Class of 1986 serves food on the ‘Dray Line’

ALBANY — The “Dray Line” met the “Golden Tornadoes” food line in Albany for barbecued chicken Saturday morning.

Sensing that a free, filling barbecued-chicken meal would be appreciated by the day workers who wait to pick up jobs at the intersection of North Washington Street and Roosevelt Avenue every day, the Monroe High School class of 1968 obliged.

“Feeding the hungry is one way we do service to our community. We are so lucky to have jobs and full refrigerators that we want to help out,” said Ricky D. Jackson, 40, a graduate of Monroe and still a die-hard Golden Tornado at heart. “Any one of them could be us. We were just blessed by God.”

Wearing their gold Monroe High T-shirts, the group of about 15 class of ’86 members cooked and distributed 80 pounds of chicken, 30 pounds of potato salad, green beans and rolls to the men of the “Dray Line.”

The about 20 men who gathered in hopes of finding day labor were grateful for the meal at 10:30 a.m. The class would feed others in a second shift and donate any leftovers to a charity that feeds the homeless, Jackson said.

“I heard about this on the street,” Darrell Grizzard, 58, of Albany said. “I worked at the Firestone plant before they closed it. I did a lot of construction work in town. I come here for work.”

Calling the day workers “the Dray Line” in Albany goes back, possibly to before World War II when the line was on Broad Avenue, one man said.

“When my father got out of the service after the war, he came to the Dray Line to find work,” said Willie Robinson, 63, of Albany. “People shouldn’t misunderstand us. Most of us aren’t homeless. We don’t take nothing. We are here to work for our pay.”

One man grateful for the meal and a chance to find work said that he was three years clean and sober. He joined the Dray Line whenever he was out of a steady job. He also tried for day labor on his days off when he worked steady.

A member of an anonymous 12-step group the man’s real name will not be used. Instead he is called Ron.

Ron, 51, who can drive a forklift, work as a landscaper or do construction work, began a descent into drugs at age 25, he said. Since then until three years ago drank, used cocaine and other drugs off and on while he tried to stop.

Stopping wasn’t easy. Integrating back into the working life has not been easy, especially during these tough economic times.

“It is hard to find a job after making a mistake and doing drugs,” Ron said. “Those people giving us the food today. They do more than feed us. They keep our hope alive. Somebody cares.”

The Monroe Class of ’86 cares. It previously fed people at a homeless mission.

The Monroe group plans to have clothing drives, put more food out and take its member’s zeal to help their community back to the streets every chance they get.