Vina High celebrates cafeteria worker
Franklin County Assistant Superintendent Donald Borden and Franklin County Superintendent Gary Williams join Betty Mahan and Vina High School Principal James Pharr at a celebration to honor Mahan’s service to VHS.
By Brandi Miller for the FCT
The year was 1960. John F. Kennedy was president, aluminum cans were used for the first time, and the United States had just announced that 3,500 troops are going to be sent to Vietnam.
In Vina, Betty Mahan began what would become a lifetime career in the lunchroom serving thousands of children their lunch every school day.
Mahan began working in the Vina High School lunchroom in 1960 at the age of 31. Since that time, Mahan has worked for eight different principals, seven different superintendents, four different cafeteria managers and four different child nutrition directors. Thousands of students and countless teachers have also had lunch served to them by Mahan.
On May 16 Mahan was recognized for her 55 years of service in the VHS cafeteria. In a surprise celebration, the cafeteria was dedicated to her.
Mahan was led to believe the celebration was for another VHS teacher who would be retiring and had no idea she was about to be honored. She was taken completely by surprise.
“This is my life,” said Mahan. “I just like to work.”
At 86 years old, Mahan has seen many changes over her career at VHS. For example, when she began in 1960, cafeteria ladies were required to wear a white dress uniform and shoes. A salesman would stop by the cafeteria on Monday to take the grocery order for the week. The groceries would be delivered later in the week. This all took place in a time when there was no computer to email a last minute order or a fax machine to send the order to the company.
There were no canned beans or peas, no canned corn and no frozen biscuits. The vegetables came fresh, and the lunchroom staff would shell the peas, shuck the corn and break the beans. The staff would also roll out all the dough for pies and biscuits.
The cardboard milk cartons were not around when Mahan started. The milk came in glass jars and was delivered by an actual milkman.
Mahan’s job started early in the morning, and she and staff would stay until 4 or 5 p.m. getting ready for the next day.
One of the major debates in 2015 is minimum wage. When Mahan began her job, her daily wage was $2.
It is a vast understatement to say a lot has changed from 1960 to 2015. But one constant is the hard worker in the cafeteria at Vina High School. And after 55 years, Mahan shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
