All Entries in the "People" Category
Hazelwood Central senior earns acceptance to MIT
Luther Banner, a senior at Hazelwood Central High School, will fulfill his dream of attending prestigious MIT, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
For all the grief that North County schools receive, you might be surprised to know that the Hazelwood School District has been quietly building an award-winning robotics program. It is so successful, in fact, that one of the students on the Hazelwood Central team recently received a rare invitation to study mechanical engineering at MIT, the #1 ranked university in the world for engineering and technology! HSD’s Diana Gulotta shares his inspiring story…
Every college-bound high school senior has aspirations of getting accepted to the college of his dreams, and when the dream becomes a reality, it takes a little getting used to. Luther Banner, a senior at Hazelwood Central High School, is on the verge of experiencing his dream of attending Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
In mid-December, the school released its early action decision list online. A few days after seeing his name on the list, he got a shiny, silver cylindrical package from MIT containing a formal acceptance letter, confetti, balloons, stickers and information about the school. The package arrived just before Christmas.
“It’s pretty surreal for me. It hasn’t settled in that I’ve been accepted to MIT,” said Banner, noting that only 11 percent of students are accepted for early action. “It’s still shocking. It’s my dream school.”
Banner plans to accept the offer from MIT to study mechanical engineering. He said MIT will offer him a scholarship, but he is researching other scholarship opportunities too. He was also accepted to Georgia Institute of Technology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
“My grandmother and mom are really excited. They pretty much told me that they knew I was going to get in, but I was worried about it,” he said. “I wasn’t 100 percent sure I’d get accepted. It’s a highly competitive school to get into. I was thinking about the other kids that I’d be up against for admission.”
Banner is a notable student, taking five advanced placement (AP) classes this year – calculus, senior English, government, Spanish IV and physics. He is a co-captain of the RoboHawks robotics team, and last spring, he was nominated and received the FIRST Dean’s List Award at the FIRST Robotics Competition St. Louis Regional.
Banner and his teammates on the Hazelwood Central RoboHawks demonstrated their robotics skills at a St. Louis Cardinals game last year.
FIRST – For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology – is a “thrilling and unique spectator sport experience in which teams of high school students solve an engineering design challenge through imagination, dedication, teamwork and the help of their robotic friends.” The RoboHawks won the event and qualified to participate in the FIRST National Championship, which took place in St. Louis. (in NoCo actually, at St. Louis Community College – Flo Valley)
During the championship competition, Banner was named to the FIRST Dean’s List, an honor recognizing 10 students from the United States and abroad for their leadership and dedication to FIRST. Of the 10 selected, only two were juniors – Banner and a student from Rhode Island. Winners received a long list of prizes, including a BlackBerry Playbook tablet, a BlackBerry Torch mobile phone, a Nike book bag with a shirt and hat, gift cards to JC Penney and Starbucks, a Kindle e-reader, a flip camera, software and a trip to New Hampshire to the FIRST headquarters.
Being named as a Top 10 student involved in robotics certainly didn’t hurt his chances of realizing his dream. “It helped,” he said. “MIT was always the school in the back of my head. I knew it was tough to get in. I didn’t view it as a reality at first, but I decided to apply at the end of my junior year.”
Banner went to New Hampshire in August, during the first week of school in HSD. While there, the students toured MIT, but at this point, he had no idea what his future would hold.
Fast forward to the present and Banner seems quietly humbled, yet excited, about what’s to come. The robotics team is preparing for the competition season and plans to participate in events in Kansas City and St. Louis. The team is working toward earning the prestigious Chairman’s Award, presented to the team that best represents a model for other teams to follow and embodies the goals and purpose of FIRST.
Banner said the team is trying to enhance the awareness of FIRST and be an “inspiration to the community and the District.” When he goes to college, he said he will “miss everything” about robotics.
“I plan to find a team to help mentor. It’s an environment and an atmosphere that you can’t get away from,” he said. “I’ll miss being on a team. To see that you built something that great with your own hands is exhilarating.”
Banner gives credit to “every teacher I’ve had who pushed me to work as hard as I can” in getting him to where he is today. He especially gives thanks to Catherine Sylve, a former teacher at HCHS and RoboHawks sponsor, for “making” him get involved in robotics. Sylve continues to be actively involved with the team. He also gives thanks to retired Spanish teacher Carol Villalobos for encouraging him to apply to MIT.
As for his family, Banner is grateful to them for “believing in me and for all that they give up to support me.”
