Alumni profile: Matthews hits the big time with big pies

Published in the Mountainview

Welcoming customers to Neil & Otto's Pizza Cellar on Merchants’ Row in Middlebury, Neil Matthews and Otto Hektor offer a hearty greeting and an invitation to sit at a table with a Parcheesi board under the plastic table covering.

The two are a dynamic pair, as inseparable in an interview as in friendship and business. Co-owners of the Pizza Cellar since June 1996, they have kept their business alive past the forbidding six-month mark which nearly two-thirds or restaurants never attain. Matthews and Hektor, friends since eighth grade, have worked in restaurants — primarily pizza joints — since that time, Heirs to the legendary Chicago tradition of pizza making, they are in business for themselves, making pizza in Middlebury.

Matthews, who worked at the Pizza Cellar throughout his undergraduate career at Middlebury, called Hektor in Wisconsin in October 1995 to say that the restaurant was for sale. After many meetings with loan officers, the Small Business Administration, and insurance agents, they were ready to sign.

Then they went straight to work. In mid-June 1996, they opened the former "Pizza Cellar" as "Neil & Otto's Pizza Cellar," in the basement of Grace Baptist Church on Merchants' Row.

In the seven months since, they have done "a lot of growing up." Acknowledging the cliché, Matthews points out that they are in the real world, in Middlebury. "Nobody gives us encouragement. We mostly hear complaints. It's a crazy game, but it's fun." Having proven Murphy's Law numerous times, and not yet having taken advantage of the excellent skiing conditions this winter, both clearly enjoy their work and their home in Salisbury.

That house, shared with a third housemate, provides refuge, if not sustenance. "The fridge probably has some butter in it," Rektor offers as illustration that they often eat at work, "We eat a kit of pizza, but I'm not sick of it yet,” claims Matthews. Spending so much time at their business is demanding, but both insist it is fun. They also agree that they wouldn't do it alone; having a friend and business partner along for the ride has been advantageous. "We do a lot together, and it's nearly always fun. Two minds are better than one," Matthews argues.

The future, as ever, is unpredictable. They are developing new pie styles, one of which has never before been seen in the Middlebury area. They havc just adapted their standard crust in response to customer feedback, and are not sure what they will bring back from the Pizza Expo in Las Vegas in March. That event, an industry convention, is sure to provide them with ideas and projects for the near term. In the long term, Matthews says, he will be in food service, but where exactly is unsure. He definitely enjoys living and working in Addison County.

It’s a neat way to meet people. According to Hektor, "you have to figure out what people are searching for.” In addition to their clientele, the two must supervise employees their own ages. Matthews admits this can be a challenge, but is willing to make sacrifices for his employees, even at his own expense. While most of his employees are from town, the restaurateurs are grateful for the support their College customers have given them.

It is hard, Matthews says, to be a College alumnus in this town, but he finds nearly everyone generous enough to give him a chance to prove himself. "Once you give something back to the community, people accept you," he says. He does depend on both the College and the town for business; "it's a hard balance to strike, but we're looking to create a space where people from the College can come and mix with people from the town, and get to know each other and get along."

Open long hours (11 am to midnight Monday through Thursday, 11 am to 2 am Friday, 4 pm to 2 am Saturday, and 4 pm to midnight Sunday), the restaurant is clearly doing well. "We do a lot of deliveries, and we're just beginning to really try to get people to come down to the restaurant to eat here." Matthews predicts it will be a challenge, but one the business can meet. They have worked very hard so far, even sleeping on sacks in the kitchen in the wee hours of the morning, but Matthews and Hektor say that the rewards are definitely worth the price.

"We are here to offer our knowledge of food, and our experience making good food. We care about what we do, we work hard, and we enjoy it. We like making pizza for people, and we like to hear what we could do better. Of course," Matthews notes, "if you like things, tell us that too!" 

Opinion: Administrative malaise

Published in the Mountainview

Two recent, seemingly separate actions by Middlebury College, one internal, and one public, have drawn attention to the changes planned for the future of the College. There is significant concern among students, alumni, staff, faculty, and local residents about these changes; these concerns are well-founded and deserve clear, direct responses from College administration officials.

