Full Text:

Is It Spaghetti Yet? - Preschoolers Visit Botsford Pasta Shop

Faeto Pasta and Catering Shop co-owner Doreen Scarpetti shows the afternoon

class from the Country Nursery School how spaghetti is made.

-Bee Photos, Evans

Ms Scarpetti hands strands of spaghetti around to the children, Travis LeBlanc

(from left, clockwise), Carolyn Fagerholm, Haakon Sorensen and Casey Kearns.

Luckily, Haakon Sorensen is just tall enough to see over the countertop.

B Y D OROTHY E VANS

When the first big slab of uncut noodle came rolling out of the spaghetti

machine, the 15 preschoolers from the Country Nursery School were skeptical.

Even after Faeto pasta shop co-owner Doreen Scarpetti let the children touch

and smell the soft pliable dough, they weren't convinced that this was the raw

stuff of a spaghetti and meatball dinner.

"Watch what happens when I put it through here," Ms Scarpetti told them as she

fed the noodle between two giant rollers of a cutting machine and turned the

crank.

"Oh, Wow!" the children commented with satisfaction, as they watched the

strings of spaghetti emerge like magic and drop onto the table top in neatly

folded clumps.

Making minor adjustments to the pasta machine, Ms Scarpetti was then able to

produce linguine and angel hair, as last Wednesday's field trip to the kitchen

of the Faeto Pasta and Catering Shop at 316 South Main Street drew to a close.

Not only did the children learn that flour, water and an egg could be mixed

together to create noodles, they got to take home containers of the finished

product for their families to enjoy.

"We really appreciated the chance to visit the shop and see how pasta is

made," said nursery school director Veronica Boyce.

Actually, one little girl named Kristin preferred to call it a "spaghetti

factory," Mrs Boyce said.