Spirit of competition, goodwill unite Rice employees at Harvest Handoff

Spirit of competition, goodwill unite Rice employees at Harvest Handoff

The
smell of fresh-baked pies, cakes, cookies, breads and more
filled the Grand Hall of the Rice Memorial Center Nov. 6
for the first Harvest Handoff and Baking Contest.

The event was
sponsored by the newly organized Employee Activity Committee,
which strives to promote the interaction of Rice employees
through social activities.

The Harvest
Handoff and Baking Contest was the committee’s first
activity. Employees entered baked goods into the competition,
with judging in five different categories. All of the items
entered in the contest could be sampled through the donation
of a nonperishable food item. More than 350 pounds of nonperishables
were collected and donated to the Houston Food Bank, along
with $132 in donations raised by the event.

First- and second-place
winners received gift certificates to local restaurants.
The winners were:

Cakes
• First place: Cheryl Lee Blackett, Office of the Vice
Provost for Reseach and Graduate Studies, Ho Ho cake.
• Second place: Mindy Bailey, Dept. of Finance and
Administration, banana pecan cake.

Pies
• First place: Amy Wilson-Webb, Office of Public Affairs,
french silk pie.
• Second place: Chandler Davidson, Dept. of Sociology,
Grandmother Davidson’s pecan pie.

Muffins/Breads
• First place: Virginia Barach, Office of Public Affairs,
blueberry coconut pound cake muffins.
• Second place: Nancy Newton, KTRU, zucchini bread.

Specialty
items
• First place: Larry Alemany, Dept. of Chemistry, pumpkin
supreme.
• Second place: Joan Vogan, Dept. of Finance and Administration,
“killer” brownies.

Cookies
• First place: B.J. Almond, Office of Public Affairs,
peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies.
• Second place: Barbara Eudey, Office of Student Affairs,
holiday treasure cookies.

Bake-off judges
were John Hutchinson, Dept. of Chemistry and Office of Student
Affairs; Bill Taylor, Rice University Police Department;
Czolgus Evans, School of Continuing Studies; Dick Stabell,
Office of Public Affairs; Steve Moniaci, Office of Athletics;
Carlos Garcia, Office of the General Counsel; Phoebe Ruehl,
Dept. of Facilities and Engineering; Lindley Doran, Rice
Counseling Center; Greg Marshall, Office of Public Affairs;
Angela Riggs, Rice Catering; Veronica Sellers, Dept. of
Food and Housing; Mary Bixby, Fondren Library; Margot Dimond,
Office of Public Affairs; Bart Sinclair, George R. Brown
School of Engineering; and Sara Lowman, Fondren Library.