For students looking forward to a sweet treat between Thursday classes, the task is now a little more difficult. The familiar aroma of freshly-baked cookies at the Columbia Area Career Center is gone, at least temporarily, according to Computer Aided Design (CAD) teacher Bob Allee.
“We stopped selling because Otis Spunkmeyer right now is not delivering to the Columbia area,” Allee said. “They decided, unless they can find a vendor that delivers to our area, they’re not going to [deliver] any products [here]. So right now, we’re out of Otis Spunkmeyer products.”
Allee is not sure of the reasoning behind the discontinuation of Otis Spunkmeyer’s delivery service to Columbia, but he believes the decision is probably based on cutting costs. Currently, the closest Otis Spunkmeyer vendors are located in St. Louis and Springfield, neither of which agreed to drive to Columbia just to deliver the cookie dough. Until another cookie brand or Otis Spunkmeyer vendor is found nearby, “Cookie Thursday” will be no more.
Until now, the CAD class at the CACC used the Otis Spunkmeyer cookie sales to raise money for their class. According to CAD student junior Andrew Selva, the money helps to pay for the class’ trip to SkillsUSA and other competitions later in the year. Senior Jesse LaFond is unsure of how the temporary disappearance will affect the CAD class’ funds but is not too upset by the cookies’ discontinuation.
“I bought them a few times, and I enjoy them, but I’m not too sad about it just because I’ve only gotten them a couple of times and I’m not a big fan of cookies,” LaFond said. “I would look forward to it if they came back, but I’m not sure if it would hurt or help CAD. I figure the extra money couldn’t hurt.”
Students such as LaFond may hardly notice the absence of sugary snacks each week. However, for others, such as junior Haley Benson, this news brings the end of a ritual.
“I bought [the cookies] every single Thursday, so I’m really going to miss them, and they should definitely bring them back. I definitely want them back,” Benson said. “It is a tradition to go get cookies every single Thursday from Otis Spunkmeyer because they are delicious and melt in your mouth.”
Allee hopes to find another source for cookie dough so CAD can continue to raise money and provide students with a tasty bite. He plans to contact Subway and several fundraising companies to see whether they could help. Allee said the CAD class has sold other types of cookies in the past, but it is difficult to top the Otis Spunkmeyer brand. For him, it is more important to consider quality in finding a new cookie vendor than to bring the cookies back with less success and enthusiasm.
“I don’t want to go buy just any cookie brand that just isn’t any good; I’d prefer to find something that’s close,” Allee said. “I tried using the Nestle Tollhouse cookies, and they sell OK for a little while, but they aren’t nearly as good as the Otis ones are. So right now we’re currently just trying to find a vendor that can give us something close — it doesn’t have to be Otis, it could be anybody else. … But getting it in the already ready-to-create mode and not having to dip it out and do all that stuff is something we’re looking for.”
By Alyssa Sykuta
Additional reporting by Adam Schoelz
What do you think about the temporary end of “Cookie Thursday?” Will you miss the Otis Spunkmeyer cookies?