DANVILLE — Todd Mincemoyer teasingly asked Joshua Seidel if he wanted extra honey mustard with his chicken fingers.
“No. Ketchup,” Joshua replied.
That’s typical of Friendly’s Restaurant server Mincemoyer, known to the autistic student buddies as Mr. Todd, who likes to rib the kids a little. The group is a regular for lunch the third Friday of the month.
“He serves everyone good,” said Joshua, 11, of Danville enjoying a “cotton candy” drink with a cherry on top before his lunch arrived.
Usually, the students from Danville Primary Center and Liberty-Valley Intermediate School go swimming at the Danville Area Community Center before they go to lunch at Friendly’s, but with a two-hour delay of school Friday, they skipped the swimming.
“It’s like a little celebration for us. They have been coming here for quite some time and we make sure the room is available to them. Todd has been building a great relationship with them,” Friendly’s district manager Bob Strachko said.
Parents of children enrolled in the two classes pay for their lunches, said Tami Williams, autism-support teacher at Danville Primary Center. Eleven students were there Friday, accompanied by teachers and paraprofessionals including Amy Willoughby, autism- support teacher at Liberty-Valley Intermediate School. The youngsters, from kindergarten through fifth grades, are enrolled in the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit program that pays for the swimming. The children come from districts served by the intermediate unit.
The groups have been swimming once a month for 12 years. This is the second year of going out for lunch afterward at Friendly’s.
From the first time the group made a reservation at the restaurant, Mincemoyer arranged for them to have their own room for dining.
Because of their bond, the restaurant now schedules Mincemoyer, a server-trainer there for three years, to work every time they come to Friendly’s.
They have a standing date — they don’t have to call ahead any more, Williams said.
“We all have lunch and then we have ice cream — that’s the good part,” she said.
Gavin Pillot, 9, of Mifflinburg, was enjoying a straw that changed colors while waiting for his lunch of cheeseburger sliders. He planned to order “Birthday Cake Frenzy” or a “Vol-Cone-O” sundae after that. “Bon appetite,” he said as he started on his cheeseburger-stacked lunch.
Ethan Bogutskie, 8, of Bloomsburg, said he usually orders macaroni and broccoli with some pickles. His standing dessert order is “Monster Mash.”
“They are so well-behaved. Their parents should be proud of them. They are well-mannered,” Mincemoyer said, also commending the youngsters’ teachers and others from the program.
“They always call me Mr. Todd,” said Mincemoyer, who has worked as a server or manager at restaurants the past 12 years.
The kids gave him group pictures at Christmas. The students also made cards for him during the holidays.
“I’ve gotten to know their likes and dislikes. They usually order the same thing — almost exactly,” the Montandon resident said.
He’s used to waiting on kids — “we get a lot of children coming in here,” he said.
“He knows all their likes and dislikes and if some want a pickle on their plate,” said Williams of their favorite server.
“He bought the kids cards for Christmas,” she said. “When the kids come in here with their families for dinner, they recognize him and introduce him to them. We’re always working on social skills and it’s a nice interaction.”
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Joshua Seidel, 11, of Danville, and Friendly's Restaurant server Todd Mincemoyer share some conversation. Karen Blackledge/The Danville News
Discussion
Autism support group enjoys 'Friendly' visit each month
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