March 7, 2025

427: Event Planning Adventures and Lessons w/ Rachel Brown Evansville Country Club

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00:00 - Club Radio Show With Club Director

09:47 - Membership and Marketing at the Club

18:07 - Club Event Planning and Modernization

24:53 - Event Success and Challenges

36:59 - Club Haunted House Planning Chat

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Hey everybody, welcome to the Private Club Radio Show, where we give you the scoop on all things private golf and country clubs From mastering leadership and management, food and beverage excellence, member engagement secrets, board governance and everything in between, all while keeping it fun and light.

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Whether you're a club veteran just getting your feet wet or somewhere in the middle, you are in the right place.

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I'm your host, denny Corby.

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Welcome to the show.

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In this episode, I am chatting with Rachel Brown, who is membership and marketing director at Evansville Country Club in Indiana.

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And when Rachel took the membership and marketing director role at Evansville Country Club, she was ready for a challenge.

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But what she didn't expect was the world shutting down two weeks later because of, you know, a little thing called the pandemic.

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But instead of slowing down, rachel and her team got creative and did some really cool stuff.

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You know before it was even cool before it was even popular by launching weekly videos, virtual content and fun and just engaging ways to keep members connected, involved, even when they couldn't be on site.

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And her background is anything but typical for the private club space.

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She comes from Disney Cruises, where she learned the art of hospitality, storytelling and making experiences feel magical, and now she's applying that same approach to the private club membership and marketing role at Evansville Country Club.

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So we dive into how she transitioned from cruise ship world and travel agents to private clubs, what she learned from Disney about creating member engagement, how Evansville Country Club handled a multi-million dollar renovation and brought in a much younger demographic, and why storytelling is the most powerful marketing tool a club can use.

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This is a fantastic, fantastic episode.

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I'm super stoked.

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We're even going to be doing another episode later in the year on how to have epic haunted houses at your club.

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So we're going to dive into that on a whole different episode.

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But this is just full of big ideas, creative marketing strategies and fun behind thescenes stories.

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So I cannot wait to dive in.

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Can't wait for you to dive in.

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Before we do a quick thank you, a quick shout-out to some of our show partners.

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We have Concert Golf Partners, Kennes, member Vetting and Members First, as well as myself.

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Denny Corby the Denny Corby experience If you or your club is looking for one of the most fun member event nights.

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There's excitement, there's mystery.

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Also there's magic, mind reading and comedy and a ton of crowd work.

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So much crowd work.

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If you'd like to learn more head on over to DennyCorbycom.

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But enough about that, let's get to the episode.

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Private Club Radio listeners to dannycorbycom.

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But enough about that, let's get to the episode private club radio listeners.

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Let's welcome to the show, rachel brown it's like you're guinea pig for the signing up for your new schedule and that worked totally fine, but I didn't get that other email.

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I was like I thought it was it too?

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yeah, no, it didn't send you a.

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Can you check your spam when you get a chance?

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Is it was?

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yeah, wasn't in there, absolutely, uh, I can check.

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Can I exit out of this without uh?

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stay in here for now.

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Uh, okay, you can tell me later.

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I'll just say I'll check, I'll check and let you know for sure.

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Yeah, yeah, no, okay, that's fine, don't like that.

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How are things?

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Doing good yeah good busy busy, good yeah how, how did you?

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So we'll?

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Uh, I, I just kind of go straight into the interview so we'll, we'll, we'll do our interview stuff and then afterwards we'll just we'll talk about some, some show stuff for a few minutes.

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Uh, june, um, but so you got into the club space in a unique time.

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Was it right before, like like, did the pandemic hit yet, or was it like just weird timing?

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So I had moved.

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I was down working at Disney cruise line Um, and we, once you work there for six months, you get a free cruise, which was lovely.

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So I took me and my three sisters and we went on the free cruise.

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And then I knew um at the time, because of circumstances, we were going to be moving back home.

