Nick Folan, a cook and fill-in delivery driver for Otto Pizza, pulls a magnetic sign from the wall of the franchise’s location in South Portland. Staff photo by Ben McCanna
Nick Folan figures he’ll get a lot of generous tips delivering Otto pizza to hungry Pats fans. Portland police Lt. Kevin Cashman, a Chicago Bears fan, will take the opportunity to remind other officers that the Patriots used to lose Super Bowls. And emergency room nurse Monique Gilbert will do her best to keep patients updated on the score.
People who have to work on Super Bowl Sunday, which is practically a national holiday nowadays, seem to be taking it in stride. Some don’t mind because they’re not big New England Patriot fans; others say they know the Pats will beat the Philadelphia Eagles even if they don’t watch.
And some have no choice.
“Usually on a Sunday we’d have only one (delivery) driver, but the Super Bowl is about the busiest night of the year, so everybody’s coming in,” said Folan, 27, who will deliver pies from the Otto location near the Maine Mall in South Portland. “It’ll be good tips, and everyone will be in a good mood.”
Folan, a Patriots fan, said he’ll listen to the game on the radio while making deliveries and will rely on his father to call him once in a while with updates. Fellow Otto delivery driver Chad Lodge, 30, said he’ll “pop into people’s houses” to catch a glimpse of the game. He figures everyone he delivers to on Super Bowl night will be watching it.
At the Portland police headquarters, Cashman will be the night shift supervisor. He figures part of his job on Super Bowl night is to go get pizza, and then try to coordinate times for officers to take a break from patrolling, so they can come into the station to watch part of the game and grab a slice.
But as a Chicago Bears fan, he’ll also take the opportunity Sunday to remind all the New England fans on the force that his Bears trounced the Pats in Super Bowl XX, 46-10.
Of course, the Patriots have won the Super Bowl five times since that loss 32 years ago, so it’s not really relevant.
Cashman, 47, said he knows that. “But,” he said, “it’s all I’ve got.”
One of Portland’s patrol officers that night will be Officer Kate Phelan, 26, who has the Deering neighborhood as her beat. She is rooting for the Patriots, but said she’s “not as avid” a fan as some officers. So she doesn’t mind having to work. In fact, she said Super Bowl night is a good time to work because the roads are fairly free of traffic. Everyone is inside, watching the game.
Cashman said that, after the game, he’ll probably try to have an increased “presence” of officers in the Old Port, when people are coming out of bars. “Ideally, they’ll be coming out happy. A happy crowd is easier to deal with,” he said.
Troy Leonard of Portland is hoping for good weather Sunday. Not that it matters for the Super Bowl, being played indoors in Minnesota. It matters because he is a snow plow driver for the Maine Department of Transportation. If it snows Sunday, he’ll be called into duty.
As of Saturday, the forecast for Sunday was rainy with a low of 34 degrees.
“I’d like to watch the game, but if I work, I can still listen on the radio,” said Leonard, 47.
At Mercy Hospital in Portland, emergency room nurse Monique Gilbert will be working, but only until 7 or 7:15 p.m. She is a Patriots fan, though “not a die-hard.” She’ll go home right after her shift and watch half or maybe three-quarters of the game with friends.
Gilbert has worked Super Bowl nights before. She said the ER rooms don’t have TVs, but the waiting room does. So nurses on duty can check on the game and try to keep patients apprised of the score and highlights.
“Patients are always curious” when the Super Bowl is happening, said Gilbert, 29. “So we try to keep them updated.”
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