A little gratitude can go a long way.
On Thursday, the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce set up grills on Main Street and made lunch for the construction workers who have been rebuilding the road during the last two construction seasons.
Gary Miller, on his second to last day as the chairman of the chamber’s board, cooked up 25 pounds of steak, 17 red peppers, 17 green peppers and 21 onions on the sidewalk with the help of his wife, Wayne.
That may seem like a tall order, but the Millers are used to it, after years of cooking for the 120-plus member Salem High School band.
“Thirty people is no problem,” Miller said.
After two dozen workers from Severino Trucking passed through the cheesesteak line and sat down, another orange-shirted worker, Dan Montague, started to drive by in a massive dump truck.
Traffic was stalled in front of the Smile building setup, and Miller beckoned for Montague to hop out of the truck and grab lunch. But then it started to move again and the plan was altered.
“Let’s throw one together for him real quick,” Miller said, adding with a shout, “Slower! Slower! The sandwich is coming!”
The cooks passed off a plate to Seth Johnson, a foreman for Severino, who took off into the street and caught up with Montague as the trucker known as “Big Dan” paused to let a pedestrian pass on the crosswalk.
Johnson, known as “Red,” passed the cheesesteak and a napkin through the window, and Montague was off with his lunch.
So the sidewalk grill became a drive-thru, too.
Severino Trucking workers said they’ve enjoyed working this job, because they’ve had the rare privilege of seeing the fruits of their labor on the other side of the street, where the work is done. Usually they pack up and don’t get to appreciate the improvements, they said.
And the fact that this is their fifth or sixth “thank you” luncheon doesn’t hurt either.
“The crew has been awesome for the past two years,” said Tim Sink, the president of the chamber of commerce. “We just wanted to say thanks.”
(Nick Reid can be reached at 369-3325, nreid@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at @NickBReid.)