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So I was like, well, I'm going to take this free cruise before I quit.

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So we took the free cruise and at that time we had just started telling everybody, as they were calling, to book cruises hey, covid-19 is a thing.

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Here's what Disney's doing to prevent that.

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Whatever.

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It was very not important, not pertinent to America at that point in time.

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So we went on this cruise.

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I actually think I caught COVID on the cruise, looking back, so we moved home.

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I was sick as a dog and I just thought I had really bad flu and looking back, I'm like I'm pretty sure I caught COVID.

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So we moved back right at the end of February.

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I started March 2nd and March 15th is when the country shut down.

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So I mean I had been there two weeks.

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I had barely met any members, because March is, you know, you're not necessarily right into the golf season or summer season yet or anything like that.

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So just started and then it was like, well, shut down, they let go of all hourly people which I was hourly, and I was like, am I going to be out of a job?

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And Gary, the general manager at the time, was very nice and he was like, no, we're going to keep you on, we're going to change your position a little bit.

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Um, which ended up working out in my favor because I hadn't been there for very long and I already kind of got a little promotion and so worked through COVID.

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That was my first year, which was very neat because Lindsay Meadors, who was the membership and marketing director at the time, she and I were like, okay, well, how can we keep members involved?

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So we came up with this weekly newsletter that we did, and then we did videos.

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We called them fireside chats and we would go, we'd record intros and outros and then we'd go and we'd show different perspectives of you know, giving lessons, or like learning about the honeybees that our superintendent keeps on the course, or learning about the pool director and how they get the pool set up.

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So trying to kind of teach members maybe things that they didn't know as well as I mean we'd release those every couple weeks, so I'd edit all those and put them together.

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I mean they were like 20 to 25 minute videos.

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Members loved them because we were just I mean, we were hooting and hollering, we were just having a good time.

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I mean it was a lot of work.

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There's nothing else to do.

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Yeah, no, nothing else.

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I mean we were doing like takeout and then, as the country kind of slowly started to open up, you know we had guidelines and masks and people could come out and maybe walk Right Because I mean golf was thankfully, I mean that was a big year for golf, because that was something that people could do outside.

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So yeah, that was it was.

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It was interesting.

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It was a very interesting year to kind of jump into country club business.

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What did you know prior?

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Like so, what was so?

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What was your mindset or what was your frame?

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Like, what was it like coming into it?

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Because you didn't work at like, what did you even know about clubs prior?

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Honestly, really nothing.

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I mean, my family is not a country club family and even my, you know my grandparents, looking back like they both sets of grandparents could have been country club people, but they't.

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So I mean, I just it's so funny because I've driven, I was born and raised in evansville, so I've driven past this place so many times, never knew what it was.

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I just thought, you know, it was a golf course or pretty park or something whatever.

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And I might a pretty park.

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Obviously you know that's clearly clearly out of case to be.

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But I remember there were times that I'd drive by and I'd be like what is this Like?

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Cause it's right next to a graveyard.

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So I, I just, I don't know, it was just something that's like you never really pay attention to it until you work there.

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And then obviously, you know now it's like I can't believe I ever drove past this place and thought it was like a park.

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Please tell, please tell me you guys do an epic halloween party being so close to a graveyard.

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Yes, yes, so that is actually that's what we were originally going.

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I was going to try to call you and do a walkthrough of my haunted house, um, because it's just the busiest time of the year for me and I was like I can't, I can't swing it.

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Um, we're gonna have to circle back, though for around the halloween time.

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I'd love to see and hear that.

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Yes, we will.

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Yes yeah, but yeah.

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So I I mean I had a teaching degree.

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I had an education degree, that's what I was, that's what I was going for, so nothing to do with country clubs moved down to disney, realized I liked, I loved working with people, um, and I also I like working with people who I love networking, I love making connections, I love working with people who I would aspire to be.

