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The Cafeteria Lady — Virginia: Pizza and Presidents


rollercoasterVirginia is the next stop on the Cafeteria Lady Tour - West Point, Va., to be exact. Elizabeth Gwathmey invited me to visit her school cafeteria at West Point Middle and High School. I had never been to Virginia, and boy, was I hungry!

Elizabeth is a 10th-grader in a class of 65 students. The school first opened in 1966, and today it serves 400 students. Mr. Mark Dorsey is the principal. Elizabeth has lived in the West Point area all her life. Her parents are doctors in a nearby town. One of the advantages of having doctors for parents is that they know when she's sick. Personally, I think it would've been great to have doctors for parents. Then when I cooked dinner for my family, I wouldn't worry about where to get enough stomach pumps.

Elizabeth likes living in this rural community of only 3,000 people. “Everyone is nice here,” she says. She would even like to come back to West Point to either teach English or set up her own medical practice. She's keeping her options open.

Some of her hobbies include reading, playing tennis and running 5K races. She is also active in drama, plays the saxophone in a jazz band and competes in both marching and jazz band competitions.

Elizabeth has a heart for service, too. She enjoys participating in the Key Club Service that goes to local elementary schools and helps younger students with crafts.

Back to the lunchtime experience, did I survive the meal?

I sure did! There was pizza (Elizabeth's favorite), salad, cake and milk. Betty Couch is the cafeteria director at West Point and works hard to give her students nutritious meals.

There are lots of fun things to do in the West Point area. For one thing, the historic triangle is nearby. This consists of the cities of Williamsburg, Yorktown and Jamestown. Williamsburg is the world's largest living history museum. It's open every day of the year and is well known for its costumed reenactments. You can even spend the night in some of the historic old buildings that may have been home to some pretty famous colonists.

Busch Gardens Williamsburg is also nearby with plenty of roller coasters. For 14 years, it has been voted the “World's Most Beautiful Theme Park.” You also don't want to miss Water Country USA or Presidents Park with its 18-foot sculptures of all 43 U.S. Presidents.

After lunch, it was time to say goodbye and head to the next school and another good meal in Kentucky.

If I haven't visited your state, there's still time to write and invite me. Remember, I can only visit one school per state, and I'm looking for the best school cafeteria food, not the worst. I already know what bad food tastes like. (For years, my family thought mold was a frosting.) Get permission from your parents and drop me an invitation at martha@marthabolton.com. If your school's selected, I'll be there, and I'm coming hungry!


This article appeared in Brio magazine in August 2005. Copyright © 2005 Martha Bolton. All rights reserved. International copyright secured.

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