Hemet High activity director Al Fernandes hopes a line of cars shows up for an April 25 drivethrough barbecue, but not in the numbers that crowded streets near the school when he sold a surplus of student-raised Super Chickens nearly 25 years ago. “I will never forget when they lined up and down the street to get those chickens,” said Fernandes, who was the school’s agriculture teacher at the time. “We want a good line, but not to the point we have to start looking for tri-tips in Moreno Valley and Temecula .” The barbecue is planned from 3:30 to 6 p.m. Members of Hemet High clubs and sports teams are selling tickets for tri-tip dinners and sandwiches. The purchase deadline is Friday, April 18. The best way to get a last-minute ticket is toemail Fernandes at [email protected] or by calling Hemet High’s student government office at 951-765-5150, ext. 2035. A dinner for four costs $30 and includes a choice of tri-tip, pulled pork or a combo. Dinners include potato salad, beans and rolls. Sandwiches with potato salad and chips cost $10. Profits benefit Hemet High student organizations. Drivers will roll through the line and be handed their dinners. It’s a typical high-energy project for Fernandes, who arrived at Hemet High in 1981 as an agriculture teacher. He shifted to activity director and student government instruction in 1996. While an ag instructor, he noticed that chickens were auctioned for quite a bit of money after judging at the Farmers Fair, now called the Southern California Fair and located near Lake Perris. His students decided to give chicken raising for profit a try. But growing conditions in a Hemet High shed, which had a swamp cooler, were too good. At fair time, the chickens weighed a whopping nine pounds each, nearly double the five-pound fair limit. They were more like small turkeys. Fair officials told Fernandes to bring his students’ Super Chickens anyway. When they arrived, fair officials said they were too big to be judged. The Hemet High students were stuck with 100 huge birds. They decided to hold a sale, and I wrote about the availability of processed, ready-to-cook Super Chickens. Readers responded en masse. When Fernandes arrived on campus on sale day, cars were lined up on Stanford Street and Stetson Avenue. CHP troopers arrived to direct traffic. So many people wanted the chickens that Fernandes formed a drive-through pickup line. Vehicles entered the east side of the school, picked up chickens and exited on the opposite side of the campus. On April 25, Fernandes, who got his latest fundraising idea from West Valley and San Jan Jacinto high schools, plans a more orderly drive-through. I hope he again sees super-sized interest. If Fernandes could handle the Super Chicken sale, he can pull off barbecuing for the masses. Contact Bob Pratte at 951-368-9078 or [email protected]
Hemet High barbecue recalls Super Chicken sale
Hemet High activity director Al Fernandes hopes a line of cars shows up for an April 25 drivethrough barbecue, but not in the numbers that crowded streets near the school when he sold a surplus of student-raised Super Chickens nearly 25 years ago. “I will never forget when they lined up and down the street to get those chickens,” said Fernandes, who was the school’s agriculture teacher at the time. “We want a good line, but not to the point we have to start looking for tri-tips in Moreno Valley and Temecula .” The barbecue is planned from 3:30 to 6 p.m. Members of Hemet High clubs and sports teams are selling tickets for tri-tip dinners and sandwiches. The purchase deadline is Friday, April 18. The best way to get a last-minute ticket is toemail Fernandes at [email protected] or by calling Hemet High’s student government office at 951-765-5150, ext. 2035. A dinner for four costs $30 and includes a choice of tri-tip, pulled pork or a combo. Dinners include potato salad, beans and rolls. Sandwiches with potato salad and chips cost $10. Profits benefit Hemet High student organizations. Drivers will roll through the line and be handed their dinners. It’s a typical high-energy project for Fernandes, who arrived at Hemet High in 1981 as an agriculture teacher. He shifted to activity director and student government instruction in 1996. While an ag instructor, he noticed that chickens were auctioned for quite a bit of money after judging at the Farmers Fair, now called the Southern California Fair and located near Lake Perris. His students decided to give chicken raising for profit a try. But growing conditions in a Hemet High shed, which had a swamp cooler, were too good. At fair time, the chickens weighed a whopping nine pounds each, nearly double the five-pound fair limit. They were more like small turkeys. Fair officials told Fernandes to bring his students’ Super Chickens anyway. When they arrived, fair officials said they were too big to be judged. The Hemet High students were stuck with 100 huge birds. They decided to hold a sale, and I wrote about the availability of processed, ready-to-cook Super Chickens. Readers responded en masse. When Fernandes arrived on campus on sale day, cars were lined up on Stanford Street and Stetson Avenue. CHP troopers arrived to direct traffic. So many people wanted the chickens that Fernandes formed a drive-through pickup line. Vehicles entered the east side of the school, picked up chickens and exited on the opposite side of the campus. On April 25, Fernandes, who got his latest fundraising idea from West Valley and San Jan Jacinto high schools, plans a more orderly drive-through. I hope he again sees super-sized interest. If Fernandes could handle the Super Chicken sale, he can pull off barbecuing for the masses. Contact Bob Pratte at 951-368-9078 or [email protected]