WWW.THELEAVEN.COM | NEWSPAPER OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF KANSAS CITY IN KANSAS | VOL. 34, NO. 5 SEPTEMBER 7, 2012
JUST LIKE ‘GRANDMA’S HOUSE’
Carolyn Vrbas carefully mixes some ingredients together for the day’s lunch. “She puts every ounce of love into her food,” says Sacred Heart principal Natalie Wrobel. Below, Vrbas serves kindergartner Cailyn Hurley her lunch with the help of Deniece Edwards, far left, and principal Wrobel.
Food service director finds recipe for happiness at Sacred Heart in Ottawa
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STORY BY JESSICA LANGDON | PHOTOS BY LORI WOOD HABIGER TTAWA — Move over newcrayon smell. There’s another aroma in town that means school is back in session. The smell of baking bread wafts through the halls of Sacred Heart School in Ottawa, signaling to the kindergartners through fifth-graders that it’s
almost lunchtime. They can thank food service director Carolyn Vrbas for that. Just a few years ago, Vrbas, 72, wouldn’t have guessed this job would be on the menu for her, but friends saw that
she brought just the right ingredients to the table. At the top of the list: more than two decades of preparing school lunches. When Vrbas moved to Ottawa from Hays in 2007, the longtime school cook was certain her years of serving lunch to schoolchildren were over. And that was true. For exactly three days. Because the same day Vrbas was moving into her apartment, the woman who was then Sacred Heart’s food service director was moving her aunt into the same complex. Vrbas’ daughter-in-law introduced the two women. “When she heard ‘school cook,’ her ears perked up,” said See “FAVORITE” on page 6