Catering Students Take Talents on the Road

Students in Pennsylvania College of Technology's School of Hospitality recently catered the 18th Annual Gourmet Harvest Festival at Hunt Country Vineyards in Branchport, N.Y., and on Oct. 13, they joined the staff of the Penn Stater Hotel at the Penn State-Wisconsin game.

The students are enrolled in a catering class taught by Chef Michael J. Ditchfield, instructor of hospitality management/culinary arts. For their trip to Hunt Country Vineyards in New York's Finger Lakes region, they created an extensive menu made up of dishes designed to pair well with the vineyard's wines and cooked to order at the festival. Student managers for the event took charge of determining quantities and ordering ingredients, as well as reserving the equipment they took to the vineyard for the Sept. 29-30 affair.

Students enrolled in the catering class are Joshua A. Aucker, Williamsport; Samuel H. Brechtel, Clarks Summit; Mark R. Capellazzi, Rochester, N.Y.; Danielle N. Castello, Mifflinburg; Christopher D'Annibale, Center Valley; Sarah J. Dries, McEwensville; Michael R. Everd, Baltimore; Joshua J. Fidler, Schuylkill Haven; Angela L. Hess, Williamsport; Annie M. Kinney, Milton; Krystal L. Lewis, Athens; Ronnie E. Lindsay, Bowie, Md.; James B. Miller, South Williamsport; and Derek Richards, Lititz.

Joining the students were Chefs Paul Mach, assistant professor of hospitality management and culinary arts and co-host of the "You're the Chef" public-television series, and Monica J. Lanczak, instructor of hospitality management/culinary arts, both of whom offered cooking demonstrations.

On Oct. 13, the students assisted Chef Ken Stout and the catering crew from the Penn Stater Hotel to help with the food and service for the skyboxes in Beaver Stadium during Penn State's Homecoming football game against Wisconsin.

The Penn Stater offers Penn College's catering class a hands-on experience alongside its staff each semester. They work at a Nittany Lion football game each fall, and they help with the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture's annual conference, which is held at the Penn Stater each spring.

The students will next cater in someone's home, and, to finish the semester, they will provide food for the Comedy Dinner Show scheduled in Penn's Inn on Nov. 9. Throughout the semester, the students are given experience in a variety of the many opportunities and venues catering has to offer, providing them an opportunity to apply their culinary skills as well as their planning and organizational skills.

For more information about the academic programs offered by the School of Hospitality at Penn College, call (570) 327-4505 or visit online .

For more information about Penn College, call 1-800-367-9222, send e-mail or visit on the Web .