A-B Tech Instructor Cultivates Intellect and Veggies

Biology Instructor Joe Allawos holds up organic peppers he grew. Along with teaching, Allawos cultivates five acres of farmland and sells the produce at local tailgate markets.

Biology Instructor Joe Allawos could be described as a 21st century Renaissance man. Botanist, writer, farmer, musician, teacher.

Employed first as an adjunct instructor and now full-time, Allawos keeps busy on the campus with teaching his classes, managing the greenhouse, which he was instrumental in implementing, and representing faculty as the Faculty Association President. He was responsible for writing the curriculum for a class on local flora, and has taught everything from botany to general biology, human anatomy and physiology.

But that's just what keeps him busy eight hours a day. For the past eight years, he's been the owner, operator and distributor of organic produce for Sugar Creek Farm in Big Sandy Mush. "Anything that will grow, we'll grow."

He owns 80 acres of farmland and cultivates five acres with his business partner, Caty Crabb. Every two years, they rotate the season's crop to prevent disease from getting a stronghold. Rotation is common to organic farming, where pesticides and chemical deterrents are not used in the growing process. "It's mostly time, not money, spent," says Allawos.

And Allawos is not miserly with his time. By the time the crop is cultivated, picked, packed and taken to the tailgate markets where it's sold, he has added at least 30 hours of work to his already full schedule.

And, in his down time, he plays bass and guitar for three bands - two local and one in Charleston, where he travels at least three times a month. "I thrive on the intellectual and physical activity I get from my dual careers," says Allawos. "It's a great combination of both worlds."

You can find Allawos and his Sugar Creek Farm produce Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon behind Asheville Pizza on Merrimon Avenue and Wednesdays from 3 to 6 p.m. at the French Broad Co-op.

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Reading, Writing,and Producing

Character actress Joanne Pankow, who has been featured in the television series ER and worked with such stars as Shirley MacLaine, will speak to English Instructor David Holcombe's at 11 a.m. Oct. 28.

Bob and Katie Carroll (pictured) will conduct a class in Ferguson Auditorium at 5 p.m. Oct 29 on Making It in Hollywood. Katie Carroll directed television dramas and managed the Directors Guild Producer Training Program. Bob Carroll was the producer for the television series Frazier.

Both presentations will be held in Ferguson Auditorium and are open to the campus and community.

Victoria Press is sponsoring a book signing by three of its previous contributors: Basic Skills Instructor Nancy Dillingham, English Instructor John Shackelford, and former Chairperson of the English Department, Celia Miles. Dillingham will be signing First Light, her third book of poetry. Shackelford will sign The Lowly Papers, a novel of Appalachia, while Miles will sign her third work of fictional writings, On a Slant: A Collection of Stories. The signing will take place Oct 15 from noon - 2 p.m. at the A-B Tech Cafe.

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Culinary Kudos

Instructor of Hospitality Education Gary Schwartz congratulates former A-B Tech culinary student, Expressions Cafe owner, and Hospitality Education Advisory Committe member Tom Young at the 2003 Hospitality Education awards ceremony. Young was the first honoree to have the new annual Hospitality Education scholarship carry his name. Culinary student Lydia Douglas received the scholarship.

Other scholarship recipients were Culinary students Nellie White, Kirk Miller, Deric McGuffey, and Mauricio Villa as well as Hospitality and Restaurant Management (HRM) students Amanda Cloyd and Brittany Koch. Students were also inducted into HRM's Order of the Golden Pineapple and Culinary's La Toque Blanche. Afterwards, students, faculty and guests enjoyed a wide variety of foods prepared and served by the Hospitality Education students.

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Purchasing Managers Give Scholarship

Business Administration students Tracy Wise, Amanda Lehman, Shawna Carter, and Ingrid Freeman were each recipients of $500 scholarship from the Asheville Chapter of the National Association of Purchasing Managers.

Hormel Donates Scholarship

Hormel Health Labs, a subsidiary of Hormel Foods Corporation, has awarded Dietary Management student Arlene Autry a $1,000 Hormel HealthLabs/Dietary Managers Association Scholarship.

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