Presidents Message
John R DiSessa CEC,AAC
Spring is the season during which the natural world revives and reinvigorates after the colder winter months. During
spring, dormant plants begin to grow again, new seedlings sprout out of the ground and hibernating animals awake. What most people call spring relies on the astronomical definition of the word. Defined by the angle of Earth's tilt toward the sun, astronomical spring relies on equinoxes and solstices to define it. Spring is generally considered the period between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. Equinoxes are days during the year when day and night are almost equal. There are two equinoxes each calendar year, one in the spring and one in the fall. The spring, or vernal, equinox occurs around March 20 in the Northern Hemisphere and around Sept. 22 in the Southern Hemisphere.
2nd Annual Tim Foley Burger Challenge March 7th. Shawsheen Tech Billerica
Unlike other drinks born out of creativity and imagination, Irish coffee sprang from necessity. It came about in the 1940s, at a time when Pan Am flying boats were used to make Atlantic crossings before large airports with long runways existed. Meeting his American passengers as they disembarked on the water in Foynes, Chef Joe Sheridan, a head chef at a nearby restaurant, brought the passengers coffee to warm them. Sensibly added to it to ward off the damp night’s chill was some whiskey. Legend has it that after he was asked if they were drinking Brazilian coffee, Sheridan told them it was Irish. The beverage caught on, and after 1945 when transatlantic flights began to land at the nearby Shannon airport, which was built on a bog, Sheridan’s Irish coffee was served there. It still is today, in a restaurant known as Sheridan’s Food Pub, but it was back in 1952 that a travel writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, Stanton Delaplane, tried it on his way through the airport. He immediately fell in love with the drink, and decided to bring it to America.
Happy Spring, looking forward to seeing you all soon.
Chef DiSessa
