Most of us take our meals for granted, especially when we know exactly where they’re coming from three times a day, every day of the week: Hunt Dining Hall. It’s easy to be oblivous to all the hard work it takes to prepare meals for almost 1,000 students three times a day when all we see is the final product. Tracy Hiner, Mary Baldwin’s Director of Dining Services, handles all the hard work and planning behind feeding a college. Hiner has been working at Balwin since about 1995, at which time he started as the Assistant Director of Dining Services. Though he has experience working at Bridgewater College for one year, Hiner enjoys the size and environment here. “Mary Baldwin has the best things about the business in one spot; from the food that we produce to the different events we are able to hold,” he says.
The meal plan for the 2015-16 school year has already begun, and according to Hiner, the menu is always changing: “There’s nothing we can’t do, and I like to get creative with it.” He has busied himself in the kitchen since he earned a part time job as a dish washer who occasionally helped the chef. He’s been working with food ever since. Hiner joined the Navy to quickly get away from home after graduating high school at the age of 17. In the Navy, Hiner was a cook working on an air craft carrier for four years and on shore duty for another two. “Working in the Navy taught me a lot.” He continues, “I learned a lot and saw different things.”
Hiner graduated from Mary Baldwin’s as a part of the Adult Degree Program, or ADP. He enjoyed preparing the meals even on the day of graduation, hustling to get his cap and gown on in time to walk across the stage. Among the various tasks he handles on the manegerial side of Mary Baldwin’s food service, he seems to like putting together special events the most. When customers become anxious about the outcome of their events, Hiner is there to be the rock. He understands that “no matter how hard I work, there will always be one or two people that aren’t happy. That’s why I try to be honest with myself and take constructive criticism with a grain of salt.” In general, Hiner is happy, since it seems like everyone else is too.