The Story of Garnet Hill Lodge : The End of the Beginning

Well the Fourth Of July holiday is almost here. That means we're coming to the end of our spring sprint to get the whole place in shape for the summer season. It's been quite a ride to get to where we are at the half year point. Our management team and staff have done a great job in steering this ship and keeping things on course. Especially our lodge manager Pat Connor, our chef Andrew Bulmer and our food and beverage manager Jeff Goodspeed, have done an exceptional job of planning and executing on the myriad tasks that have been assigned to them. Here's a list of some of the things we've accomplished to that end, in no special order:

Built a screen porch next to the pub
Cleaned up the woods around the Lodge, thinned trees, cut underbrush and cleared the view of the lake.
Created and printed a summer season brochure.
Set up marketing and advertising programs for the summer.
Planned and mapped out summer programs and strategies - The Mild To Wild Adventure Center, Mountain Biking, Boating, Beach, Hiking, etc...
Implemented procedures for bike rentals and boat usage for guests.
Hired staff for summer - interns, full-time, part-time. Trained wait staff, front-desk staff and housekeeping staff.
Created new menus for summer.
Put in flowers and bulbs, window boxes, planters, garden beds etc...
Got the lawns cleaned up and in shape.
Fixed up the machinery for mowing grass and trails.
Cleared the trails of brush, rocks and leaves.
Cut the grass on trails used the leaf blower on the single track trails
Mapped out, surveyed and implemented a shooting range for ski biathlons to be held over the winter.
Initiated marketing and advertising efforts to increase guest occupancy.
Hired maintenance staff to fix various infrastructure problems - electrical, plumbing, doors and locks, windows, roofs, refrigeration, etc...
Painted most of the trim around the Log House
Had new Tee Shirts and Hats made with the Garnet Hill Lodge logo on them to start stocking the gift shop with.

So that's what we've done so far, but there's still the whole summer to get a lot more done.

And now we're ready for the guests to arrive and enjoy the summer here. Bookings have been good, and though there are still numerous openings to accommodate more guests, we expect the Lodge to fill out nicely.

And so today, Saturday, Mindy and I are taking off to go see Garrison Keillor and A Prairie Home Companion live tonight at the music shed at Tanglewood, MA.

Meanwhile, here are some recent pics:

My family came for a bit of a reunion visit last weekend. Here, two of my brothers, Carl and Fred, on each side of me and my nephew James on the right. We took a walk up to Hooper mine before breakfast.

The Log House with granite boulders now marking the entrance way

The tractor mowing the little field at the bottom of the hill

This is the machine I'm using to cut the trails with. It's a 53 inch sickle bar on front of a walk behind tractor. It works great. With two passes it makes a very nice 8 foot wide trail.