Tax-delinquent Luzerne County property owner’s multiple bankruptcy filings challenged

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Our Opinion: United Way inviting Wyoming Valley to focus on raising graduation rates

<p>PRINGLE &#8212; Jose Rodriguez beamed brighter than the lights in the ceiling fans he helped install. &#8220;It&#8217;s like this school has my DNA in it now,&#8221; he said of the electrical wiring he did for West Side Career and Technical Center&#8217;s new cafe Thursday.</p><p>Though not a culinary student, the senior was invited for the grand opening of the cafe, remodeled from a drab classroom to a trendy eatery where students can learn to seat diners and serve their concoctions, courtesy of a nearly $20,000 grant from Lowe&#8217;s.</p><p>Mauvey pink paint and oversized silverware masked the institutional cement block walls, while curtains accented with flower-print valances dressed up the generic windows. Leafy green centerpieces sat on muted yellow table cloths, with red napkins folded in a pattern reminiscent of budding roses.</p><p>The fruit and cheese table featured two large apples cleverly carved into ever larger V shapes fanned out to resemble swans. &#8220;I visited Luzerne County Community College once to see their culinary program,&#8221; senior &#8212; and apple carver &#8212; Parker Dieffenbach said. He watched a chef there slice an apple into a swan, went home and &#8220;just did it,&#8221; with no training or instructions.</p><p>During a brief presentation before a crowd of students, faculty and guests hit the buffet, Dieffenbach reminisced about how the room used to look. &#8220;It was just a classroom with folding tables that were torn up and wobbly,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Now it has been transformed into something wonderful.&#8221;</p><p>Indeed. When culinary arts teacher Heidi Miller and CTC Assistant Director Richard Rava held a small media conference in July to announce the grant and planned makeover, the tables <em>did</em> wobble, and the antiquated food-warming station was held together by bolts loose enough to remove without a wrench.</p><p>Now the cafe could pass for an upscale side room in a four-star restaurant, as long as you don&#8217;t peek behind the shade and curtains on an interior wall &#8212; that&#8217;s where the white board for classroom lectures hides.</p><p>The hallway between the kitchen and cafe was also redone, with carpentry students building a hostess stand and some slim closets where lockers once stood.</p><p>Thursday&#8217;s grand opening menu included hot choices like chicken bruschetta and tortellini with blush sauce and pesto drizzle, or cold wraps stuffed with roasted turkey, bacon and avocado, to name just a few dishes.</p><p>Dieffenbach nixed the suggestion he open his own restaurant or launch his own cooking show, saying instead his ultimate goal as a chef &#8220;is to teach at a college.&#8221;</p><p>Then he offered a resounding endorsement of the new West Side facility for aspiring kitchen mavens.</p><p>&#8220;I would absolutely recommend this school to anyone considering the culinary arts.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Matt Gallagher hands Parker Dieffenbach a piece of black forest cake as Robert Bogumil looks on during the grand opening of the West Side Career and Technical Center cafe in Pringle. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_TTL102116cafe1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Matt Gallagher hands Parker Dieffenbach a piece of black forest cake as Robert Bogumil looks on during the grand opening of the West Side Career and Technical Center cafe in Pringle. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </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>

Swans and ceiling fans greet patrons at new West Side CTC cafe