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GREENSBORO — The first of the last cars of the Grasshoppers’ 2008 season began to pull into the gravel parking lot across from the ticket office about an hour before the game’s first pitch Monday afternoon. With her left arm out, finger pointing into the lot, Jean Allen waved the fans in from North Edgeworth Street.

This was Allen’s fourth season working the parking outside the stadium and, between making change and directing traffic, she said goodbye to her regular customers.

“See you in April,” she shouted to one man after pointing him to an open spot.

Allen uses the money she earns to help support Tristan’s Quest, a group she and her husband began to help children with behavioral and emotional problems. The couple was inspired to take up the work by challenges they faced with their own son. The parking profits make up 5 percent of the group’s annual budget.

Allen works the lot nearly every game. And when the season ends, she goes back to her work with Tristan’s Quest full time.

“Then, I don’t have to stop seeing clients from 5 to 7 p.m.,” Allen said.

Inside the stadium, the Richter family rolled up its fuzzy, white blanket and said goodbye to the grassy berm behind left field known as Natty’s Hill for the last time this season. Scott Richter brings his family to two or three games a month. His 8-year-old son Patrick even caught a home run ball.

“The last game of every season is always a little bittersweet,” Richter said. “It means summer is coming to an end, winter is coming, school is starting.”

The Hoppers made it worthwhile for the Richters and an announced crowd of 10,103 on Monday, beating the Lexington Legends 7-6.

Now, there will be the buzz of the off-season to help get fans through. Richter knows all the players by name and keeps up with the stats. He’ll be keeping an eye out to see who gets the call up to the Major League.

“You kind of root for guys to go up,” he said.

The season’s end is a beginning for some. Perched on a deck behind the outfield wall, Jake Holloway shifts between watching the game and making mental notes about the work he’ll start soon.

“That’s actually when we get our work done, when they’re gone,” said Holloway, the team’s assistant general manager of stadium operations.

There’s painting, carpeting, power washing and gum — loads of it — that must be scraped away. And then there’s the field itself.

“I could take my glasses off and you could see how tired I am,” Holloway said from behind his shades. “That’s how tired the field is, too. We’ll give it about a week to recuperate, and then I’ll get back to beating it up,” he said.

Although September has just arrived, Holloway is already thinking of work that must be done by October to be ready for April’s opening day.

Between now and then the players will work odd jobs, volunteer at youth camps and train before heading to spring training in Jupiter, Fla., with the rest of the Marlins’ franchise in February.

And when they roll back into downtown Greensboro, rest assured Jean Allen will be there with a smile and wave to sell fans a space in the gravel lot. The Richter family will roll out its blanket on Natty’s Hill. And Holloway will be in his perch to see that another summer goes smoothly.

Contact J. Brian Ewing at 373-7351 or brian. ewing@news-record.com