Weatherford College is rushing to ready citizens of Weatherford, which went wet two short years ago, for an onslaught of thirsty Super Bowl-goers.
The school's work force and continuing education department is partnering with Wild Mushroom Restaurant to train new bartenders. While graduates of the weeklong course aren't guaranteed employment, work-force training and development coordinator Julie Lundy predicts there will be plenty of bars and party hosts on the hunt for professionally trained, TABC-certified servers. Plus, she adds, Wild Mushroom owner and class instructor John Shepherd "has connections in the industry and is willing to help."
An instructor at The Premium Institute of Bartending, one of many private bartending schools in the DFW area, says he's not aware of any students signing up for his school's standard two-week class just to land Super Bowl employment -- nor is the institute offering any sort of crash course in advance of the big game -- but he's already placed at least 200 graduates at Super Bowl events.
"Hotels here are filling up," says Lundy, whose school is located 42 miles from Cowboy Stadium.
Weatherford's College course starts Monday and costs $299. The price includes a bar kit.
