This Robin makes the kitchen sing

It’s 9:30 a.m. at the Columbia Falls High School and Robin Crouch is hard at work doing dishes in the kitchen. She sprays them off, scrubs them, runs them through the machine, inspects them closely, and if they’re still dirty, she runs them through again.

No speck of dirt or food gets past her. On tough dishes, she gets out the scrubber and the steel wool and goes to work. Her thin arms have more power than one might expect.

Robin is 62 and developmentally disabled, but she has no plans to retire.

“No. No way,” she says when asked about retirement. “They need me here.”

The daughter of the late jeweler Cal Crouch, Robin has been working in the kitchen at the Columbia Falls High School for 40-plus years. She shares the honor of the longest tenured employee at School District 6 with technology director Wes Wilkinson.

“The world is a better place with Robin,” said co-worker Betty Belston, who has worked with Crouch for 23 years. “At least our world is.”

Columbia Falls is, too. Crouch can often be seen walking the streets of this small town. If she sees a piece of garbage, she picks it up, making sure it gets thrown out.

One time, Belston was doing her laundry at the Laundromat in Columbia Falls and in walked Robin with an arm load of trash. She had decided to clean up the parking lot.

Crouch also helps out at basketball games and other school functions. She’s the water girl at the games, making sure all the cups are full as she keeps the bench areas tidy.

Doing dishes at the school kitchen is no small task. The district serves about 1,500 meals a day. Crouch’s shift runs until 2:45 p.m.

Crouch lives on her own with help from her guardian, Arla Wilson, in a modest house, left to her by her father. She takes the bus to work and walks home if the weather is decent. If not, one of her co-workers gives her a ride.

In the world of dish washing, gum is her greatest adversary. The elementary kids have a habit of sticking it to their trays.

Still she enjoys the activity.

“It keeps my bones strong,” she said with a smile.