The first, an internal event, is the termination of the Sig Ep social house. The circumstances surrounding this event are serious, and demonstrate tremendous culpability on the part of all involved, including potential negligence by College officials. Over the years, single-sex fraternities have been driven off-campus and underground; now it appears that co-ed social houses will face the same fate. Current students complain that the specter of the Commons system as the only source of social events is bleak. The major criticism of the Commons system, and indeed of recent changes in the social house system, is that small, specialized groups are forced into all-inclusiveness. This ruins a sense of common identity which first fraternities, and then social houses, felt within themselves and used to distinguish themselves from the other houses on campus.

I am not suggesting that we return to the days of discrimination, sexual harassment, and worse. I am, however, suggesting that the opposite of discrimination, all-inclusiveness, has clearly not solved the deeper social problems of sexual politics and intoxicated misconduct. The College's attempt at a "quick fix" has failed. Social houses, Commons, and academic interest houses will always have deeper societal problems until the College takes them on directly.

This in no way absolves students of responsibility or accountability; it does, however, place the College in its proper role: a model of behavior and community participation and improvement. At this time, the College has abdicated that role.

The second event, the College's master plan, recently conditionally approved by the town Planning Commission, further indicates College abandonment of responsibility. The first major blemish on the plan is the priority given to renovation of Starr Library: in the third tier, to begin within five years. For a College with almost an entire top administration made up of faculty members, this is a tragic flaw. The library is in drastic need of renovation immediately; the mold on the first floor in 1994-1995 was only the beginning of the end for a building which still lacks a proper ventilation/climate control system.

The administration has forgotten what, above all else, makes Middlebury attractive to students: academics. President McCardell has declared that this will be the "college of choice" in the twenty-first century. By deciding that the library will not be renovated until two years into that century, he has doomed that goal to ignominious failure. He has taken a decisive action to decrease the value of every Middlebury degree ever granted, including those to be conferred this weekend, and in May.

President McCardell and his administration are the employees of every student and every graduate. We employ them to keep the value of a Middlebury degree at its peak. He asks, "What does it mean to have gone to Middlebury?" The answer, all too soon, will be, "A very large tuition bill and a meaningless piece of parchment from an institution whose reputation is at its nadir."

Executive Vice President and College Treasurer David Ginevan has written of the College's fiduciary duty towards its land. He and his colleagues have neglected to consider its fiduciary duty towards its alumni and to its students.

Administrative neglect is rampant at Middlebury. It is a time when it is difficult for the trustees to make significant changes in the administration: we are halfway through a major $100 million capital campaign for the College's bicentennial. Yet the trustees must see that the damage being done to the College at present will be almost impossible to reverse. Action must be taken now, before our degree values plummet at the same time as tuition and enrollment skyrocket. Students must refuse to acknowledge an administration which is doing them nothing but disservice. Students must demand that change occur immediately. Alumni must support the students in their efforts, and contact their friends and colleagues to ensure the success of this initiative.

Opinion: Reconciliation begins

Published in the Mountainview

Middlebury College has run afoul of town officials and residents many times in the past two years. These were outlined in a Burlington Free Press editorial on Sunday 12 January 1997. That editorial outlined a plan for Middlebury College to again become the town's college, and for the town to again resume the role of the college's town. This entailed, in large part, slowing the pace of initiatives coming down the hill from the College and into town offices. The Free Press also argued that the College should open dialogue with town residents and officials, and return to a policy of harmony with the town, rather than its current policy of harming the town.

Last Tuesday night, 7 January 1997, evidence, however slight, appeared that the College is willing to open the dialogue again. At developer Myron Hunt's request, the College sponsored an open forum for dialogue about the use of the Maple Manor property. Residents were asked specifically to come with ideas for its use and development. This was not to be, and was not, a free-for-all against Mr. Hunt, the College, or development in general.

Numerous speakers discussed their own ideas, or those of others. Suggestions were brought up which Mr. Hunt no doubt found instructive. One can only hope that the College, by far the largest developer in town, was also listening. President McCardell was in attendance, as were David Ginevan, Ron Liebowitz, Don Wyatt, College Forester Steve Weber, Director of Public Affairs Philip Benoit, and numerous faculty and staff. Sadly, there were no students to be seen.

