BU Prepares for Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner
Lina Savickas
Issue date: 11/17/09 Section: News
The cafeteria is taking on a new look this fall, complete with tablecloths, candles and an expected crowd of 800.
At 5 p.m. on Nov. 19, the Krasa Dining Hall will open its doors to students, faculty, staff, families and friends for the annual Thanksgiving Dinner.
As an event that has been held for over 30 years, the Thanksgiving Dinner has become a tradition for Benedictine University. Residents and commuters alike gather with families and friends to share a meal and good company.
"Food is important, but the atmosphere is important, too," stated Food Services Manager Frank Budig. Every year, Budig is "excited to see BU students who've graduated come back with family, not just for the food, but for bonding. It's a great atmosphere."
Krasa will dish up the customary turkey - "the whole turkey," Budig pointed out, explaining that BU is one of the few schools that still serves whole turkeys. "It's because [it's] traditional, it's what students expect. It tastes better, and it presents better."
The cafeteria will also be serving up Halal turkey, bone-in ham, deviled eggs, green beans, salad, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce and pie.
Budig offered some figures to help realize the amount of food required to feed so many - "we'll have about 18 28-lb turkeys, 15 20-lb Halal turkeys, 9 bone-in hams and 900 slices of pie."
Preparation is "a ton of work," Budig acknowledged, but "the neat thing about BU is there's lots of help."
Each year, Krasa receives support in preparing Thanksgiving dinner from volunteering faculty and staff members as well as St. Procopius Abbey and Benet Academy, who donate the use of their ovens.
However, the hard work and preparation was not always met with satisfying ends. Several years ago, attendance began to wane, and Budig asked himself, "Is it really worth it?"
But when he saw families sitting together, coaches mingling and graduates socializing all amidst the undergrads, he realized how special the dinner truly was.
"It's all one community," Budig said. "When you get up to get some food and you see the president carving the turkey, that's really neat."
In the following years, numbers picked up and the event has been growing ever since.
Senior, Jenni Brechtel, proves the dinner's popularity.
"It is amazing," she declared. "There is so much food and so many people there. They do a great job turning the cafeteria into a sit-down dinner atmosphere."
Krasa Dining Hall invites the whole BU community to step inside in its autumnally decorated, candlelit atmosphere the Thursday before Thanksgiving.
Questions about the Thanksgiving Dinner may be directed to Budig at (630) 829-6383.
At 5 p.m. on Nov. 19, the Krasa Dining Hall will open its doors to students, faculty, staff, families and friends for the annual Thanksgiving Dinner.
As an event that has been held for over 30 years, the Thanksgiving Dinner has become a tradition for Benedictine University. Residents and commuters alike gather with families and friends to share a meal and good company.
"Food is important, but the atmosphere is important, too," stated Food Services Manager Frank Budig. Every year, Budig is "excited to see BU students who've graduated come back with family, not just for the food, but for bonding. It's a great atmosphere."
Krasa will dish up the customary turkey - "the whole turkey," Budig pointed out, explaining that BU is one of the few schools that still serves whole turkeys. "It's because [it's] traditional, it's what students expect. It tastes better, and it presents better."
The cafeteria will also be serving up Halal turkey, bone-in ham, deviled eggs, green beans, salad, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce and pie.
Budig offered some figures to help realize the amount of food required to feed so many - "we'll have about 18 28-lb turkeys, 15 20-lb Halal turkeys, 9 bone-in hams and 900 slices of pie."
Preparation is "a ton of work," Budig acknowledged, but "the neat thing about BU is there's lots of help."
Each year, Krasa receives support in preparing Thanksgiving dinner from volunteering faculty and staff members as well as St. Procopius Abbey and Benet Academy, who donate the use of their ovens.
However, the hard work and preparation was not always met with satisfying ends. Several years ago, attendance began to wane, and Budig asked himself, "Is it really worth it?"
But when he saw families sitting together, coaches mingling and graduates socializing all amidst the undergrads, he realized how special the dinner truly was.
"It's all one community," Budig said. "When you get up to get some food and you see the president carving the turkey, that's really neat."
In the following years, numbers picked up and the event has been growing ever since.
Senior, Jenni Brechtel, proves the dinner's popularity.
"It is amazing," she declared. "There is so much food and so many people there. They do a great job turning the cafeteria into a sit-down dinner atmosphere."
Krasa Dining Hall invites the whole BU community to step inside in its autumnally decorated, candlelit atmosphere the Thursday before Thanksgiving.
Questions about the Thanksgiving Dinner may be directed to Budig at (630) 829-6383.
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