Tech center students make dumplings for Applefest

Students in the culinary arts class at Venango Technology Center are making apple dumplings that will be sold during Franklin’s Applefest celebration later this week. As the sweet smell of apples filled her room Monday, instructor Dotty Haggerty said her 45 students are making 3,000 dumplings in three days. The high school students participate in the culinary arts class for half of each school day. “They are a great class – they work well together and are friends in and out of school,” Haggerty said. She also said about half the students in the class are currently working at jobs in the food service industry. (By Kara O’Neil)