Culinary Arts

GETTYSBURG, Pa. - Everyone knows Gettysburg, Pa. -- site of a climactic Civil War three-day battle, namesake of Lincoln's powerful address dedicating a military cemetery, and a center of culinary arts. Huh? Gettysburg is a center of culinary arts? Organizers of the Gettysburg Festival want to put Gettysburg on the map for fine food. To that end, they brought in Walter Scheib, former chef to Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, to organize a list of high-profile dining events during the festival.

By STEVEN T. DENNIS Staff Writer Camelot is making an appearance in Hagerstown for the next two days. See it while it's cold. A castle, towers, dragons, shields, knights, swords and other medieval and Renaissance items - all made of ice - are being carved up at the Washington County Career Studies Center on Oak Ridge Drive. Culinary arts students and others at the center have taken time out from their other studies to chisel 90,000 pounds of ice into sculptures for the center's Ice Festival.

HAGERSTOWN - Nearly four years ago, when Eve Janni received that phone call that every parent dreads, she thought that she would never be able to get over the death of her only son, Michael "Gabe" Spurlock. She hasn't ... nor will she or her family. But Janni and Gabe's father, Michael E. Spurlock, bonded with other family members and friends to take a positive step after their tragedy - a culinary arts scholarship fund in Gabe's memory. Gabe died in an automobile accident in Delaware in September 2003.

There are no lunch ladies at Washington County Technical High School. However, you might find a 17-year-old with aspirations of enrolling in culinary school or a few kids manning the stove out of sheer curiosity. But there are definitely no lunch ladies. At Tech High, the students are the ones who cook the food and serve it to their fellow students and teachers. And they've won fans among their classmates and teachers. "I eat it every day," said Tech High principal Jeffrey Stouffer.

Vegetable bouquets Most people can make these creations in 30 to 40 minutes By TERI JOHNSON Staff Writer This Easter, grace your table with a centerpiece that is good enough to eat. A vegetable bouquet can make a special dinner even more festive, says Chef Michael Toth, culinary arts program instructor at Washington County Career Studies Center in Hagerstown. The bouquets use fresh vegetables and some utensils you probably have around the kitchen.

The Clear Spring High School Drama Club will present “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.”  There will be performances Friday, March 8, and Saturday, March 9, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday March 10, at 2 p.m.  The show will be performed in the Clear Spring High School auditorium. Tickets cost $10 for adults and $8 for students.   To reserve tickets, call 301-766-8999, ext. 75225. Girls softball registration The Washington County Girls Softball League will hold its 2013 registration for girls in grades three through eight at Dick's Sporting Goods, 17780 Garland Groh Blvd., Saturday from noon to 5 p.m.  For more information, call 301-223-9078, 301-766-7477 or 301-733-7467; or go to www.eteamz.com/wcgsl . Multicultural Night   Clear Spring High will hold Multicultural Night at the school Wednesday, Feb. 27. The event will include a celebration of music, visual, performing and culinary arts.

karenh@herald-mail.com WASHINGTON COUNTY - For Washington County Technical High School students studying carpentry, cosmetology and culinary arts, the idea of operating a business is on fertile ground. Steve Frame's entrepreneurship classes have nurtured that idea - in a greenhouse long left dormant. "An entrepreneurship class in the true sense is, 'Do you want to run your own business? How do you go about doing that?'" Frame said Thursday morning while working in the greenhouse where his students are starting a budding plant business.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. Measure twice, cut once. That was the rule for the 31 students who competed in the carpentry skills contest Saturday at the James Rumsey Technical Institute near Hedgesville as part of the 2006 West Virginia Skills USA Leadership and Skills Conference. Bedecked in hard hats, goggles and tool belts, the contestants were given five hours and all of the materials needed to construct a small platform with stairs and railing. The materials, which were donated by a number of area builders and building supply companies, were just enough for the contestants to complete their assignment, said Jesse Tasker, the contest's lead judge and the head of the carpentry program at Rumsey.

Culinary students prepare midterms By MARLO BARNHART / Staff Writer At 17, Erin Boggs is striving to find a recipe for success for herself and her young daughter. A senior student of the culinary arts department at Washington County Technical High School, Boggs came a little closer to that goal Friday as she took third place in the annual Skills USA cooking contest. "I really enjoyed the competition," Boggs said. She plans to work in the catering field locally for a while after graduation and then further her education when her daughter is older.

martinsburg@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - The Community and Technical College of Shepherd will be renamed Blue Ridge Community & Technical College if the name is approved by the state Legislature. Of 10 new name possibilities, Blue Ridge received more first-choice votes than any other - garnering 101 of 342 votes, according to Sandy Sponaugle, a public relations official working for the college. The college's Board of Governors approved the name during a meeting Wednesday afternoon.