Camas High School (CHS) senior Dason Miller is renovating Cardon Field’s concession stand for his senior project.

“We kind of did it with the baseball concessions stand last year as a senior project, so I thought it would be a great idea to roll it back through as a senior project for Cardon concessions,” Lisa Schneider, Miller’s mentor, and the head concessions coordinator, said.

The last time Cardon Field Concessions had been open was right before the COVID-19 pandemic. Similar to the baseball and softball field’s concession stand, there were not enough people to run it regularly. In fact, the baseball and softball field’s concessions had not been open since 2012. 

Slowly, as CHS resumes pre-pandemic activities, these concession stands are being revived by motivated CHS students. 

Miller plays varsity football for CHS and is part of the CHS program, Big Guy/Little Guy Football Camp. It consists of junior and senior football players who coach and help younger Camas School District players. 

During the camp, Miller and the other older players used Cardon Field’s concession stand at lunchtime and for other miscellaneous activities, but there were many problems.

“There were bees coming out of stuff that could have been a risk to the kids. I didn’t think it was appropriate, especially if we were going to continue doing that Big Guy/Little Camp for the kids to have to deal with all that stuff,” Miller said.

Miller and Schneider are working hard to get the stand back up and running in time for the spring sports season. 

Thus far, Miller has inspected Cardon Field’s concession stand and drafted a plan of action; this includes cleaning, painting and even removing the old refrigerator and purchasing a new one. Once district administrators approve these actions, Miller’s next step is to finish the grunt work.

Mirroring what was done during the renovation of the baseball and softball field’s concessions stand, Miller has also planned for an art piece to be installed within the stand–a large, vinyl Camas “C” with a collage of CHS athletes accompanying it.

At CHS, concession stands are operated by various CHS club members during games. The proceeds not only go to the Camas Athletic Boosters Club–which directly supports Camas student-athletes–but to whichever club reserves that game.

“We attempt to keep our prices as reasonable as possible while still being able to generate revenue for the athletic teams and clubs that volunteer [to run the concession stands]. Especially this year, we’ve seen revenue significantly increase compared to previous years,” Sean Tamura, the assistant concessions coordinator, said.

For students, the concession stands are not only a great fundraiser opportunity, but add to the ambiance of games as well. 

“Food makes people happy,” CHS senior Isabella Sabatini said.

Students, family and members of the Camas sports community can look forward to food and drink at Cardon Field in the upcoming spring sports season.