“My family has always said ‘Strive to be the best. If not, why do it?’ I try to live by that in everything I do.”
Photo Essay: Dave Naumann’s Native NoCo
An adventurer at heart, local attorney Dave Naumann likes going off the beaten path to explore the hidden natural areas of North County.
As the year closes out and I look back at all the reasons I’ve had to be grateful in 2011, I can’t help but think of you, dear NOCO readers. Since I launched this blog two years ago, I’ve gotten to meet so many amazing people, both here in North County and throughout St. Louis. Hundreds of you have emailed with story ideas or insightful comments, and quite a few have even offered to help. Thank you!
One of those generous “helpers” is David Naumann, a Florissant attorney and lifelong NoCo resident whose passion is hiking and biking North County’s many unspoiled pockets of wilderness. Dave knows the area’s trails and hidden pathways probably better than anyone, and lucky for us, he always brings a camera along.
He has been offering to share his images for months now, and I finally got a chance to pull them all together. I have to admit, some of them are so gorgeous, they even made me wonder if they’re really in North County. But of course they are!
Many thanks to Dave Naumann for these beautiful photos, and to everyone who read NOCO and supported North County this year! You are truly appreciated!! Enjoy…
At Hendel’s Cafe, the secret ingredient is FAMILY
Celebrating 17 years in business, Hendel's Market Cafe in Old Town Florissant is a labor of love for Nathan Bennett, whose father, Ed, founded the restaurant.
To everyone lucky enough to have known him, Ed Bennett was a whirlwind of creative energy and a truly visionary entrepreneur. The founder and owner of Hendel’s Market Café in Old Town Florissant, he died suddenly in 2009 at the age of 58. But not before building an impressive legacy – a love letter to North County, really – that two years later continues to be nurtured and built upon by his family.
Ed opened Hendel’s in 1994, working with his sons Nathan and Josh to renovate the former rue St. Denis grocery store into a warm and welcoming restaurant. Built in 1873, the old brick building had housed a corner market for 120 years, 78 of those under the Hendel family. And when Ed heard that Henry and Marge Hendel were closing up shop, selling their prime location next to Sacred Heart Catholic Church, he immediately started dreaming of a café.
Of course, Hendel’s Market Café is now regarded as one of the finest restaurants in NoCo, winning frequent accolades for its delicious steak and crab cakes. It also has a cozy piano bar, an intriguing gourmet menu, and one of the most charming outdoor dining rooms in all of St. Louis.
Ed Bennett in 2009
Ed started that. He was the creative dynamo always pushing his vision forward, always aiming for a more vibrant, energized Old Town.
He inspired countless people during his life, mentoring hundreds of new entrepreneurs through the Small Business and Management Program at St. Louis Community College. He even founded (and eventually sold) another classic North County restaurant – the Barn Deli at the Myers House on Dunn Road, his first “historic café.”
No doubt about it, Ed was an amazing guy. I can vouch for that personally. But here’s a secret I know he would want me to share: he didn’t do it alone.
In fact, Hendel’s is thriving today because of the dedication of many people, led by the dynamic team of Ed’s son Nathan and Nathan’s wife, Christina, who managed to realize Ed’s dream of running a successful café with loads of personality, all before they were even 30 years old.
Nathan & Christina Bennett (2nd & 3rd from left) own and manage Hendel's Market Cafe, with plenty of help from their family members.
Childhood sweethearts who grew up in North County and now have two children of their own, Nathan, 31, and Christina, 29, both started working at Hendel’s in their teens, gradually moving up from bussers and kitchen help to servers and now owners. Today, Nathan is the head chef and kitchen manager while Christina oversees the front-of-house and handles everything from décor to marketing.
Like a lot of successful restaurant couples, he’s the quiet, focused one, passionate about the food. She’s the natural promoter with a glowing personality and a great sense of style. It’s a magical combo.
And then of course there’s family…
Besides Nathan’s siblings, Josh and Julie, who are behind-the-scenes partners, Hendel’s is enriched by the talents of several of Christina’s family members, who are also committed to Ed Bennett’s vision.
“This was Ed’s dream….he was the one who saw all of this,” says Christina’s mom, Linda Byrns, a gifted gardener who spends nearly every morning tending to the restaurant’s flower beds. “He started it and we just feel like we’re carrying it on.”
A longtime Bellefontaine Neighbors resident, Linda grew up in another family of local entrepreneurs – her parents founded Gamma Tree Company in 1954 – so she has a special appreciation for what Ed was trying to accomplish and what her daughter and son-in-law are working to preserve.