Principles discussed by town residents included the advice to "think small. It's time for a change after two hundred years." A conference center was suggested, which the College could certainly use as well as other local businesses and organizations. A park, suggested by several residents, would adhere to the intention Mr. Ginevan claimed in a letter to faculty and staff in August 1996, to "contribute to the greenway around Middlebury." A sporting field, also suggested as a complement to the MUJHS campus, would serve as a greenspace as well as a resource for all town residents.

Guiding principles requested by speakers included conformance with the Town Plan (not only a nicety, but required by law), "asking not what the town can do for the College, but what the College can do for the town," and enhancing the character and quality of the Rt. 7 South area in the vicinity of Key Bank. Mixed uses were suggested, based not only in thoughtful ideas but also in the mixed-use zoning criterion of the Village Residential-Commercial zoning desigation of the Maple Manor and adjoining property.

Criticism was voiced by several people, who complained that though the meeting was billed as a forum and introduced by President McCardell as a dialogue, there was no response from either Mr. Hunt or the College. This request was left unfulfilled. The next issue of the Addison Independent indicated that there would not be a continuation of dialogue from the College's point of view. President McCardell expressed his satisfaction that the College was no longer involved with the controversial issue, and could move on.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Middlebury College owns the land; the College must choose to sell the land or to develop it on its own. The College has decided to sell, but even in the act of selling may not shirk its fiduciary duties.

Now is the time to take advantage of positive momentum, the first positive momentum the College has had with the town public in two years. Now is the time for President McCardell and other officers of the College to walk down from the hill, as George Bush walked from Capitol Hill to the White House after his inauguration, to show that they are humble and human and trustworthy. The College has a unique window of opportunity, as the College Bicentennial approaches, to make town-College relations stronger than ever. To miss that opportunity would surely color the next two hundred years of the College's history. John McCardell is an historian. He would not want to be remembered as the man who forgot history. He has a chance today to change history for the better. We must encourage and support him in that effort.

Opinion: Cut the tape and start the show

Published in the Mountainview

Does it bother anyone else that both the President of the United States and the Speaker of the U.S. House of Reprensentatives are being investigated for ethics violations, and possible lawbreaking?

I by no means mean to say that either President Clinton or Speaker Gingrich are guilty of any wrongdoing or crimes; they will not be guilty of anything until convicted in a court of law, if their cases ever get that far. Those investigating the men may decide that there is no case to prosecute, or governmental sanction (censure by the House of Representatives, impeachment by the U.S. Senate) may be the last we hear of these men's activities beyond the law.

The old adage says, "Where there's smoke there's fire." In both men's cases, there has been an awful lot of smoke, and some fire. At the moment, investigations are proceeding. Each of these important men, in important national offices, is distracted from his duties by events indicating he should, potentially, no longer be in office. These distractions weaken and hinder the President and the Speaker, who perform duties requiring focus and strength.

I do not suggest by any means that we cancel the investigations of both these men. I do, however, hold that we must expedite the processes, encourage events, good or bad, to run their course quickly, and let whomever is President and whomever is Speaker at the end of the day do their jobs unquestioned.

What can be done? Members of the public can write to their Representatives and Senators, urging the completion of these investigations in a speedy manner. Politics should not be allow to govern these sorts of investigations. At the same time, we must be wary of convicting these men in the media. Each deserves his day in court, if the lawyers involved in each investigation decide that even that is necessary.

I must repeat that I do not wish to convict either man before all sides have been heard in a court of law. However, the mere fact that Mr. Clinton and Mr. Gingrich's attentions are diverted from central national issues, even if the allegations are not strong enough to merit a court case or legal censure, is damaging enough to the conduct and reputation of the American government at home and abroad. This is where the story lies: the media is distracting these men, and the public, even beyond what is appropriate.

The American public has not complained about this grave misdirection in the American media. They have been bullied for so long into thinking that what the TV says "America thinks" is what they thing, that what the TV provides is gospel, and that what the newspaper headlines say are the most important issues of the day, that they have given up. Mass disillusionment with the media has occurred; more Americans may "get their news from ABC News than from any other source," but they certainly don't think much of what they get from anyone.

