The Winners Have Been Announced...

Halloween is quickly approaching and Nemacolin Woodlands Resort takes the time each year to create our own spooktacle with an Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest that is open to our Associates. This contest has become quite competitive over the years with Departments planning their entry well in advance . Winners are determined by associate votes and the categories include: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Most Scariest and Most Creative.

Check out our 2011 entries and award-winners. Thank you to our associates for their time and effort. Until next year... (cue the witch laughter and lightening!)

The Favorite - Engineering Department

Most Creative - Props Team

Most Scariest - Laundry Department

The Woodlands Spa Team

Turfgrass Department

Carolyn Wilmonth, Falling Rock Food & Beverage Team

Activities Department

Human Resources Department

Congratulations to our Associates of the Month!

A BIG Nemacolin thank you and congratulations to our Associates of the Month. Thank you for your hard work, commitment to excellence and above-and-beyond attitudes. We appreciate you and we know our guests do too!

If you see these Nemacolin Stars during your next stay, be sure to tell "Congratulations" on being named Associates of the Month!

ASSOCIATES OF THE MONTH

Rising Star
Valerie Stark – Purchasing Department











Back Of The House
Terry Hager - Turfgrass Department











Front Of The House
Karrie Kamp – Activities Department










Leader of the Month
Amanda Pompe – Tavern Restaurant

Happy Fall!

We rang in the New Year with a blistery Winter, greeted Spring, kicked-off Summer and now are welcoming Fall. Seems as soon as we say hello to a season, we are turning around and saying goodbye. However, it is always Fall that makes us slow down, take a deep breath and realize, "wow, here we are in another season of fun." We know that the saying is true, "times flies when you are having fun," but we also think that there is something else about Fall.

It has to be the beauty of the season. Surrounded by the mountains of Pennsylvania's Laurel Highlands, rolling hills as far as the eye can see, and colors that pop against the bright blue sky. Warm tones of red, orange, green and yellow are scattered perfectly throughout. It is almost as if Mother Nature got out her crayon box and touched up the horizon. But it isn't just the colors. It is also the feel that Fall naturally brings. The smell that lingers in the crisp air. It is a season that feels alive, warm and inviting.

So, take the time this Fall for a much needed break. Even if it is to hop in your car and drive. Leaf peepers... We are not quite at peak but it is still worth a drive!

Happy National Customer Service Week!

Happy National Customer Service Week!

We really do not need a special holiday to recognize our loyal guests and devoted associates, but since the first week of October is designated National Customer Service Week, we thought we would take the opportunity to shout-out our gratitude.

Thank you to our guests! YOU make what we do FUN. YOU make us strive to be the best and to push ourselves to be better. YOU make us proud of the service we provide each day. Thank you for choosing Nemacolin as YOUR resort.

Our guests return year after year not only because of our abundance of activities, championship golf, world renowned spa and award-winning dining options, but because of our associates! While it has been great to be honored throughout the years with industry leading awards and to be known as a travel destination that has something for everyone. What really brings our guests back is the way our associates make them feel. We receive emails and letters weekly from guests thanking us for their experience. Not one letter is received without the mention of our service or a reference to an associate by name. Think about your own travel experiences. The places that keep you coming back year after year. Why? We imagine it is because of the feeling you experience when you arrive and even more importantly how you feel when you leave.


What other ways are we celebrating National Customer Service Week?

Nemacolin is offering a chance to win a Complimentary One Night Stay
in the Chateau Lafayette or Lodge*

1 - Follow @Nemacolin

2 - Contest runs October 4 - 9, 2011. Ending at 11:59 pm on October 9, 2011.

2. Tweet this message exactly:
Follow @Nemacolin & RT WIN a 1-NT Nemacolin Stay in honor of Customer Service Wk! http://bit.ly/nN5LUG #contest

CLICK HERE for Contest Rules.

Buying Local This Fall Season

Brent Wertz, Vice President of Food & Beverage and Executive Chef at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort shares images from his recent trip to a local Western Pennsylvania Auction. Nemacolin supports the "buy local" approach by visiting local auctions weekly to purchase produce needs for the Resort. This past week was pumpkin week and the resort was able to purchase many to decorate and prepare the Resort for the fall season.

Check out the video below of Chef Wertz when he was interviewed by WJAC TV at the Auction. Because of the water damage / flooding caused by Hurricane Irene and this season's other Tropical Storms, many Pennsylvania farms suffered large pumpkin crop losses. However, local farms near Nemacolin were spared.

Nemacolin Chef Is An Auction Addict... Buying Local Is A MUST!