“Ed saw something that nobody else thought was possible, especially for North County,” she says. “An upscale restaurant that wasn’t a chain….no way. But he did it.”
“He had all of these grand ideas, and we all thought he was crazy at some point,” adds Christina. “But when he completed every single project, it was just magnificent! Like the piano bar…
“Ed hand-built that room with a contractor. He used salvaged bricks and old floors from St. Stanislaus Church downtown, and went over every inch of that space until it was exactly right.”
Melding seamlessly with the original 1873 building, the piano bar opened in 2009 and now features live music every Thursday through Saturday. It’s a cheerful, inviting room with a huge fireplace, and Linda keeps it fun and fresh with an ever-changing mix of themed accents and floral arrangements. This month’s theme is sunflowers.
“It’s also her job to paint the bike,” Christina jokes. But it’s true. Linda has adorned two of the restaurant’s gardens with neat old bicycles, and she frequently paints one of them to match her theme.
Linda Byrns and her sunflower bike
“We’re just having a good time,” she says, noting that her “workspace” is across the street – in one of the adorable sheds behind the historic Archambault house. Built around 1850, this National Register home located maybe 25 feet from Hendel’s is a gorgeous example of early federal-style architecture in St. Louis.
Ed had always hoped to convert it into a B&B, along with the six bedrooms above the restaurant. Instead, Christina’s grandma Norma recently purchased the property from her home in California and is now renting it to Christina’s sister Theresa and her new husband, Lucian Matoushek.
“Norma just thought it was important to keep things original….that it made sense for the restaurant,” Linda says. And it does. Conveniently, the property also offers ample storage space for Lucian, who just happens to be the butcher/manager/sausage maker for The Farmers’ Larder, a sustainable family farm and Washington, Missouri-based meat producer that’s all the rage at area farmers markets.
Lucian Matoushek of The Farmers' Larder
I love their kielbasa and English bacon, which I’ve purchased from Lucian himself at the Ferguson Farmers Market. You won’t find it on the Hendel’s menu (yet) but what you can enjoy is a culinary creation from another of Christina’s family members – absolutely divine lemon meringue cupcakes from her youngest sister, Lia Weber.
Pastry chef Lia Weber
Still in college, Lia works as the restaurant’s pastry intern as well as a cake decorator at Wedding Wonderland in Florissant. Her dream is to one day open a bakery, but in the mean time she loves creating decadent new sweets for Hendel’s dessert menu. My husband is still talking about that lemon meringue cupcake, one of her signature recipes.
“We’re very lucky to have her,” Christina says of her sister. “Actually, I feel lucky to have all of my family around me…and that includes our employees. A lot of them have been here 8 to 10 years. They’ve grown up with us…
“You know, it was incredibly tragic when Ed died and we’re still sad about it, but at the same time it was a whole new direction. We kept focusing on what could we do to move forward, to continue his legacy, and that’s what we did….and what we’re still trying to do.”
A few months back, Christina and Nathan decided to change up the menu a bit, tweaking the one detail at Hendel’s that Ed never had a hand in: the food. A small number of regulars complained, so a few classic dishes were revived, but Nathan continues to blossom as a chef and is eager to put his own spin on things. He likes to cook simple, modern fare using local and seasonal ingredients whenever possible, but Christina insists he will always prepare a classic item if requested.
“We listen to our customers and we want to make them happy,” she says. “On the other hand, we’d love for St. Louis to know that this ‘historic’ restaurant is actually run by young people….that we’re a place with fresh ideas and a unique viewpoint.”
“I think most customers assumed that Ed was the chef at Hendel’s but the truth is he rarely stepped foot in the kitchen,” Linda adds, ever the proud mother-in-law. “Nathan has been in there since he was 16, and it’s about time he get some recognition for his food. It’s wonderful.”
As for Nathan, he’s just fine being the man behind the curtain, spending his time perfecting dishes like pomegranate chicken and dill-encrusted tilapia. Outside of work, he also claims to have the “most awesome dog in the world” – a little white fluff ball named Ruby.
I didn’t get to meet Ruby during my recent visit to Hendel’s, but I did enjoy a nice visit with most of Nathan’s immediate and extended family, including his wife, daughter, niece, mother-in-law, brother-in-law and two sisters-in-law, and I can tell you one thing: Ed Bennett would be very, very proud.
