Campus shares culinary delights
by Brian Shult, se news editor

    Christmas cheer arrived early this year on SE Campus. With the help of students and faculty, 140 homeless ate a hot meal and 16 children opened a present.

    The sixth annual SE Holiday Feast and Fellowship Program was held last week. Students and faculty served food, told Christmas stories and performed for people currently in the Arlington Night Shelter.

    The ratio of volunteers to homeless was approximately one to one, displaying a renewed interest in community involvement this holiday season, organizers said.

    “As human beings, I believe it is important to enhance others’ lives in any small way. The preparation of meals is a way to share your own hospitality,” Meg Morovic, coordinator of food for the event and department chair of dietetics and hospitality, said.

    Arlington Night Shelter residents were welcomed to the dinner by Rusty Fox, dean of student development and educational services, and the SE Chamber Winds, directed by Marion Nesvadba, assistant professor of music.

    “Christmas is music, as well as gifts and celebration. The dinner is a chance for the music department to be involved in a community service.

    “It is more that just entertainment. Music takes people out of their present situation for a moment, especially for children. Being able to hear Christmas songs and sing is comforting,” Nesvadba said.

    Nesvadba’s chamber winds, composed of 11 students, played instruments such as clarinet, sax, bassoon, flute, trombone, euphonium, tuba, piano and timpani. The pieces consisted of traditional holiday favorites.

    The SE Choir, Madrigal Singers and SE Singers, led by Nesvadba, also performed. The Madrigals exclusively perform music from the 14th to 16th century and sang a Spanish Christmas Carol.

    Supervised by Morovic and Janice Boyce, associate professors of institutional food workers and administrators, dietetics students solicited the food served, and culinary arts students prepared it.

    Culinary arts cooked for three days prior to the dinner, preparing seven turkeys, dressing, ham, gravy, mashed potatoes, fruit salad, rolls and several desserts.

    Six years ago when the dinner began, the culinary arts department incorporated it into the curriculum as part of the campus service-learning program, allowing students to participate in outside community functions for grades, Morovic said.

    “To see 25 students get involved with the community and giving of themselves to help others is wonderful. It is our responsibility as members of society to help not just at holiday time. It requires a communal effort to achieve success. We can’t survive independently without helping each other,” she said.

    Within 15 minutes, the volunteers served a meal to every person. For many of the culinary arts students, this was their first year to participate in a charity program.

    They said the sight of the homeless changed their preconceived notions of what a homeless person looks like“It’s a blast being here. It is my second year, and the kids are great,” Blake Ramblin said.

    Ramblin read Frosty the Snowman to the children before Mrs. Claus and Santa arrived to give presents.

    Violet O’Valle, former humanities division chair, played Mrs. Claus. Jerry Coats, assistant professor of English, played Santa Claus.

    “For one night of the year, I can be the most important person to the kids and do something good for someone else, which also helps us grow as individuals,” he said.

    Each child sat on Santa’s lap, received quite possibly his only Christmas present and had a Polaroid taken to capture the moment.
When Coats spoke with the children, he asked if they enjoyed the meal and encouraged each of them to do something nice for someone else.

    The importance of kindness toward others is something everyone should know and always participate in, Coats said.

    Terri Schrantz, assistant professor of sociology, organized the first holiday dinner for the homeless the first year the campus opened.

    Faculty and staff agree the event will continue to be a SE Campus tradition.

    This year’s dinner was a joint effort by sociology, dietetics and hospitality, culinary, student ambassadors, Phi Theta Kappa, Cornerstone and Nita Haliburtton, Pert Durapau and Linette Tucker of student services.

    Organizers from the Arlington Night Shelter include Becky Orander, executive director, and Joe Castano, board president.

    The gifts given to the children, donated by SE students and faculty, were in such abundance that 125 extra gifts were given to the night shelter for other children Christmas.