HARDWICK – Sharon Parkhurst, 60, has been a waitress at the Village restaurant, a Hardwick institution, since she was 16 years old.The local fixture talks about her 34 years at the diner, discussing the people she’s met, the relationships she’s formed and the changes she has witnessed.
Q: Do you enjoy working at the Village Restaurant?
A: I feel like it’s one of those things that you can’t learn to like. You have to like it. You can’t learn it, it just kind of comes to you. Would it have been something I would have picked to do in life? Absolutely not.
It picked me for some reason.
But I would have to say, I love it in all honesty. Some days I get frustrated, and other days, I’m just thinking, what would I do if I didn’t have this?
Q: Have you worked anywhere else or have you stayed here?
A: I left this job for four years at one point and worked in St. Johnsbury at another restaurant. I left for another six-year stretch of time and went into the nursing field and became a nursing assistant.
Q: What brought you back?
A: The waitressing industry has always been there.
Q: What keeps bringing you back? Working in such a small small town and really knowing the people you’re working with; probably a lot of the same people and watching them grow up or going through a life of events. Has that been something you’ve noticed?
A: I guess so. It’s another family, you know what I mean? I just learned so much about so many different people being here for so long.
I care a lot about Hazen Union School because we employ a lot of the students, especially during the summer. For a lot of them, that’s their first job.
I’ve seen people, myself included, from pre-pregnancy to having the baby, and then I’ve seen those babies drive, and now those babies have their own babies. I’ve seen a lot.
Q: That’s what I kind of was trying to touch on because I think that the service industry is often overlooked, or it’s kind of seen as just serving food, but I was saying there’s so much more to it, especially in your case, I’m sure.
A: I once had someone say to me, how hard can it be to be a waitress? All you do is bring the food to the table. No. No. If they only knew.
Q: You’re probably a lifeline for a lot of people there who might come in every day, I bet.
A: There are people that come in literally every day. Whether it be for coffee or to see your face or have a conversation.
We have our normal crew. The early morning [crowd], the guys that poke fun at everybody and talk about anything and nothing. What would our day be like if they weren’t there? It would not be the same.
There are other kids that I can set my clock to. I know what time it is because of what time they walk through the door. It’s routine, but it’s not routine in the same way.
Q: How many restaurants are there in Hardwick? You’re one of the only ones, correct?
A: There’s five. As far as a breakfast-type place, you do have the coffee shop and you have Connie’s Kitchen. They have little pastries and things there, but as far as a breakfas-breakfast, we are it.
Q: It sounds like the village has been through a lot of changes, but it’s still the spotlight, like you said.
A: Well, I’ve been with five owners, so definitely. It’s funny, there are days when people stop and say, do you know how many years we’ve driven by here and didn’t know this was a restaurant? We’re kind of a little hidden gem, so to speak.
Q: What was it like during Covid-19, being such a secluded restaurant?
A: It was the first time that I had been laid off from work. That was different for me. It’s been really hard because of how many places didn’t make it. And we did, thanks to Lynn (the manager of the Village Restaurant). She strives to make sure that we all have a job every day.
But people have changed since Covid-19.
I think I’ve changed. I feel like there’s a lot less patience, in so many different ways. People are in such a hurry, and it’s like they expect more.
Q: So definitely things have changed in the past five years, it seems?
A: It has, myself as well. I try to just keep it in my mind that I love what I do. I love what I do. I don’t know what kind of day these people are having. So I just try to run with it.
Q: Would you say that it might also be the people that keep the restaurant open just because there are probably some people that just keep coming back?
A: Oh, yes, absolutely. The people that support us have stuck by us and always continue to do so.
Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship for the Hardwick Gazette
