MAINE RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION, MEMBER RESTAURANTS GRANT $7,000 TO MAINE SCHOLARS 

            Members of the Maine restaurant community gathered at noon on Tuesday, June 20, 2006 at the Portland Harbor Hotel to honor students from around the State who are seeking careers in culinary arts and hospitality management. The Maine Restaurant Association Education Foundation awarded $7,000 in scholarships to eight students at the celebratory luncheon.

Brooke Dojny, author of the recently published “Dishing Up Maine – 165 Recipes that Capture Authentic Down East Flavors” (Storey, 2006), delivered the keynote address. A prolific writer of food related books and magazine articles, Dojny’s latest publication unlocks the secrets of preparing traditional Maine fare and highlights some of Maine’s most treasured restaurants, farm stands, farmers’ markets and clam shacks. The book was recently ranked number 15 for trade paperback nonfiction on the New England Independent Bestseller List.

“We were thrilled to host Brooke Dojny at our event and feel confident that her many years in the culinary world will inspire our culinary students,” noted Dick Grotton, President & CEO of the Maine Restaurant Association and Treasurer of its Education Foundation.

            “It is our privilege to recognize and support the future of Maine’s foodservice and hospitality industries through our scholarship fund,” Grotton continued. “In addition to the four ‘Russ Casey’ scholarships that our Education Foundation offers annually, it is particularly exciting that four of our restaurant members are sponsoring their own scholarships through our organization this year. Their contributions have doubled our efforts and increased our capacity to cultivate the next generation of Maine restaurateurs and culinarians.”

The students who received the “Russ Casey” scholarships are: Jonathan M. Carney of Lincoln, a senior at the Rosen School of Hospitality Management at the University of Central Florida; John Costello of Jackman, a sophomore in the culinary arts program at Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor; Cambria Evans of Bar Harbor, an incoming Freshman at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York; and Chad Westleigh of Poland who will be studying culinary arts at a yet to be determined institution.

Also awarded grants through the Maine Restaurant Association Education Foundation were Heather Allen of Brooklin receiving the “Antonio DiMillo Scholarship.” Allen plans to study hospitality management at Husson College in Bangor beginning in the Fall of 2006. Receiving the “Governor’s Restaurant Scholarship” was Brian Kneeland of Passadumkeag. Kneeland is studying culinary arts at Eastern Maine Community College. Receiving a “Maine Course Hospitality Group Scholarship” was Melissa Littlefield of Farmingdale who is enrolled as a culinary arts student at the Atlantic Culinary Academy in Dover, New Hampshire. And, Nikki Sibley of Medway accepted the “Gritty McDuff’s Scholarship” to assist in her pursuit of a culinary arts degree which will begin at Southern Maine Community College later this year.

The Maine Restaurant Association Education Foundation Scholarship Luncheon was generously supported by PFG NorthCenter and New England Coffee Company. Recent endowments to the “Russ Casey” scholarship fund have been received from DiMillo’s Floating Restaurant, Governor’s Restaurants, Gritty McDuff’s, Maine Course Hospitality Group, MESCA Freight Services of Hallowell, and The Ninety Nine Restaurant & Pubs of Maine.