Lard sculptures decorate cafeteria after competition canceled

DAWSON CREEK, British Columbia (AP) With wings stretched wide, an eagle made from lard watched over the food line in the Northern Lights College cafeteria.

Student Julanka Kemper said she worked for more than 40 hours on the sculpture, right down to the detail of the feathers, as part of an elective workshop in the professional cook training program.

Kemper planned to enter the bird in a national competition in Edmonton last weekend, but the event was canceled.

Instead, the eagle and five other sculptures were placed on display in the cafeteria.

Chef instructor Jacquelynne Baran, who helped teach workshops on lard sculpting, also created a cowboy that was on display.

The cowboy ``is something I hadn't done before, and it was going to Alberta,'' she said. ``I think he'd be able to go really nice with a prime rib dinner.''

Other sculptures featured penguins, a duck and a whale.

The school usually trains students to make sculptures in chocolate.

``They will last longer than the chocolate,'' Baran said. ``No one will eat (them).''

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)