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And you know, watching these people, these leaders in our community, helping them, when I'm just kind of getting to watch their lives and see how they live, and it's like OK, if that's where I want to be, if that's kind of a goal, if I want to be someone who's a leader in my community.

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You know how do these people live their lives, how do they make connections, who do they talk with, how do they network?

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And so when I'm I mean I came back and it was either I was going to get a job in hospital or a job here and I was like, yeah, country club sounds fun.

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And I really I had no knowledge coming in of I don't even think I had any preconceptions besides that it was, I don't know, kind of stuffy.

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The weird thing is though you still ended up near dead people.

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It's like no matter what.

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You're at the graveyard next to you now the hospital.

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People are dying to go there too.

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It was a Maybe I'm just cursed Way to eat down.

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Maybe I don't know.

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Yeah, so what was your first position in the club?

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What were you hired to do?

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What were you brought on?

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What?

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was going to be the gig.

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So administrative assistant is what I was brought on for.

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And it's funny because they actually they had I had applied for the job because I knew in January that I was going to be moving home.

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So I applied for the job and I was like, oh, country club, that'd be neat Um, kind of fits with the vibe.

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Something I've been looking at at Disney was working for golden Oaks, which is I don't know if you know what that is, but it's a private residential area in Disney, um, where people have a clubhouse, they have their events, whatever.

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So I was kind of looking for that.

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So I felt like it kind of aligned and they'd reached out and they're like we'd love to interview you, hire you.

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And I was like, okay, well, I won't be home till the end of February that's when I'm moving.

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And they were like, oh, we need somebody, like right now.

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And I was like, oh, okay, so they hired somebody else.

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And then that person apparently worked for like a week, asked for a pay advance and then quit.

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So they reached back out to me and at that point I mean I had had my interviews and stuff at the hospital and they were like, actually, if you haven't found a job like we'd actually love to hire you, since you're home now and I was like, well, I, I kind of have a job possibly, but you know, I'd consider it.

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And we made something work.

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And so, administrative assistant, as soon as COVID started, I since I was doing a lot of the marketing and communications with members they changed it to administration and communications coordinator, so I was sending out emails, I was working on the monthly newsletter, which was very small because we didn't have a lot going on, but still trying to do that, and then working with those.

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We called them weekly snapshots and fireside chats.

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We called them weekly snapshots and fireside chats.

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So that's what I did for another year and then I took membership and marketing and that's what I've been then for the last three, three and a half years.

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What a progression.

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It's membership, marketing and then club events.

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I technically just kind of all wrap.

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I mean, everything has to do with membership.

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Right, I'm onboarding, I'm bringing in new members, I'm communicating with those members, I'm planning the events and I'm running those events for the members.

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So I mean my, which is it's what I love, right, everything is circled around growing and building relationships and connections with members and finding out what they want and how I can achieve that.

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So, yeah, so what's, what's the club like?

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Is it like, is it a more homey club?

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Is it a more like?

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Tell me about the club like what's what's its roots, what's the history, what's the because?

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Because I did do it a little bit.

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It looks like you do.

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You guys have a, yeah, have a.

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Have a wait list now.

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Not, not currently.

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So it's really.

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It's really just for golfing Um cause we just did our renovation.

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We had a huge multimillion dollar renovation.

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We brought Bo Welling in.

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He was the architect.

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He is Tiger Woods architect Um brought him in.

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Read it pickleball and I'll get into all that.

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But there was a wait list around when all of that was happening.

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After the dust settled and the board kind of figured out, you know how many golfing members can we have?

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We're we're at a point where we don't.

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We're close.

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We're close to a waiting list, but we don't currently have one.

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My swim and racket and my social members.

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I can take on lots more.

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We're sitting around 750 members um for memberships total, yeah, yeah.

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So it's nice because it's you know, I've seen.

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One of my best friends works in the country club business too, so I've seen and she's been in Kentucky, north Carolina, south Carolina, so I've seen her country clubs as well and I like ours much, like Evansville it's it's yes, it's a small city but it has this big club feel to it, but it's not like massive, like it's.

