Top award for college’s culinary dean
Craig Youdale, dean of the Niagara College Canadian Food and Wine Institute, is recipient of the gold medal in education from the Ontario Hostelry Institute.
The OHI recognizes excellence in the food services and hospitality industry in Ontario.
Youdale, whose Niagara in a Glass column appears in this newspaper every other Monday, said he is honoured and excited to receive the award.
“It is a privilege to be honoured by my peers and be in the company of leaders in our culinary industry,” Youdale said in a media release.
Youdale, who has been working at the college for eight years, said his success is due to the support from the school.
He said the college has supported his innovative ideas throughout the past eight years and continues to do so.
“It has allowed me to really expand what I’m doing,” Youdale said.
Youdale also credits his success to the people he works with.
He said that group has grown over the years and there are some “highly unique” individuals working with him to develop a diverse and unique set of programs.
He said Niagara College has the only wine program in the college sector.
Youdale has also developed the college’s brewery program as well as culinary innovation and food technology program.
Youdale said he is looking forward to the addition of the artisan distillery program, positioning Niagara College to boast the first learning environment for all three classes of alcohol production.
Niagara homebuilders will be putting their skills and creativity to the test during the third annual Playhouse Build & Auction happening at the Pen Centre.
Sunday’s event, a fundraiser for the Kristen French Child Advocacy Centre Niagara, combines a timed playhouse building competition and an auction where each project will be up for bid. The money raised helps fund the charity’s services and supports for child survivors of abuse and their families.
Susanne McCarroll, the centre’s resource development co-ordinator, says the event grew from a fundraising idea one of the organization’s volunteers had. The organization was able to partner with Niagara Home Builders Association, which has become one of the largest sponsors of the event.
“It’s a unique event,” says McCarroll. “It gives the homebuilders an opportunity to show off their work, and the playhouses are a gem for any backyard.”
The timed building portion will begin at 11 a.m. and have five teams competing, representing Rinaldi Homes, Mountainview Homes, Kenmore Homes, Silvergate Homes and, for the first year, Niagara College. Each team has four hours to build its playhouse which must be under 100 square feet and a maximum of 10 feet high, to ensure they are easily transported. Teams are encouraged to “think out of the box” for their functional one-of-a-kind playhouse.
Members of the Niagara District Junior Golfers Association will be judging the homes, with assistance from Sherry Holmes of Holmes Makes It Right.