Following Danita Timmons, assistant director of Panther Dining, around over the course of a day can wear down shoe tread in a hurry.

Timmons receives few breaks while running Thomas Hall Dining Center.

At one glance she’s answering a telephone, then she asks someone if the french fries are warm enough. Then she discusses a piece from the broken dishwasher.

After that she asks her employees how they are doing today, and at the next instant she talks to a few students commenting on their day’s lunch of chicken and vegetable soup.

Sound like a busy day?

Day is such a broad title because the above play-by-play was for only five minutes out of the energetic Timmons’ daily routine.

“I like to be visible; therefore, I don’t really have a set schedule,” Timmons said. “I am busy fielding questions until the afternoon when things quiet down.”

The lunch lines at the Thomas Hall Dining Center were especially busy Thursday afternoon because, as Timmons put it: “everyone wants to eat lunch before they leave for home.”

Russell Meskinen, a sophomore financing major who was serving country fried steak and potatoes in the Andrews line, said he appreciates Timmons’ attention to detail.

“She always asks how I am doing,” he said. “She asks how classes are going, just pretty much everything in life, and that shows that she cares.”

And that extra care trickles down to the 1,300 students who eat in Thomas Hall Dining Center every day.

Robert Browning, a political science graduate student who also competed in last weekend’s Mr. EIU competition, said Timmons arranged some days for his lunch to be specially cooked.

“Danita tells me what she has (for the day’s lunch) that is low in fat every day,” he said. “And she sometimes cooks things especially for me — like when they serve chicken, they will cook mine separate so that there is no fat.”

By the time Timmons can help students with personal food requests, she has gone through half of her daily routine.

Since last week’s opening of the Marketplace at Thomas Hall Dining Center, Timmons now begins work around 8 a.m., which is a challenge with two sons, Evan, 5, and Logan, 2.

“I only run into problems just getting to work; when I get there things normally work out,” she said with a smile.

Timmons uses the slow-paced mornings to answer phone calls, respond to e-mails and order food. After Thomas finishes serving lunch and cleaning up around 2 p.m., Timmons oversees the prep work for dinner and attends meetings.

During the lunch rush, Timmons walks feverishly around the dining center.

“I need to get one of those odometers to see how much I actually walk in a day,” she commented while striding from the dining hall to the kitchen.

Timmons, who also had 13 years of restaurant experience at Richard’s Farm in Casey, a town about 20 miles south of Charleston, has had her hand in just about everything (but hopefully not in the food).

After student workers show up for work around 10 a.m., lunch is prepared. Shortly before 11 a.m. Thursday, the stainless steel-dominated kitchen, which has access to both Thomas’ and Andrews’ lines, was busy with employees frying hamburgers and country fried chicken.

Timmons said most of the food served for the meal is in a storage freezer in the kitchen, but other supplies like desserts, meats and paper supplies are stored in the basement.

And from all the employees’ hard work, the end result is the food Eastern students consume every day.

“Ultimately, I want people to eat here not because they have to, but because they want to come,” Timmons said.

For Browning, his choice to eat at Eastern was not one made out of necessity.

“She has really accommodated me and been really nice,” said Browning, who took second in his division at Mr. EIU. “She’s been really helpful.”

Just like the menu of food served in the dining halls Timmons oversees, her job is ever-changing.

“I enjoy the positive, upbeat pro-active environment,” she said. “Everyone is energetic and there is something new everyday. It’s nice to be around such a young atmosphere.”