Volume 2, No. 17. September 13, 2002
Pickin’
chicken
The park boasts
in its advertising “America’s Best Amusement Park Food.” As evidence:
how many amusement parks provide drive-through service to people just wanting
its food?
Del Grosso’s in Tipton, Pennsylvania, began its “Chicken-to-Go”
program about 10 years ago, providing barbecue chicken and rib dinners to the
general public on the three summer holidays: Memorial Day in May, Independence
Day on the Fourth of July, and Labor Day in September. “A lot of local
people really enjoy our barbecue chicken, and you can only get that when you
are at a catered deal at the park or during some charity events,” said
Peter Gardella, the park’s vice president and general manager. “People
were clamoring for it on holidays.”
So much so that when the park first started offering Chicken to Go, the park
became too congested. So, Del Grosso’s created a cul de sac in a driveway
between the park’s miniature golf course and the Del Grosso’s food
factory across the highway from the main entrance to the park. There, staff
set up a tent and hand out servings of chicken, ribs, fresh-made potato salad,
fresh made baked beans, and cole slaw, usually from 10 until noon on the mornings
of the holidays. That is the normal time the catering staff is finalizing picnics
in the park, Gardella said. “Usually on those days we lack corporate picnics
and outings, so it fits in real nicely.”
The most popular day for Chicken to Go is Memorial Day, he said. “I think
it’s the first of the summer and people want to taste the chicken again
after missing it so long.” A typical Memorial Day will see a thousand halves
of chicken pass into cars, 500 racks of ribs, 1,200 pounds of potato salad,
300 pounds of baked beans and 250 pounds of cole slaw. Labor Day numbers run
about two-thirds of that.
The program’s popularity prompted Del Grosso’s one year to offer the
service for Penn State University home football games and the Super Bowl. “It
was too much for us, really,” Gardella said. And, perhaps, too much of
a good thing for the general public. Scarcity ups the value of any commodity,
and come summer, picnickers throughout the Altoona area are eager to get some
of that chicken and go.
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