RHONDA LANDS A RESORT TEAM TWO-FER

We have two new members of The Resort team and, conveniently, they not only both live at The Resort but are a couple, Jeff and Ann Christensen. Our new Activity Director did such a great job of writing an introduction of herself that we will step aside and let her at it…

A BIG HELLO! AND WELCOME BACK! TO ALL OUR RETURNING RESORT FRIENDS

FROM ANN CHRISTENSEN – YOUR NEIGHBOR

AND NEW ACTIVITY DIRECTOR

Yes, you read that right. As of September 21^stand 22^nd, our prior Activity Director and assistant decided to move on to other things and I am pleased and honored to have been appointed as your activity director moving forward.

Just a short bit about me: My husband, Jeff, and I purchased property in The Resort in 2015 and moved here from Texas to live full time in December 2016. I am originally from Canada – Born in Newfoundland (yes – proud to be a Newfie) and grew up in Vancouver. Jeff and I were married in July of 2011 and at that time I moved to the US as a permanent resident. Together we have 3 adult children, 2 grandchildren and another on the way this next March. We have both enjoyed our time here – meeting new friends, taking part in activities, and getting acquainted with the summer desert heat. But enough about me!

I am committed to do all I can to schedule and conduct activities that we hope appeal to a large majority of you. I am busy working on confirming the activities that have been scheduled as well as developing plans for some new ones. We will do our best to be dancing on Friday nights – there are several great bands that have been booked – and are working on adding more. Be looking for info to come out on a “Resort Fella’s Food Fest” where the GUYS get to cook for all in the park one evening as a charity fundraising event. Earlier arrivals – be looking for info to come out on a “2^nd Annual Appetizer Crawl” – coming to a street near you. (This was a hugely successful event for the earlier arrivals last year)  AND – make a note – Bingo moves to Thursday evenings this year along with a new program offering new games and larger prizes. In addition, it is my understanding that several of you might enjoy a day bus trip to a local casino and we will be looking at adding that as a park activity as well.

As I have just taken this over, I am SO aware that not much of anything can come off here without the help of our loyal, faithful volunteers. So please stop by the activity office to get acquainted and find out where volunteer opportunities are. We have so many that have been loyal and faithful volunteers over the years and it has been so pleasing to get so many offers of help so far in order to accomplish the things we would like to do.  You cannot imagine how much the help and support are appreciated.

NOW- as many of you know, on July 9^th the Resort was hit by a very large and destructive microburst storm that caused varying degrees of damage to approximately 147 units. Many year-round residents here at The Resort put in time and effort to help clean up and haul debris out of the streets as well as tarp roofs, and a few summer care residents were kept busy handling insurance appointments and other related things.  As well, our sister park – Silveridge – experienced significant storm damage on August 9^th when 4+ inches of rain fell in a very short time and caused much of the roof to collapse in on their clubhouse.  Because of the disruption at Silveridge, we have arranged to share our facilities with them so they can have activities. Activity directors and assistants both with their office volunteers will office in the Resort Activity Office for the foreseeable future – likely thru December based on current estimates of construction activities. I am asking that you make our guests feel welcome as I am sure they would to us if it were the other way around. Needless to say – this has been an interesting summer.

Let me close by saying that much about this position will be new to me so I ask for your input and understanding. I need your suggestions and feedback in order to make sure we accommodate as many as possible. Please stop by and introduce yourself as soon as you have checked in at the office. Might just have a small gift for you if you get here in time!

Looking forward to a great 2018 / 2019 season!

Sincerely,

Ann Christensen

I asked Ann and Rhonda how the new assignment came about, and it happened that Rhonda stopped at the Christensen’s home on a Saturday morning and, over coffee, explained that she suddenly had need of a new Activities Director. Ann mentioned that she might be available, so Rhonda, having known her for years, had a one sentence job interview: “When can you get to work?” Ann moved into the AD office the following Monday.

But Rhonda wasn’t done. She had earlier recruited Jeff Christensen to be the Manager of the bingo program.

Jeff smiles when he explains his on-the-job training – going to casinos to check out their bingo. That sounded like a great research assignment, but other parts of his new job have not been as pleasant, like getting a new, upgraded bingo license from the State. He said, “We decided we wanted to offer some new games and some higher payouts. But that meant that we’d bring in more money and that required an upgraded license.” In order to make that happen he’s made multiple trips to the state offices. “I wanted to make sure it happened in a timely manner and I know how government agencies can be — you call and ask, ‘Did you get this or that?’ and they say they aren’t sure, they’ll have to check. So I go to their office and hand it to them myself and I can tell them they have the material and show them the receipt.”

The upshot is that we have two new team members who are bringing a new energy to their jobs, and as I watched them work could see that they bring new energy to each other.

Rhonda summed up the new team members this way: “This couple is not going anywhere. They are here to stay.”

STATUS UPDATE ON HDTV/INTERNET

Here’s the latest from Chris Castro of GDS:

“Things are the same. We’re going as fast as we can. Solving problems. New equipment being installed daily.”

Having heard questions about the burying of cables, Chris said this: “It’s going to look ugly for a while, but it will they’ll start disappearing. We’re getting everything stabilized and ready for everyone to come back.”

So the upshot is that the work is proceeding, with not much new news. We do, however, have this, a photo Rhonda took of GDS’s construction leader, Tim Furlong, still working despite the recent rainstorms.

LABOR DAY CELEBRATION

Labor Day saw a celebration at Studio 55, one that included not just The Resort but also Silveridge residents.

NEWS ON OUR SISTER PARK

If you’re curious about the rebuilding work over at Silveridge, there are photos and an interview with the man in charge of the project in the new issue of The Silveridge Sun. (Click below for that.)

Meanwhile, here’s an excerpt from that article, the story of how the team at Silveridge is keeping the offices open…

Here’s one example of how the [city permitting] restrictions are affecting the work: Instead of installing temporary offices in a construction trailer, they are now in a portable storage unit, let’s call it the Office in a Box. Why? Because a construction trailer calls for a greater power load and therefore requires a city permit. To save time, they went with the box you see just outside the clubhouse entrance.

In the interior photos you can see Sue, Kay and Kim working side-by-side. We found them in good spirits as they joked about the close quarters. I asked how the residents are taking the disruption and they said many neighbors had rallied round, including Janet Ross who’d recently stopped by with cookies. That caused Sue to say, “But we have to be careful – if any of us gains weight, we won’t fit in here.” Then she thought better of that comment and added, “No, don’t write that – we love it when people bring us food.”

FOR MORE PHOTOS AND THE FULL ARTICLE, CLICK HERE