Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 1980)
The Heppner Gazette-Times, Ileppner, Oregon, Thursday, February 7, 1980--NINE ' 1 I f . i ' .-f" - , ; r. - r J ' ' ' ' r - i, ----J c - -irr.. jr.p' '-.f ""wv' r .i v - . x ' vv4 ii- f ' 7 . 1 " j riiiMH,.mM1i , "x . t . , , ft- " J , - v ' -ri, .i i ? 1 I ' ( ,, A. . , . mnnf f-.TTTtiirnmirnwir rl . anwt.'-1 imit '-' fc i Iiiiiiii niiinii'iiiimiii I ' ' , j. " ' . Lana Reid serves a hungry student in the lunch line. f - . : , ' ' : J , i t ' ' , '? - . - a . v 0 1 . ( ' . f - - , V ""' mlmmm w ; These yonns students chow down the hot lunch. i , . - - ' sS , - ill s ' ' f . ' J A : i ' vx L5 - 'Vf ' 1 ' - ' I r"-s-A- NA 7;. ' . ' ' " ' ' l s . 'f I , - I r i I - ? i I - I t - - s V - . it I . : i'i- I -1 t I? I - fi j . 4.. ', , I4 i 1 I m.-s,vj f i - . Greg Orr (right) cleans the dirty plates handed to him through a window by the grade school children. Kimberly Wright (far right) serves a student one of her favorites green peas. Mike Van Sehoiack is served some mashed potatoes and gravy from Betty Christman. State reimburses schools for Type A lunches Continued from page 1 The state sets standards for the meals it reimburses. Standards for a Type A lunch for reimbursment in clude: two ounces of protein, a 2 pint of milk, a serving of bread and three-fourths cup of fruit and vegetable. Standards for the junior high meals are the same except those lunches require a three-ounce serving of pro tein. Twice a week, vitamin A enriched foods must be served and at least three times a week, but preferable daily, vitamin C. enriched foods should be served. "We balance the meals to, meet the state requirements," Van Winkle said. "We are proud of the program, we serve first-rate meals and I keep telling everyone that I am a good cook." The school cooks start work at 7a.m. and work until 1 p.m. Even on days when the students are not in school the cooks still work. "We clean the kitchen and wash the woodwork. We have to put in our time," Van Winkle said. The cooks receive the lunch count at 9 a.m. At 11 a.m., the first four grades have lunch. After a 10 minute break, the other four classes are served. Van Winkle's assistants in the grade school-junior high lunchroom are Betty Christ man, a veteran of eight years ; Bebe Munkers, who has also been there eight years; and Faye Seitz, who has worked in the lunchroom for two years. The high school cooks are Ruby Steers and Joan McDan iel. In the lower grades, Van Winkle is in charge of the main dish, keeps records and orders merchandise. Christ man is the baker, Munkers the management workshops every year as part of the continuing education pro gram. The cooks are all members of the Oregon School Em ployees Association and are certified correspondents to the national convention for food service workers. But they do not do it all on their own. Two eighth grade boys help the cooks in the lunchroom "Our people are working to make use of commodity foods made available by the federal government. They make good, eatable meals." Don Cole salad maker and Seitz the dishwasher. Van Winkle said they all are flexible and can perform each other's jobs. She said the cooks usually start as substi tutes and then are hired when there is an opening. "You have to like kids to work here," Christman said. Van Winkle started working for the school district lunch program at the school in Lexington 20 years ago. She received on the job training from the woman who pre ceded her. The cooks now have to become certified and to re main certified, they are re quired to attend nutrition and everyday and six to eight other students help the cooks from week to week serve the food. It is all voluntary and the participants receive a free meal. Something new that is being tried this year is having the individual classes make the menu for a day. Van Winkle said sometimes the meals are not properly balanced so she tells the class afterwards what should have been added to the meal. The cooks decorate the cafeteria on holidays and special occasions to make those times a little more special. The cooks do 90 percent of the bread baking and cook from scratch as much as possible. They do not use convenience foods, including cake mixes. They make 345 individual salads a day and chef salads for any junior high student who wants one. Van Winkle said they usu ally receive something new for the kitchen every year to update it. They have reques ted a new freezer for next year. During spring vacation, the cooks attend the food service state convention to keep up to date on the latest nutritional information. The job is nine months long each year but during the summer the cooks attend various workshops. The cooks have attended the Portland State University and Oregon State University food service management and sa nitation workshops in past years. "This job has its advan tages," Van Winkle said. "When your children are small, you are home when they are." Principal Cole said another reason the cost of the lunches is so low is because the cooks' salaries come out of the school district budget, not out of the money brought in by the school lunch program. "The federal government Continued on page 11 Photo by Steve Powell ' '-.iv i is V Gladys Van Winkle scrubs a pan after it's all over. The clean-up crew, for this day anyway, consisted of (left to right) Stan Sporseen, Tammy Hayes and Greg Orr. I 4 k ' 5
