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Photo by Ed Waters, Jr.
Lisa Innes |
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Frederick — Lisa Innes grew up with the food service industry. Her parents worked at several area restaurants, and she worked in catering for 10 years."But I always worked at the front of the house, as they call it," she said, meaning being a waitress and setting up the tables and chairs. "I wanted to work the back of the house" — the kitchen. After raising her family, Innes is back in the work force. She has been married 18 years and has home-schooled her two children, ages 14 and 10. "But then I saw a Frederick Community College catalog with all of those culinary classes," she said. In 2004, she began as a part-time student in the FCC culinary arts program. She recently got a boost from the Frederick Business and Professional Women's Club, which gave her a $1,000 scholarship for the fall 2007 semester. "That will allow me to continue in the fall taking three classes," she said. "I've always loved to cook and wanted to pursue a career in it." Her parents wondered why, she said, after seeing all the hard work and long hours involved in the food business. She completed a certificate in culinary arts at FCC, and her husband encouraged her to continue to an associate's degree. "FCC is a wonderful steppingstone" to a career, she said, adding she will graduate in 2009. Not only her outstanding academic achievements, but also her references impressed the BPW officers. "The references we got for Lisa were just wonderful — the best we've seen," said Mary Ellen Poole, president of the club. Innes works part time at Morningside Inn, learning from the chef and culinary staff there. Her goal is to work at Wegmans, an upscale grocery store planned for a shopping center on Md. 26 at Worman's Mill Road. "They are ranked the third-best company to work for," she said. She plans a field trip to a Wegmans in Virginia to see the business firsthand.
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