Campus news
Food service director and Fresh Ideas flying high Fresh Ideas LLC, which had its beginning at Central Methodist, has been moving up the corporate ladder this year with assignments at the Republican National Convention and at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in Florida. Sharon Cravens, food service director at CMU for Fresh Ideas, recently got the opportunity to travel to a national political convention. But Cravens wasn’t a delegate – for her it was strictly a working trip. Cravens was in Tampa, Fla., to help Fresh Ideas cater for the 2012 Republican National Convention on Aug. 27-30. She described it as a chance of a lifetime: “It was very educational and prestigious,” she says. Fresh Ideas’ South East division partner Puff-N-Stuff, a caterer in Florida, led the project and logistics for the convention, Cravens said. With events going on all day long and through the night, the catering staff were kept busy the whole week. As Cravens said, “We catered around the clock!” It was certainly a much different experience than the routine of the Bergsten Dining Hall at CMU, especially when there were security officers checking out every piece of serving equipment brought to the convention area.
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May 4, 2013 as we honor
Distinguished Alumni Award: Dr. Terry Smith ’66 Mr. Andrew Glover ’83 Dr. Michael Reid ’62 Dr. Rena Rickman Yocom ’65 Young Alumni Award: Dr. Thomas Randoll ’01
Sharon Cravens (center), food service director at CMU, was recently chosen by her company (Fresh Ideas LLC) to attend a national political convention in Florida to help provide catering services. Here she is pictured in the Bergsten Dining Hall.
Fresh Ideas, with corporate headquarters in Columbia, recently made a move to expand the company into Florida for more than this one convention. In August, NASA awarded Fresh Ideas a $40 million, 10-year contract to provide food service at the space agency’s main launch base. Fresh Ideas began service to The Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral on Oct. 1. This contract is a great step for Fresh Ideas, which began with a single cafeteria contract at Central Methodist in 2000, run by Matt Clervi, owner and executive vice president; co-founder John Orscheln; and co-owner Dennis Owens. The company has approximately 20 contracts with colleges, universities, corporate clients, and government. At NASA, Fresh Ideas will provide dining options for more than 9,000 people who work at Kennedy and as many as 2,000 additional people from the adjacent Patrick Air Force Base.
University Service Award: Dr. Delores “Dee” Bland Woodward ’55 Visit cmalumni.centralmethodist.edu for more information.
2013 Alumni Awards 26
Fall 2012
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