In the wake of tragedy, his loved ones have banded together and risen to the challenge, running a vibrant, successful restaurant that repeatedly brings positive attention to North County. And they’ve done it as a family, in their own innovative style.
“We miss Ed every day,” Christina says, “but the biggest blessing of his death has been coming together as a family. That was his gift to us….one of his many gifts to us….and we are so grateful.”
Hendel’s Market Cafe is located at 599 St. Denis, 63031. Hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 11-9 and Sunday 9-2.
NoCo residents bring “good will” to the community
North Countians James Elliott (L) and Linda Burch were recently honored with Local Hero awards by Dr. Lewis Chartock, the CEO of MERS/Goodwill.
In our everyday lives, we interact with countless people who are quietly making a difference in the world, performing their jobs with integrity and passion yet rarely receiving the recognition they deserve. In this article from guest contributor Kelly Trettin, you’ll read about two of these local heroes, both of whom live right here in NoCo….
With more than 20 years of combined service with Goodwill Industries, North County residents Linda Burch and James Elliott are spreading their generosity throughout the region. Each has found their calling through employment with MERS/Goodwill, a non-profit agency that provides for the vocational needs of individuals in the bi-state area. Although each serves in different divisions, their kindness and enthusiasm is a common bond, and is felt by all who encounter them. Recently, both were recognized as MERS/Goodwill Local Heroes.
Linda Burch
Every year MERS/Goodwill serves close to 10,000 persons facing disabling conditions. The Goodwill team that works with these individuals is full of dedicated and compassionate people, but none compare to Linda Burch.
While serving 14 years at the Mental Health Regional Center of St. Louis, Linda attended a workshop at Goodwill. After leaving the workshop, Linda realized she had a new calling. As a certified interpreter, Linda wanted to have more interaction with the deaf community. She realized she could fulfill this yearning by joining the MERS/Goodwill team; this year, Linda celebrates eight years as a Case Manager for the organization.
During this time, Linda has not only brought a contagious smile, but also plenty of ideas and projects to Goodwill. Workplace Solutions, a discussion group for the deaf and hard of hearing community is Linda’s latest venture. The workshop offers a group discussion for deaf and hard of hearing individuals to speak, seek and give advice about challenges in the workplace. Veterans of the workforce and those currently in search of employment interact to learn from one another in hopes of creating more positive and efficient workplaces.
Endeavors such as Workplace Solutions are what make Linda such a vital resource for the deaf community. As a Case Manager, Linda decides if the client is prepared for the workforce through an evaluation process. Linda’s responsibilities are very similar to those of a social worker; preparing clients for the workforce and ensuring they are ready to maintain the job.
“Linda’s job doesn’t fit into 37 hours a week,” said Erin McCuan, Director of the Aftergut Center. “She’s always thinking of new ways to help her clients. She is upbeat, positive and most importantly, has enormous amounts of patience.”
James Elliott
For most people, working overtime is out of the question. If you asked James Elliott, however, a seven-day work week is completely normal. As a MERS/Goodwill Case Manager and Employment Specialist, James helps clients who face barriers to employment find (and keep) jobs. He often spends his Saturdays helping clients he can’t accommodate during the week. Whether it’s taking a client to purchase a safety vest and road map or delivering transportation checks, James is always ready to help out.
Twelve years of experience with Goodwill Industries has taught James the ins and outs of the company. A majority of his career has been with MERS/Goodwill, but he has also spent time with the Las Vegas and Ohio Goodwill Industries. No matter the location, the mission is the same, and that’s what James works so hard to support.
James’ compassion for his work comes from his true love for people. “It’s about really caring,” said James. “And teaching people to understand they can do it.” James truly believes in finding a person’s niche and interest in order for them to succeed professionally.
James treats every aspect of his career and life as a marketing and networking opportunity. “You never know who you’re going to meet or how they will help you out in the future,” says James. This motto has made James the top placement person in Goodwill’s 34 bi-state offices, averaging seven job placements per month. James maintains positive and lasting relationships with several employers throughout the St. Louis area. These employers contact James when positions become available; knowing he’ll provide them with good, hardworking employees and he takes these connections very seriously.
Though the two don’t often work side-by-side, both Linda and James are making positive impacts in peoples’ lives every day. Proud NoCo residents, Linda and James work and hope for a better tomorrow not just for their clients but for the communities they represent. Both are true heroes.
For more info about the wonderful work that Linda and James do, visit the MERS/Goodwill website.