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It's it's that good, best of both worlds where it's like it's small enough that it feels you know you're not walking by, going.

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Who is that?

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I don't know that person, like most of the members know each other, but it also doesn't feel it's like, wow, there's only 300 people here and you know it's like I said, it's the best of both worlds where you've got this big club feel.

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But it's also has this homey, very intimate setting where you know these families, you're watching them grow up and we're shifting younger as a demographic, which is very neat, just as membership director getting to witness that and bring in new members.

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A lot of my new members are in their thirties, right, and so we're watching this age gap of you know, where the average age was 60.

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And now it's, I'd say, probably 35, which is harder for our older generation.

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Right, I was going to ask how are the older members taking it?

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Has it been a little bit of?

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a yeah.

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And I ask that because in the research you guys have a nice like aquatics area and stuff and I know sometimes that tends to pull some younger people in and maybe I don't want to say defer older, but like you know, members at that point will understand if they're a good fit or not.

00:14:09.860 --> 00:14:11.190
So how is?

00:14:11.210 --> 00:14:11.572
that done.

00:14:13.105 --> 00:14:14.729
So, yeah, I would say it was built.

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I think it was 2009 is when the aquatics center was built.

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It was built, I think it was 2009 is when the Aquatics Center was built and then, obviously, with the new construction project we just did, we have four brand new tennis courts and four brand new pickleball courts, because pickleball is obviously expanding and blowing up as a sport within the country.

00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:39.443
But the older members it's still very multi-generational, which helps.

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So a lot of these older members, their kids are some of these younger members and their grandkids.

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So that's always something that's super helpful.

00:14:47.190 --> 00:14:58.633
But you do have those older members that are like I'm used to wearing a sports coat and a tie to dinner and this family next to me is wearing jeans and what the heck?

00:14:58.633 --> 00:15:00.135
That's not country club, Right?

00:15:00.135 --> 00:15:00.356
You know?

00:15:00.356 --> 00:15:03.975
I mean our, our general manager, Gary, who'd been here for 40 years.

00:15:03.975 --> 00:15:09.289
He just retired last June, so we have a new general manager, Ralph who I know, obviously.

00:15:09.309 --> 00:15:14.985
Yep, I was gonna say you know Ralph really well, but I mean they wear suits, right.

00:15:14.985 --> 00:15:18.254
So you still have that sense of you know.

00:15:18.254 --> 00:15:29.013
No, we're not trying to just turn this into an everyday casual place, but we do need to pay attention to our demographics and what they want and what align with the membership needs of.

00:15:29.013 --> 00:15:39.552
Yeah, it is a little bit more of a casual feel, it's more of a family friendly feel to it, but that ensures future generations and it ensures that our club is going to keep growing.

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It's not just going to die out, because I've seen that.

00:15:41.489 --> 00:15:43.774
We saw that happen during COVID.

00:15:44.355 --> 00:15:50.336
Right, there were a couple other clubs in town that were just older members and so they just dissolved.

00:15:50.336 --> 00:15:51.807
Right, they didn't last.

00:15:51.807 --> 00:15:52.929
You had a couple of them come here.

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But I'm glad that as we trend younger obviously you know I'm on the younger side, so it's like it's fun to plan these events for these people and get to know them on a personal level as well.

00:16:03.178 --> 00:16:15.177
But I am also excited that that means the future of our club is more secure, because you've got these kids who are going to grow up now and then join themselves and continue on their family generationals here here so yeah.

00:16:15.658 --> 00:16:26.831
So so what have you and the club done to alleviate those older it's like those older members that are like, oh, I'm used to dressing up like, have you done anything to kind of ease that a little bit?

00:16:26.831 --> 00:16:27.996
You have like a separate area.

00:16:27.996 --> 00:16:30.186
Have you done anything to address that?

