25/11/2024
.. 'tis the season 🤩
Childs Catering
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Personalized Catering in Saint John since 1979
(22)
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1216 SAND COVE Road
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Childs Catering celebrates 40 years
40 years ago, Doug and Betty Childs (my Mom and Dad) opened the restaurant doors to the Bowlarama Restaurant on Union Street in uptown Saint John. I was 13 years old. I am the oldest of 5. Me, Angie, Jo-Anne, Tracy, and Andrew. Andrew was only a few years old at the time. It wasn’t long before we were all in there working at some point. Personally, I got to spend a lot of time with the Hobart dishwasher :) .... cleaning up, or in the ‘blue room’ as we used to call it. It was a place where mom would send us to ‘chill out’ and I don’t mean in a good way. She’d say “come back when your ready to do some work!”. Hmmmm
We had this old 1961 AMI Jutebox. WOW!! I loved it! 3 songs for 25 cents!. Dad gave me the keys to look after it. I would keep the glass cleaned, gears greased (‘cause it squeaked a lot) and buy the 45’s to put in it. I’d play the BeeGee tunes ...Or, another favorite.. Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots are Made for Walkin’. There is something to be said about a teenager and her music!
As I write this, I am starting to get a little emotional. It has been a while since I thought about this. It was a very challenging time for our family. Times were tough. Mom and Dad worked a lot and sacrificed a lot. But, my mom always made sure we got what we needed. There wasn’t a lot of money for extras. It was there that I would see my Dad working deals with suppliers, negotiate with banks/ insurance, plan menus, work out prices, how he dealt with customers, how he dealt with employees, how easy he could whip up a batch of blueberry muffins... He would often talk about the people that helped him get started, and how thankful he was that they were there, at that time. The suppliers who gave him a little extra credit during the slow times, the employees that would work a little extra .. He never forgot and he knew he would not be where he was if it wasnt for their support.
During my school lunches, I would walk uptown to the restaurant and help with the dishes and eventually serve customers, cover the cash, maybe even cover the grill as I got older. Our suppers at home were usually leftovers of the ‘Special of the Day’. Weekends were always at the restaurant. The bowling alley was always busy. Bowling was popular in the 70’s! We did a lot of bowling birthday parties back then, and soon, we were doing a lot of catering on Saturdays for the bowling banquets. It was then that the potato croquettes made their first appearance....
