August 26, 2010
Greetings, Windy City members and friends! What an exciting summer it has been for so many in our chapter!
ACF National Convention News
Our chapter returned triumphantly from the ACF National Convention with new honors from the American Academy of Chefs for Chef Michael Garbin, CEC, AAC, ACE, HOGT—the Sharing Culinary Traditions Award. Nobody does it better! Your Vice President, Chef Robert Walter, CEC, CCA, AAC was inducted into the Academy.
The prestigious national Chef Professionalism Award honored the best in the country, Chef John Reed, CEC, CCA. Chef Tim Meyers, CCC, CCE took the Central Region honors as Educator of the Year, and we have no doubt he will appear at the National level spotlight in the future. It was a delightful surprise that the Presidential Medallion was awarded to yours truly!
The team from Kendall College swept the Knowledge Bowl in a landslide performance! We wish to acknowledge the team of Sarah Roberts (captain), Jacqueline Wallner, Allison Chikos, Edward Whitney, and Erika Giffin as well as their esteemed coach Chef Dina Altieri. Chef Mike O’Shea, Chef Jenny Lewis, CCE and apprentice members Toss Baquiran, Dennis Cole and Harvey Myers, and Kendall College’s managing director Chef Renee Zonka, CEC, RD, CHE all supported the team.
Looking Ahead to Fall 2010
We have many challenges facing us as we look to the second half of 2010. We will be nominating our next Chef of the Year (COTY), Pastry Chef of the Year (PCOTY), and Student Chef of the Year (SCOTY) -all who will hopefully go on to the 2011 National Convention to represent themselves, our Windy City chapter and our Central Region. Nominations for COTY, PCOTY and SCOTY will be accepted via e-mail to any member of your Board of Directors, and we’ll be accepting your nominations until September 30.
We hope to have Chef Michael Garbin at the helm of that region as your Vice President, as he accepted that nomination from the floor at the Board of Governors. Regional and National elections will be in Spring of 2011, so be proactive and support your candidates!
Our own Windy City chapter will be electing its officers later this year. Start thinking about being part of the Board of Directors; nominations will soon be accepted. Be an active part of your Windy City chapter, and promote our activities and our professionalism—vote and let your voices be heard.
Certification News
We are thrilled to announce that the following ACF members have been certified/re-certified, and should be congratulated by our membership. They are:
Toss Baquiran, CC
Anne Witt, CSC
Dina Altieri, CCE, CEC
Ruben Calvo, CEC (NW Indiana)
Timothy Meyers, CCC, CCE (recert)
Patrick Stewart, CEC (recert)
The following ACF members passed their Practical Exam, and await their Certification:
Jaime Perry (CSC)
L. J. Klink (CEC)
Remember that Certification is very important to your career and resume, and CEC’s earn, on average, $10,000 more per year than uncertified Executive Chefs!
Student and Junior Member News
Many new Student and Junior members may not be aware of our Mentor/Incentive program, whereby they can earn points toward a custom-embroidered chef coat with our chapter logo, or earn their dues payment for the next year. We will make sure that Chef Zajac will e-mail it to everyone involved, and we encourage you all to find a mentor to help monitor your points. Come on out to the next meeting on September 20th at Kendall College to meet the members and learn more about this great initiative—maybe meet your mentor!
As we look forward, too, we will offer further support and development opportunities to our Student and Junior members with competitions to enter that will earn points, as well as scholarships down the line.
Health and Wellness Partnerships
We are planning competitions in which we hope that members will offer their knowledge of Healthy Cooking for the FIT Chicago challenge in conjunction with Seasons 52 of Schaumburg and highlighting Chicago as a city supporting the health of its own through the contributions of its chefs. At the Convention, we learned more about the Chefs Move to Schools initiative from First Lady Michelle Obama, which directly supports the goal of Chef and Child—to combat Childhood Obesity; this challenge goes to the school lunch programs, and we can help! Your Board members are working hard to outline the guidelines to these challenges so that you can participate, contribute and grow professionally, while helping those who need our help. We will soon be putting the word out on how you can participate in these win-win competitions!
Final notes include get-well wishes to your Vice President, Chef Robert Walter, recovering from surgery after a leg injury this summer, and Chef Jeff Lemke of Fortune Fish Company, recovering from surgery to remove a tumor from his spine. I’m pleased to announce that both are doing well. Happy school starting, for those of you who are, and here’s to a great second half of the year with hopes that everyone will be busy in their respective fields of work!
There is so much more in store for you – so many ways your chapter will be supporting you with education, certification, professional development and growing your network of colleagues and friends. I’m looking forward to seeing you on September 20 at our first chapter meeting of the fall season. Stay tuned into www.acfwindycitychefs.org for all the details.
Respectfully yours,
Linda
Linda Rosner, CEC, CHE
President, ACF Windy City Professional Culinarians |
