BMCDS WINS GRAND PRIZE IN NATIONAL COMPETITION

At the annual conference of the National Association of College and University Food Services this summer, Bryn Mawr Dining Services Director Bernie Chung-Templeton accepted a grand prize in the "Residence Hall Dining — Theme Dinner" competition of the Loyal Horton Dining Awards.

It was announced last spring that Bryn Mawr had taken the gold in the small-school category of the contest; in capturing the grand prize, BMCDS bested the University of North Dakota, winner of the medium-school competition, as well as Miami University in Ohio and University of North Texas, which had tied for the large-school gold.

The winning entry was Haffner''s "Moulin Rouge" theme dinner, which took place last December. Steven Sensenich, Haffner unit manager, and Samara Schwartz '05, Haffner's head supervisor, led a creative team of dining-services staff and student workers that brought turn-of-the-century Paris' underworld to life.

The dinner itself began in Haffner and Erdman, where students were served Parisian cuisine at elegantly set tables ornamented with candelabras. Dessert was served in Rhoads, where the tables had been moved to the walls to make room for the theatrics, which included hired performers — a tangoing couple, an accordionist, a magician, fire jugglers and tarot card readers — as well as student workers. Associate Director of Dining Services Dave Chase played the role of Zildar, the master of ceremonies.

Preparations for the dinner began early in the fall and lasted up until the day of the event. The costumes worn by Dining Services workers in the roles of cancan girls were sewn by Sensenich and took six weeks to complete. The dancers themselves practiced for hours in the days leading up to the dinner; they plan to reprise their cancan dance in the fall Dance Concert. "The contest judges look for the 'wow factor,'" Schwartz noted. "They look for what really stands out. We picked snippets from the movie, like the dancers, and brought them to life."

Bryn Mawr has long been a strong contender in the Loyal Horton competition, which is named after the founder of NACUFS. The Dining Services office in Cartref, says Chung-Templeton, has a wall full of gold and silver awards, and this marks Bryn Mawr's third grand prize. Chung-Templeton invites all and sundry to view the contest scrapbooks that commemorate the winning entries.

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