Volunteer makes sure brew cold, garden safe

Heading over to the beer garden during this year’s Great American Barbecue, people will probably see adults gathered together to have a good time. Volunteers will greet them ready to serve ice-cold beer and other drinks in a safe environment.

“It’s rewarding, but hard work,” said Patti Coutré, school board member and Our Lady of Grace Catholic church parish secretary. Coutré has volunteered at beer gardens in Maricopa since 2009. She has worked beer gardens run by the city and through Action Alliance Network.

She also is the events chairwoman of the Maricopa Chamber of Commerce, which is running the beer garden as a fundraiser during the Fourth of July celebration, which starts at 6 p.m. at Pacana Park.

“People don’t come to a beer garden to have a bad time so it’s easy to have fun while working there and you try to make it as much fun as possible. The people you get to meet are the most interesting people you’ll see,” Coutré said.

But is it all fun work?

Volunteers arrive early and start working at the beer tap truck. Workers open individual bottles and pour the beer into kegs before the events begin. It takes a steady eye to measure the correct amount of foam in each container, to make sure everyone will get the same quality of beer.

“One year I didn’t have a rag to open the bottles with and by the end of the night my hands were frozen and cut up from the caps,” Coutré said.

Last call is typically at 9:45 p.m. when events end at 10 p.m. If there is a full staff, clean up takes around 45 minutes. If there is a shortage of volunteers, breaking down the garden can take over an hour.

“Now that the city is running the Great American Barbecue again, the venue is larger, now including the upper field at Pacana Park,” Coutré said. “That’s a lot more space and that means a lot more people to serve.”

Coutré said she hasn’t experienced any belligerent customers but it’s not unusual to cut people off.

“It’s what you have to do. We try and do it in a nice and friendly way and the people here have been cooperative so far,” Coutré said.