Janet Kinlaw takes an order from a hungry fan at Leinwand Park in Elizabethtown. (Photo by Sonny Jones)
Angela Cain helps her mother, Janet Kinlaw, in the concession stand at Leinwand Park. (Photo by Sonny Jones)
The concession stand at Leinwand Park offers hot dogs, hamburgers, pork loin sandwiches, drinks, candy, nachos and popcorn. (Photo by Sonny Jones)
Janet Kinlaw knows how to make a hamburger with all the fixings.
She can put just the right amount of ketchup and mustard on a hot dog.
And there’s none better at pouring melted cheese on a serving of nachos while not breaking a single chip.
The 73-year-old retiree has been doing it for more than 20 years inside the concession stand at Leinwand Park in Elizabethtown during Dixie Youth Baseball games.
During the recent District 9 Coach Pitch tournament, Kinlaw, along with her daughter, Angela Cain, kept folks filled with all the goodies that are available at a ballpark concession stand.
“I do it because my two boys (Brett and Cameron) were taken care of by Dixie Youth and helped raise them (in the mid 1990s),” Kinlaw said prior to opening the window for another night of feeding hungry fans. “I’m just appreciative of everything they were were taught.”
While business often is steady, it can get hectic working inside a concession stand, but Kinlaw handles it with grace.
“When big games are happening it can get hectic,” she said. “There are times that the line will be way out there. You just have to keep your pace. You’ll soon get them taken care of. I’m a pretty calm person.”
Although her children aged out of the DYB program long ago, Kinlaw keeps coming back and now watches other people’s children grow.
“I enjoy watching the children grow up year after year,” she said. “How much they’ve progressed. We have probably had some of the most polite and caring kids this year that’s ever come to the window. It just makes it worthwhile.
“I enjoy doing it. It gets me back out in the community.”
The time for talk ends as the concession stand window opens. Kinlaw has hamburgers and hot dogs to make and pour melted cheese on a serving of nachos.
While players, families and officials have come to Leinwand Park for a game, they’ll also most likely visit the concession stand where Janet Kinlaw will be waiting.
Sonny Jones can be reached at [email protected]