Ulster BOCES Culinary Arts students from the Career & Technical Education Center recently helped make one of the local fundraisers for the families of the World Trade Center tragedy a big success by lending their baking talents to a “Former Waitress Bake Sale” held at Davenport Farms in Stone Ridge.
When the twin towers of the World Trade Center crumbled to the ground over three months ago, the famed Windows on the World restaurant sitting atop one of the towers went down as well. The early morning prep staff was presumed dead and the rest of the restaurant’s employees were both dazed and jobless.
In the wake of the disaster, the restaurant’s executive chef Michael Lomonaco joined with restaurateurs throughout the country on October 11th to create a fund to assist the families of the food service workers. On that day, many restaurant owners donated a percentage of their sales to the fund. Fundraising efforts, to date, have raised $6 million for this cause.
Ulster BOCES Culinary Arts students also wanted to do their part in that effort. With the help of teacher Irene Powell, the students found Casey Kurtti, a Stone Ridge resident with a long history of social activism. Kurtti was already involved in organizing a bake sale, with the proceeds going to the Windows of Hope Fund. Powell’s students were eager to help.
The result of their efforts was a bake sale that raised $1,247.50 for the Windows of Hope Fund.
Top area caterers like Maxine Stein, Sandy Zinaman, and Daria Dollard contributed trays of elegant cookies. Restaurants like The Northern Spy, The Eggs Nest, Chefs On Fire, The Inn at Stone Ridge, The Nibble Nook, and The Rock Cliff House came through with a wide variety of baked goods and prizes to raffle. The restaurants also contributed the services and time of some of their own waitresses to serve eager sale customers. Local writer Nina Shengold donated signed copies of her play, “Lives of the Great Waitresses,” and actress Melissa Leo added some levity by dressing up as the quintessential “diner doll” waitress and signing autographs. But the Ulster BOCES students’ baked goods stole the show.
“The Culinary Arts students went way beyond the call of duty,” said Kurti. “These students and their teacher baked breads, cookies, and cakes, wrapped them in decorative packaging, and then placed the goodies in woven baskets.” The sheer bulk of the students’ contribution filled the back of her station wagon. The haul accounted for most of the money raised that day.
“Many of the people snatching up the baked goods simply could not believe they were created by the students,” Kurti commented. “They were beyond professional in their quality and their presentation.”
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