| Pathfinders enjoy world's largest vegetarian restaurant | | Email | Print |
Created dateAug 13, 2009 Last editAug 13, 2009 at 4:28 PM
by Diane Thurber; Source: NAD Communication, herald@luc.adventist.org
[News]
Preparations to attend the International Pathfinder Camporee involve much forethought for Pathfinder clubs who travel to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, from throughout North America and more than 60 countries overseas. One of the largest hurdles to jump is creating menus and purchasing and hauling necessary food staples from great distances to be able to serve three meals a day—from a cook stove—for approximately 35,000 Pathfinders. Upon arrival, the local Oshkosh grocery stores eagerly welcome the club cooks who stream through the doors and scramble to purchase dairy products, fruits, vegetables and other items too difficult to haul from back home.
To make mealtimes easier, a food court is set up on the EAA AirVenture campgrounds where the Pathfinders live in a “tent city,” and vendors provide a plethora of menu items from mid-morning to evening. Some say this food court has become the largest vegetarian restaurant in the world. As thousands of Pathfinders step inside the gate to the food court, the decision of where to go first is often difficult for some. There are approximately 25 make-shift kitchens with enthusiastic vendors who sell burgers, submarine sandwiches, chili cheese dogs, fresh corn on a stick, pasta, corn dogs, egg rolls, stir fry, noodles, BBQ Scallops, tofu with mixed vegetables, deep fried tempura vegetables and too many other items to mention. The food court is a hit with the Pathfinders and their leaders.
At a food booth operated by seven young adults and their parents from southeastern California, Chelsea Bartlett says the S-Dog is their most requested menu item. It is a secret dessert selection not on the menu, but demands for it come frequently throughout the day as Pathfinders hear about its gastronomic delight from friends. Sylvia Rangel of the Tampa Spanish Church in Tampa, Florida, patiently waited in line to purchase and try her first S-Dog after seeing a friend enjoy hers the day before. The S-Dog appears to be a deep-fried. short candy bar drizzled in chocolate sauce, but only the purchasers know for sure. Another favorite item purchased at this booth are the corn dogs. Bartlett says they sell so well because of the special secret sauce created to serve with them. This group of young people is college students who use the proceeds from their week of sales during the camporee to raise money to attend a Seventh-day Adventist College.
Next to the college students’ booth is Johnnie Whitson of the Madison Mission Soldiers of Madison, Alabama. Whitson and the others in the makeshift kitchen behind his sales table are peddling food to the Pathfinders so, as Whitson says, he can “take care of all those folks down there [he points in the direction of his club].” He says proceeds from sales also help his Pathfinder club members engage in more community service projects back home.
Without a shortage of variety, the Pathfinders enjoy coming back each day to try new food items. Some were even spotted sampling freshly-made cotton candy at 10:00 a.m. one day when the food court opened and served its first customer. The hours of operation for the “largest vegetarian restaurant” are Tues. through Thurs. from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Fri. from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and Sat. from sundown to midnight.
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