Kitchen staff have plenty on their plate feeding volunteers
It’s busy on the lake and in the kitchen at the Maadi Cup regatta, And none are busier than Diane Campbell.
It takes 300 muffins a day to feed the Maadi volunteers.
The hustle and bustle is everywhere at the regatta, from stirring and laughter in the tents to rowers plunging their boats into the water one after another, while their parents shout themselves hoarse from the sidelines.
And it is busy in the kitchen, as volunteer cook Diane Campbell and the rest of the staff dart around in the Don Rowlands Centre to feed the constant stream of volunteers tracking in and out.
On average there are four staff a day working in the kitchen, with about six staff in total rotating shifts.
Campbell and the team can make up 300 muffins a day; by midday on Thursday, she had already made 200.
Campbell says they get through 14 loaves of bread and 70 bread rolls a day. The sausage rolls are very popular, they seem to be rolling themselves off the table.
Some peckish students have sneaked a few when the kitchen’s staff weren’t looking. However, this has not gone unnoticed. Campbell frowns. “It’s only for the volunteers and coaches.”
Volunteers and coaches sit alongside each other, taking sips of coffee and refuelling on the food.
Campbell is too busy to take in the racing.
“I would not know who is rowing, or who is winning a race, have no idea.”
Campbell, who lives in Cambridge, arrives at 6am and doesn’t leave until about 7pm.
She has been volunteering for Karapiro Rowing for over 30 years, and was introduced to the rowing lifestyle by her husband Murray Campbell, who is an ex-rower. When she met her husband he was a volunteer himself; he has been volunteering since 1978.
She finds the experience rewarding. She meets people “from all walks of life,” Campbell says, smiling as she talks about her favourite part of the job.
“I don’t really get to know the rowers on the water, just the supporters,” Campbell says. “I’m just one of the team, I’m the team leader. I’m not a caterer, I’m a volunteer doing this.”
The passion is as real as for the rowers racing on the lake.
