Good Eats! Try the Stuffed Cabbage Dinner!

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Happy birthday to Julia Youngblood!

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The next big business to hit our area: &#8220;Rent-A-Pet.&#8221; Take a dog, cat or rabbit home from your local animal shelter for a week or four to see how it works, then return or adopt as you see fit (rent not refundable).</p><p>Or maybe the three-story &#8220;Lighthouse Bar &amp; Grill&#8221; overlooking bucolic Lake Wallenpaupack, a smoking lounge on the bottom, a leisurely non-smoking set up in the middle and a more formal VIP dining experience on the top. The slogan: &#8220;Climb up to wind down.&#8221;</p><p>Then there&#8217;s Food m8, a smart phone app that lets you order from any participating fast-food restaurant at your leisure, pay before you get there and have your meal waiting when you arrive.</p><p>None of these exist yet, mind you. They were among eight possibilities pitched to judges during Wilkes University&#8217;s annual &#8220;Entrepreneurial Experience&#8221; competition, a sort-of &#8220;Shark Tank&#8221; for high school students, though in this case winners get annual $1,000 scholarships to attend Wilkes, not investment capital for a share of future profits.</p><p>Teams of teens pitch their plans in brief slide show presentations, answer a few questions and wait for a final verdict. In past years, the event drew contestants from four or more area high schools; on Thursday, only two showed up: Pittston Area and North Pocono.</p><p>North Pocono made up for the lack of school variety, though, by bringing an impressive seven teams, all from teacher Greg Dolan&#8217;s business class. Pittston Area only had one, but it had a veteran&#8217;s advantage: The school has won the event several years in a row. North Pocono, Dolan conceded, had yet to nab a victory.</p><p>After giving their presentation, Pittston Area teammates readily credited the idea to classmate Chaz Yager, who predicted the notion would be a no-brainer investment, thanks to the growing clout of digital natives who prefer screen icons to drive-up windows.</p><p>Sure, they would pay the 5 percent charge, Yager predicted. &#8220;When your order totals $7, that&#8217;s nothing and, with coupons, it just disappears.&#8221;</p><p>Alas, judges weren&#8217;t convinced. Third place went to &#8220;Whetstone,&#8221; a proposed store for rugged, yet affordable, outdoor wear; second to Rent-A-Pet, and first to Takan, a monthly subscription service that sends a small box of grooming goods tailored to the subscriber&#8217;s preferences (the name, incidentally, comes from the first initials of the team members).</p><p>All three were North Pocono entries, a fact that didn&#8217;t escape Dolan after years of losing.</p><p>&#8220;We swept it!&#8221; He cheered with a subtle fist pump and less subtle smile as students swarmed around.</p><p>Wait, that could be an idea for next year&#8217;s competition: &#8220;We swept it,&#8221; an on-demand, whisk-while-you&#8217;re-away cleaning service.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Members of FoodM8 Pittston Area team entered in the Wilkes University Entrepreneurial Experience present their entry to a team of judges Thursday afternoon at Wilkes University. Members of the team are Chaz Yager, Michael Miller, Neil Murphy, Joe Gubbiotti, Dan Pieszala, Jarrod Cooper, Paul Greco and Parker Dorsey. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL120415enterpreneur.jpg</photo0><caption0>Members of FoodM8 Pittston Area team entered in the Wilkes University Entrepreneurial Experience present their entry to a team of judges Thursday afternoon at Wilkes University. Members of the team are Chaz Yager, Michael Miller, Neil Murphy, Joe Gubbiotti, Dan Pieszala, Jarrod Cooper, Paul Greco and Parker Dorsey. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

North Pocono and Pittston Area high school students pitch business ideas for Wilkes scholarships