The media has made a circus of the ethical shortfalls of our leaders; they have begun to condemn and beleaguer our leading politicians before any wrongdoing has been proven. This is an ethical violation on the part of the media, and the media should answer for it. Once, newspapers had to provide quality because there was a choice: newspapers had competitors in their home towns. Now, newspapers are giants, and have little or no competition in their hometowns or anywhere else. Quality is no longer the issue; it is quantity of news, the fact that a newspaper can be filled with text on some topic or other, which sells papers.

We blindly hope that someday real news will appear before our eyes on the pages of our favorite papers. We will not see that happen until we demand quality from our journalists, editors, and publishers, action from newspaper advertisers who agree with us, and intelligence on the part of the public.

Show review: How to Eat Like a Child

Published in the Mountainview

Children of all ages went to the Mt. Abraham Union High School on December 6-8 for the Middlebury Community Players' production of "How to Eat Like a Child (...And other lessons in not being a grown-up)." Twenty-one local children from 6 Addison County towns, from ages 8 to 14 performed the play, a series of 25 lessons on living life childishly.

While the audience filed in, filling about one-third of the Mt. Abraham UHS auditorium on Sunday afternoon, local youth band Eclypse played a section of jazz and rock covers with great skill and aplomb.

The lights dimmed, and the company arranged themselves on stage to deliver the opening number, "Like a Child." They offered to reveal secrets children everywhere keep from adults, if we promised not to tell anyone what we saw or heard. The children in the audience (young and old) laughed along with the fun, and were impressed with the singing, acting, and choreography.

The scene changes were indicated by a sign on the side of the stage, to identify which lesson the audience was now learning. The two girls in charge of changing this sign and announcing the new lesson did so in a particularly childlike manner, squabbling, bossing each other around, and teasing each other lightly.

Many different types of lessons were taught, from "how to stay home from school," a fruitless attempt by three girls to feign illness and skip school for a day, to "how to understand your parents," in which everything parents say is translated into kid-speak as "No." Celebratory lessons about walking home from school, and begging parents for a dog, were poignant and amusing, with genuine portrayals by the actors, who no doubt feel life's simple pleasures are important.

Especially noteworthy were a few skits which were largely solo performances: "how to deal with injustice," sung by Elisa Schine (age 11, of Middlebury) with wonderful expression, projection, and melody; "how to wait," sung by Rini Lovshin-Smith (age 11, of Middlebury) with just the right mix of loneliness and eagerness; "how to look forward to your birthday," sung by Eliza Murawski (age 11, of Shoreham), a song which was funny and touching at the same time, pointing out that the best part of a birthday is "when Mom and Dad tell me they're glad I was born" - a lesson no parent should ever forget.

Each of the children was given a major role in one or more of the lessons, an opportunity for each of them to get time on center stage, and a chance for the audience to see the talents of each performer. There was a uniformly high quality of performance throughout the show, and while some people got a bit more stage time than others, every performance was delightful and entertaining. Indeed, director Barbara Harding, of Cornwall, said that sixty children auditioned for the 15 available parts in the show. Twenty-one were case, because of the quality of their performances: "We just couldn't cut them," Harding said.

The last lesson, "how to go to bed," featured all of the cast members trying to stay awake as long as possible without waking "Dad," played by a rumpled and tousled Buck Sleeper (age 13, of Cornwall). As expected, even Cliff Burnham (age 11, of Cornwall) eventually collapsed into slumber while murmuring, "I refuse to fall asleep."

Congratulations are also in order to the adults who directed, stage-managed, and otherwise assisted in the production. No doubt they learned better than the audience that children look at the world through different eyes, and live lives we can all smile at.

The Middlebury Community Players are a group of local actors and actresses of all ages who perform various pieces throughout the year. "How to Eat Like a Child" will be performed again in the spring at the Middlebury Union High School. Keep your eyes open for publicity and posters! The Community Players' next production will be their spring musical, "Follies" by Stephen Sondheim.