All State Choir

[HAK1031]

I am performing in the CT All State Choir at the beginning of April, and basically it is a 3-day festival where the choir, made up of singers from all around the state, rehearses like crazy and then puts on a concert. They are housing us at a Mariott, and providing food for all three days.

I spoke with my director, who said that they are very good at handling allergies, and he has taken students with multiple allergies in the past. He said that usually they do things like pizza, but will come up with alternatives like chicken, salad, etc. He said that once we get there we would talk to them. I am just concerned about CC, of course, and I plan to bring plenty of granola bars! Anyone have any thoughts on what I should do or say to whoever is in charge? I can't get sick, I need to sing!! lol

[gluten15]

Congrats, good luck and hope it all works out. Was going to also suggest that you take some Humm Foods Larabars with you. Easy, very nutricious and filling.

Not to go off topic on you..but when you mention granola bars..something I miss very much. Which one's do you eat that are safe? Thanks!

[HAK1031]

For granola bars, I eat nature valley roasted nut crunch. These are the only gluten-free nature valley bars...all the others have oats and barley malt. They are basically just nuts and seeds...similar to lara bars, but I haven't found lara bars aroud here. Clif nectar bars are also along those lines. I also like Glutino breakfast bars, which are like nutrigrain bars. For something a little less nutritious, the Envirokidz crispy rice bars are good...a little like rice krispy treats, but not junk food.

[Phyllis28]

One option is to call the hotel and ask to speak with the head chef. Explain the gluten free dietary restrictions and ask what the hotel can provide.

Regardless of the answer I would suggest you bring along the following in addition to the bars:

Rice Cakes and/or gluten free bread

A jar of peanut butter

A jar of jelly

Gluten free salad dressing

Plastic knifes and paper plates

If you have room to bring a small ice chest you might add:

Cheese

Yogurt and plasitc spoons

Lunch Meat.

Refill the ice chest each day from the ice machine.

Have a super trip.

[megsylvan2]

I am performing in the CT All State Choir at the beginning of April, and basically it is a 3-day festival where the choir, made up of singers from all around the state, rehearses like crazy and then puts on a concert. They are housing us at a Mariott, and providing food for all three days.

I spoke with my director, who said that they are very good at handling allergies, and he has taken students with multiple allergies in the past. He said that usually they do things like pizza, but will come up with alternatives like chicken, salad, etc. He said that once we get there we would talk to them. I am just concerned about CC, of course, and I plan to bring plenty of granola bars! Anyone have any thoughts on what I should do or say to whoever is in charge? I can't get sick, I need to sing!! lol

First of all - congratulations on making All State!! Kudos to you! You will have fun.

With regards to your food, I don't believe I would want to wait until you got there to handle it, or you might either be very hungry for 3 days - or too sick to enjoy the experience. Your director probably doesn't understand the difficulties and intricacies of being gluten-free, nor the consequences of mistakes. In my experience, eating gluten free is very different from other food allergies because gluten is so pervasive in our food base. It is likely there could be very little for you to eat, or you could have a very miserable bus ride home.

If it were me, I would opt to contact the Mariott ahead of time. Actually, you might want to have your mom do it (I assume this is high school All State?) That way you can plead innocence with your director and let your mom be the fall guy. Anyway, after calling to determine the appropriate person, I think I would probably send an email explaining your condition and listing what foods you cannot eat and which ones are safe. I'd probably keep it along the lines of the dining cards that list not only grains, breads and flours, but also some of the hidden sources of gluten like soy sauce, malt, maltodextrin, caramel color, etc.

Actually, I would expect them to respond with reassurances and the name and number of someone to assist me. After a few days I would follow up the email with a phone call so that I could actually discuss this with someone to be sure satisfactory arrangement are made. I'd be sure to offer to pay any extra costs if needed. Mariott is a top hotel and I expect their staff would be familiar with special diet accomodations, but I think they would need advance notice to provide you with alternatives.

I've been a band parent and chaperoned many band trips. Although I wasn't gluten intolerant at the time, I know what kind of food is served on these trips. Breakfast is usually the Continental breakfast served by the hotel, so you will be limited to fruit, yogurt, and juice - if you are lucky. Lunch and dinner will be the usual American fare. If it is pizza - you will be limited to a salad. You would have to ask for extra protein to make it a chef's salad, so you can at least have some protein. Dinner might be pasta and salad, so you would have the same issue there. If you are lucky, it could be chicken breasts and salad. Will the chicken breasts be breaded, will the salad come with croutons, what kind of sauces will be on the chicken, what kinds of dressings come on the salads?

There are all too many places to slip up. Usually the group is always rushing from here to there and has a limited amount of time to get through the meal, so if you have special requests or need to return or exchange your food, there will not be time. I'm afraid you will either be very hungry or try to make the best of what you are given and end up sick. I just don't think it will work out well for you without some advance planning and forethought on the part of the event staff. I actually think the event staff would appreciate the advance notice and will probably go out of their way to see that you are well taken care of during your stay.

You might feel that you don't want to stand out among your friends, but you probably won't have to wait for your food, your food will probably look better than that of your friends, and your friends will probably wish they could be as lucky! You want to be able to enjoy your time there and not be sick or hungry your whole time there, so I think you should definitely contact them ahead of time and see what can be arranged. I think you'll be glad you did!

Good luck to you!

-- Meg

[HAK1031]

I'm back!! And pleased to report that I had a fabulous weekend!

I didn't wind up calling in advance, turns out I didn't need to. Here's how my weekend went: When we first got there on Thursday morning, my director and I went to talk to the event chair who talked to the kitchen so that they were aware. The hotel chef was clearly well versed in GFdom. I had chicken and vegetables with just olive oil and salt and pepper (still really yummy though!) for lunch and dinner that day. The next day the breakfast was ok for me, eggs, bacon and homefries, and trix cereal. For lunch I had a salad. Dinner was really yummy, steak with carrots and snow peas and rice. The next day I had fruit and trix for breakfast and another salad for lunch. Everyone was really nice and understanding. The only thing I missed out on were the yummy looking desserts! But overall, it worked out SO well. And I never felt even a little bit sick. Everytime I explained to the people I was sitting with what gluten was, almost everyone said "Oh my friend/aunt/cousin/brother has that!"

Just thought I'd share Oh and my prom is being held at that hotel, so I'll be in good hands!