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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday January 23, 2008 - 23 Cake decorators judged on speed and creativity Continued from page 22 looking after a variety of animals from baby polar bears, to monkeys and a snow leopard. "The racetrack was a very exciting environment, I missed that so I went back," she said, noting it was also a very physical job. As her son, who is now 20, grew, Marsolais moved from Woodbine to working on a number of privately-owned farms, from Orton, Ontario, to Brantford to Burlington, living on the farm where she was caring for the horses. After moving to Burlington eight years ago, Marsolais again signed up for a course -- this time cake decorating at the local Michael's craft store. Afterward, she spotted a job ad for a cake decorator at Dairy Queen and was hired. "I found the course very interesting and thought it would be fun to do for a living," said Marsolais. She now works at the Hays Boulevard Dairy Queen owned by Betty Lou and James Benninger and their son Bryan Benninger. Marsolais calls them Mr. and Mrs. B and said, "They're the best bosses in the world." It was Bryan, who was the cake decorator when Marsolais was hired and she noted, "He taught me everything." Though Marsolais does have an artistic flair -- she paints animals in oil and does pencil sketches -- there are tricks to working with ice cream cakes. "You can't put the trim on too close to the edges and you can't really decorate the sides because the sides are the first to melt," she confides. Marsolais has -- with the help of assistant cake decorator Debbie Warren -- created and has been doing test runs of the design she will put forward in the creative competition. It's an airbrushed background, with a basket of flowers. The basket and flowers have taken numerous colours and styles as they've experimented. "The one we liked the least sold first," laughed Warren. It's the practice that makes it perfect, according to Marsolais, who said that's how she has honed her skill. "In the summer, in the peak time, we go through more than 1,000 cakes a month," she said. The competition will see Marsolais and her competitors decorating three different cakes. One will test their decorating speed and they know that design in advance. Another will be the competitor's design choice -- the design Marsolais has been working on -- and will be judged partly on creativity. Finally, there will be an on-the-spot design that the finalists will not know about until the competition. That will test for speed. An average cake takes Marsolais about 10 minutes to decorate. Her own design takes about 30 minutes and sees her put the cake back into the refrigerator a couple of times during its creation because of the melting factor. Marsolais who is travelling to San Antonio with her sister, Jane Thompson, of Whitby, (she said her son turned down the chance to go) will leave Thursday and take in a barbecue and rodeo at a ranch on Thursday night. Friday is reserved for competition, with judging that night. Saturday is a free day to sightsee though there is a luncheon for all participants and Marsolais will return home on a late afternoon flight Sunday, with just enough time to take in a few more sights before take off. "I want to see the Alamo," said Marsolais. Other finalists include: Cathy Spandel of Apple Valley, Minnesota; Regina Ehrbar of Bay Village, Ohio; Julie Garcia of South Bend, Indiana; Elise Greiner of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and, Alex Ramos of Quezon City, Philippines. The top Dairy Queen Iron Tip decorator receives a $1,000 cash prize. The second place winner receives $500; third place is $250; and fourth, fifth and sixth finishers each receive $100, along with additional prizes and recognition. "It was obvious from the initial entries that our decorators take great pride in their craft. They are all incredibly talented, but the real winners are our customers who get to enjoy these beautifully decorated cakes on a daily basis," said Bob Hynick, Vice President of Concept Support Services for American Dairy Queen Corp. Dairy Queen cakes are made with a layer of chocolate soft serve topped with chocolate cookie pieces then layered with vanilla soft serve, and can be custom decorated. "As decorators, we strive to visually entice customers to our cake display. The best part is that as good as they look on the outside, they are just as delicious on the inside," said Marsolais. A RTISTS' RT TS RTISTS' PAINTING PA PAINTING GET-AWAYS GET-AWAYS ET AWAY T-AWA T-AWAYS WAY SAN MIGUEL GET-AWAY: March 30 ­ April 8 TUSCANY GET-AWAY: June 21 ­ July 5 & Sept. 7 - 20 CALABRIA GET-AWAY: July 5 - 15 TUSCANY FAMILY GET-AWAY: August 16 - 29 (art for kids & adults) OPEN HOUSE presentation: At Timothy's in Oakville, Sunday, January 27, appointments from 12 - 3.30pm. & Monday, January 28, 6.30pm. MUST RESERVE: artist@dawnangela.com, 416.917.2772, www.dawnangela.com We're putting life-saving AED's in more public places in your community. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU PUT YOUR HEART INTO IT.TM www.heartandstroke.ca Roadmap to Success Spring 2008 Workshop Series United Way of Oakville presents the Spring 2008 professional and organizational development series. These workshops are available to all staff and volunteers within the non-profit sector. Choose from a wide variety of courses designed to provide relevant, informative and interesting training opportunities. WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE AND WHY ARE THEY DRIVING ME CRAZY? Wednesday, February 13, 2008 STAKEHOLDER ALIGNMENT ­ IS YOUR ORGANIZATION IN OR OUT? Thursday, February 28, 2008 MEASURING FUNDRAISING PERFORMANCE Thursday, March 6, 2008 THE EIGHT INDISPUTABLE BEHAVIOURS OF ON-TARGET BOARDS Wednesday, April 2, 2008 LIVING AUTHENTICALLY ­ LUNCH AND LEARN Tuesday, April 8, 2008 KEY ELEMENTS TO SPONSORSHIP PACKAGE CREATION Wednesday, April 16, 2008 For more information Angele Wilson at (905) 845-5571 x 233 angele@uwoakville.org www.uwoakville.org