‘ELE‘ELE — Lines snaked every which way from the ‘Ele‘ele McDonald’s Restaurant. “I saw the lines inside, so I thought it would be faster in the drive through,” one parent said peering from the window of her mini van. But,
‘ELE‘ELE — Lines snaked every which way from the ‘Ele‘ele McDonald’s Restaurant.
“I saw the lines inside, so I thought it would be faster in the drive through,” one parent said peering from the window of her mini van.
But, that line fared no better as hundreds of families turned out for the Kalaheo School McTeachers Night event Monday night where a portion of proceeds generated between 5 and 8 p.m. would be turned over to the school.
Inside the eatery, manager Sharon Pancho said she had anticipated the rush based on the turnout for the ‘Ele‘ele School event held a few weeks ago.
“We moved the tables so there would be more people in the holding area,” Pancho said. “But, as fast as orders were being prepped, more orders kept pouring in.”
The staff consisting of Kalaheo School staffers and volunteers worked alongside the McDonald’s employees in filling orders, and despite having orders being processed, there were still lines of people waiting to pick up their orders.
There was little time for nervousness as orders quickly overwhelmed any sense of anxiety, and the atmosphere turned to filling the orders and reduce the waiting time for customers.
Erik Burkman, the school’s principal, was immersed in the thick of the lines that seemed to converge at his station where he kept barking out orders for processing.
Students enjoyed their meals, and as a respite from the humidity of the large crowd inside, took their breaks outside where they got a glimpse of friends waiting in cars at the drive-through.
“The whole school must be here,” one parent said good-heartedly while waiting for orders.
“We had to wait almost an hour,” one student chimed in. “And, then, we had to wait, again. For our orders, this time.”
But, there were no adverse reactions to the lines as parents found that this was a good time to catch up with each other, and students, getting their cue from their parents made the best of the opportunity of meeting with their school mates outside of the school environment.
Pancho said Kalaheo School’s enrollment is 505 students, and she prepared special tickets that students would redeem at the McTeachers Night event. The class that had the highest number of redemptions would be treated to a classroom Happy Meal party at a later date, Pancho explained.
This was the first McTeachers Night event for Kalaheo School, and based on the success demonstrated Monday, they’ll be back.
