Students Treated to Early Thanksgiving Feast

Chuck Wages and his dining services staff roll out bountiful spread

WOOSTER, Ohio — Thanksgiving came early — and in multiple helpings — for students at The College of Wooster Thursday evening in Lowry Center as Chuck Wagers and his staff in dining services served up a bountiful feast consisting of traditional and non-traditional items.

The menu featured roast turkey, mashed potatoes, homemade vegetarian bread dressing, and cranberry relish, as well as baked corn soufflé, roasted squash, seasonal vegetables and Cape Capensis fish topped with cranberry orange compote. Students were also treated to local pumpkin steaks with wilted kale and beet risotto, and pumpkin hummus with cinnamon pita chips.

A bread-and-cheese bar with smoked cheddar, horseradish, garlic, and baby Swiss among other offerings whet the students’ appetite, while Troyer's Amish Baked Pumpkin Pie, Matt's Famous Chocolate Cream Roll, and Mini Pecan Tarts provided the perfect dessert.

“It was delicious,” said Roxie Deer, a sophomore sociology major from Richmond, Ind. “It was also very relaxing. For once, we didn’t feel like we had to rush through a meal.”

Elizabeth Wall, a senior sociology major from Lawrenceville, N.J., who was dining with Deer, noted that the special meal also brought students together. “When we got here, it was packed, so when a table opened we found ourselves sitting with people we didn’t know, which gave us a chance to meet and talk with them,” she said.

On the other side of the dining hall, a group of friends had gathered, including Kristen Schwartz, a junior political science major from Farmdale, Ohio, who said, “If I weren’t able to make it home for Thanksgiving, this meal would do it for me.” Matt Damon, a junior physics major from Pittsburgh, praised the variety of items, saying it is something he looks forward to every year. Charles Fanelli, a junior art history major from Needham, Mass., may have paid the highest compliment, not by what he said, but what he did — eat twice. “I came over with a group of friends earlier in the evening,” he said somewhat sheepishly, “but when a second group was getting ready to go, I figured I might as well go with them, too.”

And why not? The annual Thanksgiving feast is the most popular and most well attended of the year, according to Wagers, who enjoys spoiling the students whenever he can. “We host a special student dinner each month, and this one seems to be their favorite,” he said. “We served more than 600 pounds of boneless roast turkey to nearly 1,550 students in just three hours. It’s the student’s appreciation of this dinner and the recognition of our efforts that really makes the event special for me and our staff.”