At the Post House on Lake Kashagawigamog, chef Dan Sanders extends a container of locally-grown mushrooms to Haliburton Highlands Secondary School student Veronica Beynon to have a sniff.
Sanders was discussing his career with hospitality students June 12 as teacher Darla Searle’s class visited Molly’s Bistro Bakery, and the Post House to learn more about the industry. They also heard from Kayla Gardiner of the Bonnie View Inn.
Post House front of house manager, Justine Dart, took the students on a tour and talked to them about the business and job opportunities in tourism and hospitality.
Dart said the Post House operates as an inn and a restaurant “so there’s a whole bunch of different facets, and things that need to be covered, and as far as possible careers go, there’s lots of different ways to think about it. There is the serving side and the restaurant side, all the food and beverage, there is the cheffing side. Then, there is the business of getting rooms ready, and keeping them nice, and greeting everyone, and advertising.”
Gardiner talked about event planning. She handles weddings at Bonnie View, and plans others on her own. She told students she began at their age, starting a cleaning company in Grade 10, with many jobs after. She added the industry took her to Australia, Iceland and Banff.
Her advice? “Never too early to start and always having a side hustle.” She said being calm, goal-oriented and organized is necessary, as are communication skills.
Sanders’ advice for students wanting to one day chef was to get an apprenticeship, as it will get them into a kitchen as fast as possible. He suggested they work at the best fine dining restaurants to learn. He said it takes 10 years to get to be a chef. He added one has to be passionate and “into food” to choose the career. However, he said it takes hard work and requires constant learning.
Searle said, “as much as I can tell them in the classroom there’s eight sectors in the tourism industry, they still only think about the cooking as one. So, this opportunity provides them a way to see all of the different parts of the industry work together.”
She added most students don’t realize how much tourism and hospitality there is in the Highlands.
“Any time that I can expand their knowledge about the industry, show them real world examples of what this industry does; I also try to sell them that the hospitality and tourism industry is the one industry that is worldwide.” She said even if it is not their calling, it is a means to see the world as a young person. It can also provide jobs to pay for post-secondary education.
As for the day, Beynon said, “it’s been really fun…the small bakery was very nice and now we get to come to a larger scale restaurant kitchen. It’s nice to see the differences in person and talk to a chef.”
The County’s economic development and tourism team organized the opportunity, similar to the skilled trades event. Tourism coordinator Eric Casper said “the overall goal is just to get this sector of students realizing it is a career path.”
