Teacher trades in her textbooks for cookbooks in summer

LAURIE EDWARDS | Laker Weekly

Beth-Boyd Blair holds one of the box lunches she makes and delivers to customers in the Westlake area.

Summer means downtime for Beth-Boyd Blair. The Hardy resident teaches at Round Hill Elementary School in Roanoke, so June, July and August leave her hands idle. This summer, Blair decided to fill some of that time with a business venture that incorporates one of her passions: cooking.

On July 7, Blair started operating BeeBeez Bounty, a catering service. She put together a menu and began delivering box lunches to customers in the Westlake area.

"I think there's a little niche here at the lake for people who can't get out for lunch," said Blair.

Her lunch ($6.54) includes bread, a deviled egg, soda or bottled water, one of two desserts and a choice of two of several salads and sides. The most popular are chicken salad, pasta salad and apple slaw, said Blair.

She's acquired a few regular lunch customers, but her catering and by-the-pound sales are the most popular facets of the business, said Blair. Given 24 hours, she delivers catered items including breakfast dishes, sides, salads, dips and desserts.

"Another niche I have is doing funeral foods," said Blair. "When you're going through that, you don't want any more stress than you already have."

She offers memorial menus for breakfast, brunch and lunch buffets. Blair said she began offering them when she heard that fewer people were bringing food to memorial services.

When classes resume at Round Hill Elementary School next month, Blair said she'll continue offering by-the-pound items and catered buffets for memorial, parties and other events. The boxed lunches, however, will be on hiatus until next summer.

BeeBeez Bounty, 588-8906 or beebee722@aol.com. www.beebeezbounty.com