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Scrounge continues tradition as favorite student/staff hangout
12:18 p.m., April 18, 2006--Since its early days in the basement of Memorial Hall to its present location in the Perkins Student Center, the Scrounge has been a favorite spot for students to take a break from classes and enjoy coffee, conversation and perhaps a snack or a meal.
Originally a coffee shop and student hangout during the 1940s and 1950s, the Scrounge food court serves all members of the UD community, offering a wide variety of dining choices and entertainment options. Dining choices [www.udel.edu/dining/menus/scrounge.html] include the Scrounge Café, Kettle Classics (soups), Grille Works, Orville & Wilbur's, Salad Garden, Montague's Deli, Tortilla Fresca and The Home Zone, with a rotation of crepes on Mondays, fresh market tossed pasta on Tuesdays, Mongolian Grill on Wednesdays, BBQ Smokehouse on Thursdays and Eggs to Order on Fridays. Perennially popular live entertainment choices include the Tuesday night Coffeehouse Comedy series and the Thursday night R-Series concerts. “Between the food court and the Scrounge Café, we serve about 1,500 customers each day,” Dennis Bellarmino, food service director, UD Campus Dining Services, said. “Busy times center on class schedules, and on most days include peak times from 12:15-1 p.m. and 5-6:30 p.m.”
“The coffee and pastries at the Scrounge Café are very popular,” Bellarmino said. “We have an in-house pastry chef, Donna Crescenzo, and her homemade éclairs and tarts are wonderful.” Besides the Scrounge and Perkins food court operations, Bellarmino and his staff of about 100 employees also are responsible for supplying various snack bars, campus markets, special events and concessions at the Bob Carpenter Center and Delaware Stadium. “The biggest challenge is getting things from Perkins to the other campus locations,” Bellarmino said. “It's a seven-day-a-week operation, starting at 5 a.m. and finishing up about midnight.” Ed Moore, a 30-year employee at UD, began his career in the Perkins Student Center and Scrounge, where he now works as a cook in Dining Services. Starting as a utility worker, Moore has worked as a baker's helper, storeroom clerk and cook, a position he has held for the past 18 years. “I started out cleaning pots and pans and floors and stocking milk cans, and when the position became available for storeroom clerk I bid on it,” Moore said. “I liked the storeroom clerk job because it was sort of a one-person operation where I would order certain items and work with management on different things.”
“I've had the chance to work with a lot of good employees over the years,” Moore said. “At the Scrounge, we work together with our managers to make sure things are going well.” One of the most rewarding aspects of working in a retail dining operation like the Scrounge, Moore said, is the chance to communicate with the diverse population that comprises the UD community. “Students are more outgoing in the retail operations, and you get to know them better,” Moore said. “I also know a lot of faculty and staff members who eat in the Scrounge on a regular basis.” Timothy Minus Jr., a food service worker who came to UD in 1996 as a part-time employee in Rodney Dining Hall, keeps busy behind the Scrounge grill, serving up everything from pasta and burgers to hot dogs, chicken and steaks. “The first thing I do is to marinate the chicken, put the bacon strips in the oven and make sure that we have enough items ready when the customers come in,” Minus said. “Most people, especially the students, are pretty pressed for time and just want to come in and grab their food and go. When they come in, you have to make sure the food is there.”
“Sometimes a student will talk to you about all the homework and papers that they have to do, and you are glad to listen to them and say something positive that helps to make their day a little better,” Minus said. “I have known students who came back after graduation to say 'Hello' and thank me for saying something positive that helped them when they were having a bad day.” For Merlyn Bowen, director of marketing in dining services, work responsibilities include getting the word out about the many dining options and Scrounge entertainment. “There is a lot of effort on the part of many people in staging these live-performance events,” Bowen said. “We want students to know about and enjoy these events.” Bowen, who majored in journalism and marketing at St. Thomas Aquinas College, in Sparkill, N.Y., said that she also appreciates the wealth of experience that her colleagues bring to the running a complex food service operation. “Many of these individuals have been in the food service management business for 25-plus years or more,” Bowen said. “It's a wealth of knowledge, and it's an invaluable asset in providing the many dining and entertainment services we offer here.”
“We want to connect with student groups and promote what they do,” Bowen said. “Feedback from members of the UD community also is critical to us and, we like it when people send us e-mails with their comments.” Article by Jerry Rhodes
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