THE TEAM
All 25 employees of United Site Services of Maryland Inc. in Waldorf, Md., were pressed into service for the events surrounding Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Washington, D.C., in April 2008. James Norris heads up the division. Roy Morris, the sales manager who procured the job, worked closely with his brother, Ronnie Morris, operations manager, on logistics. He also handled the extensive paperwork required for this high-security event.
COMPANY HISTORY
With a vision to create a nationwide portable restroom business, Terry McNabb and Scott Lemay created United Site Services in 1999. Their growth was through acquisitions — 68 so far — and today they service most states either through company branches or a network of subcontractors. Head-quartered in Westborough, Mass., the company employs 1,500 people, has over 125,000 portable restrooms, and more than 1,000 service and delivery vehicles.
In 2002, USS acquired Southern Maryland Sanitation, which services the Maryland and Washington, D.C., markets in a customer mix of 40 percent special events and 60 percent construction.
THE MAIN EVENT
In 2008, Pope Benedict XVI, head of the Roman Catholic Church, made his first visit to the United States, arriving at Andrews Air Force Base on Tuesday, April 15. The following day, he received a 21-gun salute and a welcome at the White House by President George Bush, as well as children singing Happy Birthday in honor of his 81st birthday.
Later that afternoon, the pontiff traveled via his bulletproof Mercedes-Benz popemobile to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the largest Catholic Church in the country. The parade was brief — 5 minutes — but a large crowd was on hand along the route, and around the Basilica and adjacent Catholic University.
The next morning, 46,000 people witnessed the pope celebrating Mass at the new Nationals Park baseball stadium, opened only two weeks earlier. The event included a performance by Placido Domingo singing Panis Angelicus. The following day the pope left for a three-day trip to New York City.
THE JOB
The company was tasked with providing portable restrooms around the National Shrine for clergy, the media and the public. And for the Mass at the baseball stadium, portable restrooms were needed for the 1,500 cardinals, bishops, priests and nuns on the field, as well as the pope. These units were also used by the stage crew before and after the event.
MAKING CONNECTIONS
Roy Morris learned of the pope’s visit from an Internet lead, and in February 2008 submitted a bid to Global Event Partners, the production company organizing the stadium event. By mid-March, USS learned it had the winning bid.
Morris then pursued contracts with the Catholic University and the archdiocese for the National Shrine events. “When I got the initial call that the pope was coming to town through GEP, I knew right then and there that he would be dealing with the university and the archdiocese, so I did some cold calling and was able to get some contacts.” Both organizations had worked with USS on other special events, so no bid was required.
MAXIMUM SECURITY
USS worked closely with the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and the United States Secret Service. Background checks were performed on all employees, a process they were very familiar with having also done the presidential inauguration a few years prior. To gain access to the site, employees had to be uniformed and credentialed.
The portable restrooms went through their own security check by the canine division of the Secret Service. “There was more security for the pope than the president,” says Morris.
BY THE NUMBERS
For the stadium, the company placed 32 Satellite Industries Maxim 3000s, a blue and gray deluxe unit with hand sanitizer and mirror. Two wheelchair-accessible units with sinks — Liberty models from Satellite Industries — were provided, one especially for the pope. “But I don’t think he used it,” says Morris.
At the National Shrine, USS supplied 128 Maxim 3000s, 16 Liberty units, and 50 cardboard trash boxes.
LET’S ROLL
Four delivery vehicles were put into service for these events, all 2005 and 2006 Ford F-350 pickups, each with a carrying capacity of 22 units.
It was a busy week says Morris. “There was such a variety of things — delivery times, locations, service.” On Sunday, the crew dropped off five units to the parking lot of the Washington Nationals baseball stadium for use by the catering company that fed the staging crew. Tuesday, units were delivered to the bullpen at 6 a.m. This was done two days before the Mass for use by the crew. This also provided time for the canine unit to do a security sweep.
On Wednesday morning, 4 a.m., units were delivered to seven locations around the National Shrine and along the short parade route. These were removed at 9 p.m.
On Saturday, the company picked up the units from the bullpen. Again, these had remained in place for two days after the event for the crew. And, finally, on Sunday the remaining units in the stadium parking lot were removed.
KEEPIN’ IT CLEAN
Units at the stadium were serviced twice a day, 7 a.m. and 8 p.m., by one technician. He used a 2007 International 4300 from Progress Tank, with a 1,200-gallon waste/300-gallon freshwater aluminum tank and Masport Inc. pump. The company uses deodorant products from J & J Chemical Co. No service was required on the units at the National Shrine.
ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME
Being present for the pope’s celebration of Mass, and having the opportunity to be a part of this event, is something Morris and the other members of the crew will never forget.
“This was truly a great experience,” says Morris. “The place was packed. Buses were already in line at 5 a.m. It was a beautiful day.”
Everything went according to plan. “We met with the event company afterward, after everything calmed down, to double-check any issues. They were very happy with us.”