There is nothing like the local produce grown in Western Pennsylvania. This time of year the tomatoes are ripe, corn is super sweet and the onions are memorable. Yes, a memorable onion, who would have thought it to be possible? But as I walk the rows and rows of fresh local fruits and vegetables at local auctions while buying produce for all Nemacolin's restaurants, sometimes I think that the onions are so good that they look like they were photoshopped. That is what farmer attention and genuine caring for their products produces... it can be amazing.

There are countless reasons why buying local food is both rewarding and delicious, including enjoying the taste of fresh food, improved health and nutrition, environmental stewardship, and support for family farms and rural communities. But for me, and the many Chef's at Nemacolin it’s all about the unmatched flavor that the Laurel Highlands can add to a vegetable. The earthy garden that can make a huge difference between a red tomato and an Amish farmer grown tomato that was picked that day. In some cases, they might not be perfect, but when you put your nose close to them and bask in that natural fantastic smell of a freshly picked beefsteak tomato bursting with juice, there is no comparison to what you might find in a grocery store. I attend and buy from two to three rural auctions a week searching for the best of the best for our guests and get to meet some fantastic people along the way.

Developing a relationship with local farmers gives me an "in" with our local food system. At produce auctions I meet the farmer who has devoted his life to the vegetables he is holding and get incomparable insight about the growing seasons, upcoming crops, and often, take a tour of the farm our food comes from. There is nothing like rubbing elbows with the folks responsible for the food I serve and it allows me in some cases, to form fit crops to my needs and the needs of our guests.

Another significant reason to buy local, is to keep food miles to a minimum. "Food miles" refer to the distance a food item travels from the farm to your home. This all comes down to a Chef caring intensely about what they serve, getting the absolute best, and building strong connections to local area farms that are trying to survive.

I was speaking to an Amish gentleman this week about the comparison of his tomatoes to those grown in far-away places and he summed it up in a very short but meaningful manner. “Chef, relative to tomatoes from far and near it’s simple… gas ripens theirs and God ripens mine.” Hard to argue with a hardworking man who is so in touch with his product he absolutely dares you to compare.

Chef Brent Wertz
Food & Beverage VP, Executive Chef
Nemacolin Woodlands Resort

Sweater Vest Versus ( and?) Cardigan

“No, it’s a cardigan but thanks for noticing.” Ah, one of the greatest lines in cinema history. 1994, Dumb and Dumber. Completely not golf related, but still ridiculously funny to me.

I don’t know exactly where I planned on going with those first few sentences, but the gist of this blog is to help you decide the begging golf attire question… sweater vest or cardigan? Big decision, I know! We are slowly climbing down the downward spiral to cooler temperatures and have to start thinking about fall fashion on the golf course.

I’m not talking about drenching yourself in a bright orange polo with an even brighter orange pair of pants with “matching” orange shoes and an even brighter orange hat. Which, I should mention is brighter than the bright orange pants. That’s a bit much to see on TV let alone in person. Let’s be a bit more congenial towards your fellow golfers and dress a little less loud. (On the other hand, if you can pull off the Loudmouth golf pants, hey, go for it!)

To me, the big decision for this fall is sweater vest or cardigan. I am a big fan of sweater vests. Always have been and always will be. But where did this newly popular cardigan come from? I’m a fan… but please don’t tell my sweater vests that are safe and secure in my closest eagerly awaiting to be released with the cool temperatures ahead. In fact, one of those sweater vests just might have the chance to be broken out this week (high of 71 degrees in the mountains). I’m not going to lie, I have missed that extra layer! I’m perplexed though…wearing a cardigan is a brave move, at least for me. The last time I wore a cardigan was in elementary school and it was not by choice. Do I free up a hangar in my closest for a nice, new cardigan? (Maybe if I start smoking I can pull off a cardigan?)

Ah, this is more the look I am going for…a classic look, but young. At this point, it’s not sweater vest VERSUS cardigan… it is sweater vest AND cardigan. Now the big decision is, do I start accumulating the same amount of cardigans as sweater vests or stay true to what I know? I’ll figure it out as time goes on I suppose (or until my wife goes shopping for me next).

I don’t claim to be an individual with vast fashion knowledge. Heck, I wear socks with sandals and horizontal striped Polo's with vertically striped pants and I don’t think twice about it. But what I do know is that if you don’t play golf well, at least dress like you know how to play. That’s my mantra and I hold true to it ‘till the very end of each season. Then I break out my tan cords for the winter. The End.

Ryan Carmen
Golf Operations Manager
Nemacolin Woodlands Resort