The team
Scott Thone manages the Conway branch of Arkansas Portable Toilet Rentals. The Fayetteville office, headed up by his father, Don, helped out with this event by going to Tulsa to pick up 102 nearly new restrooms from a PGA golf tournament that Thone purchased from Five Peaks Technology.
Thone also recruited his brother, Brandon, and two subcontractors to deliver units to the site. For servicing, the route drivers were brought in — Alan Hatter, Terry Leggitt, Mike Leggitt and Sabrina Miller. Paulette Lindsey manages the office, and part-timer Rebecca Kinley handles phones and accounts receivable.
Company history
In the mid ‘80s, Don Thone started a liquid waste management company, eventually selling it to a Houston company. For a time, Scott and Don Thone worked for the Houston company, but ultimately decided they wanted to run their own business again. “We had the idea of getting into the portable toilet business because the two industries are similar in nature — different, but not too different,” says Scott Thone. “Plus, it was a busy time for construction, so it was a no-brainer.” In February 2000, the Thones opened their Conway office, and in March 2001, the Fayetteville branch. With an acquisition in 2005, they expanded their reach in Arkansas.
Making connections
Festival organizer Dan Eoff felt a loyalty to the contractor he had used for a dozen or more years, but told Thone, “If he ever decides he doesn’t want to do it, you’ll be the first one I call.” Thone got his chance this year.
Thone explains how he earned Eoff’s trust: “He knew our family, first of all. That’s probably the biggest thing. And he knew our company. So he knew what we were about, and that we would do what we said we would do no matter what it took.”
The main event
In 1986 Dan and Peggy Eoff invited a few friends to their ranch near Clinton, Ark., for Labor Day weekend. They told guests to bring wagons and they’d have a race. When several hundred people showed up to watch, it became obvious this should be an annual event. This year 150 teams and over 30,000 spectators were on hand for the 22nd National Championship Chuckwagon Races.
Three players make up a team: driver, cook and outrider. At the judges’ signal, the cook and outrider load a stove and tent onto the wagon, the cook jumps in, the outrider mounts a horse, a gun is fired, and chuckwagon and outrider take off for the finish line.
The week-long festival is full of activities: trail rides, rodeos, dances, vendors, and the exciting Snowy River horse race that includes rider and horse taking a plunge into the river.
The job
Eoff provides accommodations for participants and their horses — his hay field. Campsites are created along the tree line and campers are given the option of ordering a portable restroom for their site.
“The unique thing about this event,” says Thone, “is that it’s scattered over 500 acres. Other than two banks of toilets, they were all individual one-toilet campsites.”
The company also provided cleanout services for RVs and horse trailers.
By the numbers
The company brought in 200 units, mostly green Five Peaks Technology Aspens, along with a number of Satellite Industries Maxim 3000s. Fifteen units were located by the track, another 15 by the concert barn. One hundred and fifteen units were pre-ordered by participants and another 53 were ordered onsite.
Let’s roll
The company began delivering units on the 15th and finished setting up by the 25th when the gates opened. They used their service vehicles as well as two 20-unit trailers custom-made by TJC Welding in Little Rock.
Thone and his brother camped onsite for most of the week. “We were right in the heart of the arena area, so people knew where to find us,” he says.
For last-minute orders, Thone kept his two trailers loaded and onsite, and made a final Friday afternoon run to the company’s yard 45 miles away for additional units.
Blind leading the blind
Because Eoff had used the same contractor for so many years, he did not have a lot of information he could give Thone. “He said I really can’t tell you anything,” says Thone. “So we were flying by the seat of our pants and learning on the fly.” Eoff did provide a list of pre-ordered restrooms with the camper’s name and a map (as much as you can map a hay field), along with landmark identifiers such as, “It’s near the red barn,” or, “It’s by the crooked tree.” Fortunately, because many participants return every year, their sites are marked with nameplates.
Keepin’ it clean
The restroom banks were cleaned Friday and Sunday, campsite units on Thursday and Saturday, starting at 6 a.m. A strict event rule is that horses and wagons have the right-of-way, and with 5,000 horses running around, the company had to get in and out early to avoid getting “stuck in traffic.”
Individual campsite units were in good condition since they were only used by a few people. The challenge was finding them and getting to them because campers sometimes moved their units around. Two drivers were used in each truck to help back up in tight spots or slide units out when necessary.
The company has four service vehicles. The three International 4300s were built by Best Enterprises Inc. and Longhorn Tank & Trailer Inc. Two of those have 2,000-gallon aluminum tanks (1,500 waste/500 freshwater), and one has a 1,500-gallon stainless steel tank (1,100 waste/400 fresh). Their 2007 Ford S750 from Lely Manufacturing Inc. has a 2,200-gallon aluminum tank (1,700 waste/500 fresh). Thone uses Jurop and Masport Inc. pumps, and Walex Products Co. deodorants.
Waste was dumped into the city sewer system through a manhole at Eoff’s feed store in town.
He’ll be back
Thone met with Eoff after the event. “He was real pleased with how everything went off. He told us that as long as we want to do it, we’ll be able to do it.” To make things a little easier next year, Thone plans to label each portable restroom with the camper’s name.
“I have a great crew that works with me,” Thone says. “We do a lot of big events but this is unlike anything we’ve ever done or ever will do.”
