Hannah Jones/Winonan

Franny Grell, wearing her blonde hair loose to the shoulders of her tan Chartwells polo, stopped to wipe down the tabletop with a napkin before she even sat down.

Keeping things neat is a reflex of hers.

Grell has been working for Chartwells for six years.

“I  enjoy my job immensely,” she said. “I wouldn’t want to do anything else.”

Many students today know her for offering a friendly smile and calling her customers “Sweetie” or “Hon” as she rings up their coffee, sandwiches and salads in the C-Store.

Her sweet attitude and caring customer service has earned her an unofficial position as the “mom” of Kryzsko Commons.

Currently, she works the night shift down in the Smaug, doing—well—everything.

“We do dishes, we take out the garbage, we prepare food, we serve customers,” she said.

“It’s an all-around gambit.”

A student worker walked up to the table where Grell was sitting in order to ask where the burn cream was.

Grell immediately told him where to find it and to bring it to her, so she could tend to the burn herself.

“Boo boos,” she said, were included in this “all-around gambit.”

Even before coming to Chartwells, Grell had been working with food all her life.

She began cooking and waitressing when she was 14.

Since then, she has also obtained plenty of experience managing a supper club and cooking for her own family at home.

“I raised four kids,” she said, smiling, “so I’m used to cooking for a small platoon.”

As intense as that may sound, Grell thrives off of cooking.

“It’s one of the best stress relievers,” she said.

Grell’s gambit also includes hiring the student workers, which is one of her favorite parts of the job.

Shelby Moore, a junior, was hired to work in the Smaug in the fall of last year.

“She’s basically like my aunt,” Moore said of Grell.

“If you need anything, she’s there for you.”

On Moore’s first day on the job, Grell had been the one keeping her energy high and  making sure she never felt lost or confused.

“It was intimidating,” she said, “but she made it easier.”

Moore glanced behind her, where Grell had suddenly appeared in the back kitchen at Mondo’s, simultaneously taking out the trash and giving instructions to the students tending the counter.

“Yup,” she said, nodding, “she’s over there, now. Like I said, energy.”

Grell in particular has a special kind of relationship with the international workers in the Smaug.
“Every year, when the ESL workers come in, there are one or two I get attached to,” she said.

These students, she said, sometimes need a mom more than ever.

“They need someone to come and talk to … someone who cares, and they can go to,” she said. “For some students, it’s 38 hours to get home on an airplane.”

Honey was a previous international student who was still having some difficulties with English.
Grell always called her “Honey” because she was sweet-natured, but because the term of endearment didn’t transfer across languages, Honey wasn’t sure what it meant.

It wasn’t until later that she actually asked why Grell called her, of all things, “Honey.”
“I told her, ‘well, because you are a Honey,’” Grell said. “And now, she calls me ‘Honey,’ too.”

According to Grell, Honey has kept in touch.

Grell’s care for the students she works with and serves goes beyond just cute names and smiles.

“Every semester, when people graduate, it just breaks a person’s heart,” she said.

As the semester draws to a close, Grell will be down in the Smaug brightening days and filling stomachs, doing what she has been doing for her kids, grandkids and countless others who come and go.

Contact Hannah at [email protected]