Support Local Students, Have Dessert

Here’s a way to encourage student artists, give to the needy and chow down on a fancy chocolate dessert all at the same time.

Attend Friday’s Empty Plates fundraiser at Tolland High School.

Student artists and chefs from the school’s pottery and pastry classes have combined their talents to raise funds so that Tolland Family Services can help local families in need. They’ve created a chocolate buffet that includes a hand-made one-of-a-kind pottery keepsake as part of the deal.

Open from 10:30 a.m. to noon in Le Petit Gateau, the culinary arts dining room, Empty Plates is a modification of the “empty bowls” event held in earlier years. The idea is to remind local residents that while they may have plenty to eat, there are others who do not.

At Friday’s event, guests for the chocolate buffet may purchase ceramic plates created by students in the Art Foundations and Pottery classes taught by Helen Malchow and Evangeline Abbott. There were about 40 plates on sale when the event began Thursday, and many of them included a written statement describing the ceramic technique used or the artistic theme.

The $10 purchase entitles the guest to load up the plate with student-prepared chocolate confections ranging from chocolate caramel tarts to s’mores brownies and chocolate-covered strawberries. Culinary arts teacher Lauren DeBlois had two chocolate fountains operating Thursday, with pretzels, marshmallows and other dip-able items standing by. There was coffee, too, of course.

The teachers decided to do plates instead of bowls this year because more students could participate that way. Plates do not require use of the art department’s limited number of pottery wheels. Plates also made a better vehicle for the desserts prepared by the Advanced Baking and Pastry class.

Faculty members, parents, and grandparents began showing up before the doors were officially open and continued in a steady stream all morning.

Friday’s session will take the place of the senior citizen lunch usually served at Le Petit Gateau. Each Friday the student-run restaurant serves a different $5 lunch for seniors. Menus can include anything from turkey pot pie to baked ziti, and include a dessert. The student chefs who plan and prepare the meals earn Tolland High School credit and college credit and Manchester Community College’s hospitality program.

Reservations and transportation arrangements may be made in advance by calling DeBlois at 860-870-6818 ext. 235.