Beer, Barbecue Planned for Tailgate

The football field isn’t the only place where sweating and grilling are going on this weekend.

Harvard University Dining Services (HUDS) will be serving up 2,300 pounds of hamburger and 1,200 pounds of sausage at tomorrow’s tailgate.

Before the tailgate begins, students will wake up to an 8 a.m. pancake breakfast—selected by the office of the dean, according to HUDS Assistant Director of Marketing Crista Martin, to ensure that students consume ample carbohydrates to deter effects of alcohol.

The tailgate barbecue for The Game begins at 11 a.m. at Ohiri field and will serve anyone with a Harvard or Yale ID and those with purchased tickets.

Beyond five-ounce hamburgers and hot dogs, HUDS will be serving hot foods including New England clam chowder, macaroni and cheese and beef chili on this year’s expanded menu.

Centralization of the tailgates will allow more people to enjoy the barbecue.

“Now it’s going to be in the middle of the action,” Lowell House Undergraduate Council Representative Aaron D. Chadbourne ’06 said. “You can’t miss it.”

Last year, the barbecue also was executed on a smaller scale and did not include Yale students.

Leverett, Quincy, Currier and Adams will keep their regular hours, and the other dining halls will be closed during the barbecue.

They will reopen at 6 p.m. for a victory dinner to which even Yale students are invited.

During this past week, HUDS staffers have worked extra hours to prepare around 12,000 meals for tomorrow.

“It’s always a big project but it’s been planned so well [this year] that we’ve been able to incorporate it into regular business,” Martin said.

With all the changes this year, coordinators await to see how things turn out tomorrow.

“I think there’s a general consensus that this could be the best tailgate ever or the worst tailgate ever,” Chadbourne said. “[However] this is a step in the right direction.”