Family Responsibilities

The night before a race, the team organizes pasta feeds for the rowers' dinner.  The men's team and the women's team hold separate pasta feeds; for the men, at least, the varsity and novice pasta feeds are separate, as well.

The purpose of the pasta feed is three-fold.  One, to load the rowers with carbohydrates that they can (and will!) burn during the next day's competition.  Two, to build unity among each squad prior to the race, and to allow the coaches time to go over strategy and make other final preparations.  Lastly, to get the rowers home and to bed early.  Pasta feeds end around 8pm, after which the athletes should head straight for bed.  Race mornings come early, and a good night's sleep is essential preparation for a screamin' performance the next day.

Instructions from the 2010 men's pasta feed coordinator

GENERAL:
The week before each race, I will send out reminders about time, venue and responsibilities. Please note that dinner start times are subject to last minute changes in the weather or the workout schedule. Your flexibility is appreciated.

HOSTS:
The host family's main job is to purchase and boil enough pasta to feed the rowers, coaches, and helpers. The 2010 Varsity Men's team has about 17 rowers, so count on feeding roughly 21 hungry people. You should be ready with two very large pots of boiled pasta and be prepared to keep boiling more as necessary (it helps to re-use the boiling water so you don't have to re-heat).

*Note: An alternate technique is to cook the pasta ahead of time and seal the hot drained noodles in ziploc bags. This method seems to keep the pasta fairly warm for a couple of hours, and when topped with hot sauce seems to be quite satisfactory.

The host family should also set up the serving area, buffet style, and provide plates, utensils, napkins, glassware, and plenty of tap water. As a team, we hope to discourage waste whenever possible by avoiding disposables; if you would like to support this effort but lack enough plates or silverware, please contact me to arrange a loan. We can also arrange for a loan of extra large cooking pots. You receive 3 hours of parent work credit for hosting.

HELPERS:
At each dinner we need one or two other adults to help set up, serve, and clean up. Arrive at the host's house about 45 minutes before start time and stay through clean-up. You will receive 2 hours of parent work credit.

FOOD:
All families are expected to take turns supplying food for the dinners. You do NOT receive parent work credit for this. Food is normally dropped off at the host's house about 45 minutes before the start time. If necessary, you can make other arrangements with the host family. Many people find it convenient to schedule their food contributions for the same night as Helper duty. If you want to get your obligations over with more quickly, you could supply more than one food category for a dinner.

PASTA SAUCE:
Please supply both meat and vegetarian sauces. Some people make all meatless sauce, and provide meatballs or sausage on the side. Yes, jars of sauce are OK. You should bring about 6 quarts total, but it wouldn't hurt to provide a couple extra unopened jars, just in case people are hungry. We can always use them next time. Please bring pesto (some kids are allergic to an ingredient in most red sauces) and parmesan cheese, as well.

BREAD & DRINKS:
Please bring about 4-5 loaves of fat 'Italian style' bread, OR 8-10 'French' baguettes. Garlic bread is popular, if you have time. Frozen ready-to-heat garlic bread can be purchased at the grocery store. Also, bring 4-5 large bottles of juice or bubbly water. Please NO soda, and remember that individual size bottles & cans are environmentally incorrect. Host provides tap water and glasses.

FRUIT & VEGGIES, PLUS DESSERT:
Please bring salad and/or platters of sliced veggies, and/or easy-to-eat fruit. Have dressings on the side, because (surprise!) not all kids eat salad. For dessert, cookies, brownies or other easy-to-eat items are better than messy stuff.