While some Nicholls State students were taking the summer off, Becky Breaux, dietetics junior from Raceland, was cooking up a storm for the Camp Sugar Pine Girl Scouts Camp near Dorrington, Calif., in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.As part of the Nicholls John Folse Culinary Institute, Breaux was offered an internship provided through the Signature Services Company, a catering organization specializing in student summer camps across America. This company is teamed up with the Nicholls culinary department and has provided internships for several students. Breaux received an internship in Dorrington, Calif. at the two-and-a-half-month long camp.
The camp consisted of seven sessions, each lasting seven days. During her stay there, she was assigned a weekly menu to prepare for campers ages five to 17. The assigned menu consisted of a variety of cuisine for meals.
“Girls came from all over the world,” Breaux said, “including New Zealand, South Africa, and many other countries, as well as the United States.”
During her first week in California, Breaux spent her time preparing in the kitchen. She worked with two other interns, including Tamara Callais, culinary senior from Oberlin. The team prepared themselves for anything that would occur. With campers from all over the world, there were several different diets to accommodate. There were numerous girls who were vegetarians, lactose-intolerant and allergic to several things they cooked, Breaux said.
“There was always someone who didn’t eat what we were preparing,” Breaux said. “It was hard to accommodate everyone’s needs at first. We eventually set up different tables for each diet.”
Keeping up with everyone’s special diet was hard at first, Breaux said, but it eventually became easier as she began to know the campers. Everyone received a camp name, and Breaux became known as “Tidly Pink.” She earned this nickname by following in the camp tradition of dyeing her hair pink. She told about a girl who became known as “Peanut Butter Girl” because of her allergy to the spread. “No matter where this young girl went,” Breaux said, “she was on the constant lookout for the stuff.”
Camp Sugar Pine provided Breaux with numerous adventures, including her first summer camp experience. This was the 20-year-old’s first time attending any sort of overnight camp away from home. She told of her cabin being a big, screened-in porch with no windows. There were no air conditioners either, which Breaux said wasn’t such a big deal at night because of the cool mountain air. Also, being in the mountains gave Breaux a chance to see several wild animals, including bears that would often come around the campsite.
“I am from South Louisiana, and I saw my first raccoon while at camp.” Breaux said. “People couldn’t believe I never saw one at home,” she exclaimed about her experience.
Aside from work and play, Breaux had to keep an updated journal of her work at Camp Sugar Pine. Keeping a journal would help her write a final report to be presented to her culinary teacher. Eventually, she would earn credit and a grade for her summer internship.
Breaux is now back at home and could not be happier. She said she would never forget the time spent at camp or the people she met while away
“You learn a lot about a person by spending time with them, and being so far away from home, I’ve learned a lot about myself as well,” Breaux said.
