pig Out in the Park may be happening this weekend, but the real oinkfest took place Aug. 21.
That was the day of an elaborate Hawaii-themed picnic Denise organized for the big software company she works for. It was a costly affair complete with a faux volcano, tiki torches and a rockin’ band.
Denise admits she wasn’t in the best mood even before the moochers moved in.
After paying a $75 deposit to reserve Riverfront Park’s north bank shelter, she discovered the city tacks on an additional 15 percent on top of the food bill, no matter who caters the event.
Based on her 135 picnickers, the city’s take for Denise’s shindig was a little over $315.
Sharon Cox, the hospitality coordinator for the Riverfront Park Group Sales Department, claims the fee is pretty small tater tots, what with the swell service she provides.
She and an assistant were there from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m., she says, watching over the event to help it run smoothly.
Consuming party food is not a regular occurrence, she admits. They only dug in this time at the invitation of the caterer.
Long ago, “We asked ‘em (park workers), ‘Hey, you want a bite?”’ says Sam Cathcart, who catered the event for Longhorn Barbecue. “But now we’ve done it so often it’s sort of become tradition.”
Greasing a few palms with free barbecue is apparently part of doing business. “We do it out of our pocket,” he says, adding that Denise was not charged for the freeloaders. “It makes our lives a little easier.”
Sharon and her co-worker piled two plates and carried them over to her car. Denise says the two returned to the food line for dessert, which they ate at one of the tables amid puzzled picnickers.
About that time three maintenance workers showed up to strap on the ol’ feed bag. Denise says that hungry bunch went back for seconds.
“Oh, they were enjoying it,” she says. “A few of my people were sitting at tables looking bewildered like, ‘Why are they eating our food?”’
They shouldn’t have been, says Don Largent, Sharon’s boss.
The head of Group Sales says all city employees work under a policy to not accept gratuities. “We have our own food service here,” he says, “and we can’t even give our employees a discount.”
Apparently the policy needs to be hammered home a little better. If Largent is as smart as he sounds, he’ll refund the picnic fees to Denise’s company and beg forgiveness.
It’ll be a tough sell.
“I wouldn’t use this city again. Last year we held our picnic in Post Falls,” says Denise. “It cost $50, we had a nice view of the river and no city workers came and ate our food.”
, DataTimes