00:16:31.908 --> 00:16:38.889
yeah, so for the longest time, literally up until actually this december, denim was still not allowed on the second floor.

00:16:38.889 --> 00:16:49.520
So that was always still just a very formal you know, upstairs for Sunday brunch or for events upstairs right, no denim is allowed, except for, like, on the 4th of July.

00:16:49.520 --> 00:16:50.424
We make that casual.

00:16:50.424 --> 00:17:05.836
However, the board just decided that, you know, based on membership surveys and our different committees that we have, they decided that this year was finally the year to do away with that because we'll have golf outings Tasteful denim.

00:17:05.896 --> 00:17:24.260
Yeah, exactly, yes, yes, so that's what we've moved to, where children, anybody under 18, isn't allowed on the grill side, which is more of our formal side, to kind of make sure.

00:17:24.280 --> 00:17:44.839
You know, hey, if you want to have a quiet night, if you want to come out and not hear children and, and you know, be able to kind of dress up because that's how we've, that's how we've advertised it is, you know it's date night, dress up, you know, be, be classy, be formal, come out, and so that night, specifically, is dedicated to try and kind of appease those members.

00:17:44.839 --> 00:17:50.132
Sunday brunch is also still very has like a formal feel to it as well, which a lot of our older members attend.

00:17:50.132 --> 00:18:00.034
They'll come after church, so they're in their church clothes, and even a lot of our families who come to Sunday brunch because they're coming from church, they're going to be dressed up already as well.

00:18:00.034 --> 00:18:06.174
So I know Sunday brunch and Saturday night date night have kind of become little special places for some of those older people.

00:18:06.174 --> 00:18:16.596
Some of the older people don't care, some of them are wearing jeans and they're totally fine with it, but you do have those one or two individuals who would just love to see everybody in a suit and tie.

00:18:17.238 --> 00:18:17.357
Yep.

00:18:17.357 --> 00:18:21.114
Sometimes those pair of jeans are more than that dude's suit Yep.

00:18:22.685 --> 00:18:26.776
And that is the whole point that was brought up is you just never know.

00:18:26.776 --> 00:18:29.472
You never know that pair of jeans could be $1,200.

00:18:29.472 --> 00:18:35.215
And then that's offensive to that person if you tell them that they can't wear that.

00:18:35.215 --> 00:18:35.737
You know what I mean.

00:18:35.737 --> 00:18:46.855
You get into that whole because even your younger demographics, it's like well, maybe they're spending their money on different types of fashion, and who am I to tell you what types of fashion you know?

00:18:46.855 --> 00:18:51.571
It becomes a, becomes a little fine line that you have to be careful of.

00:18:51.792 --> 00:18:54.325
I think it boils down to what you guys did, which is expectations.

00:18:54.325 --> 00:18:57.913
It's hey, this is this reason on this date, for this, because of this.

00:18:57.913 --> 00:19:04.155
Anytime else we'll do blah, blah, blah, but for certain times, no, yeah, expectations it's good, it's real good.

00:19:04.155 --> 00:19:10.097
Yeah, it sounds like you guys do a lot of fun stuff and unique stuff and are progressive, which is really good.

00:19:10.097 --> 00:19:14.768
Has the club always been that way, or have you seen it maybe shift a little bit more since you've been there?

00:19:14.768 --> 00:19:16.108
Like did you when you first started?

00:19:16.108 --> 00:19:28.101
I don't want to say it was maybe stuffy, but has it always had that little bit of feel of openness I don't even know if openness is the right word or have you seen it maybe shift with the pandemic time?

00:19:38.144 --> 00:19:42.244
I was going to say it's hard, because I feel like when I started, I didn't get a year of experiencing what it was like before the pandemic, so I can't say your stories too much.

00:19:42.265 --> 00:19:48.055
Yes, I was going to say, if anything, it has to do with maybe who's over club events before me.

00:19:48.055 --> 00:20:07.517
Um, and she had been there for a very long time and the experience that I did have with her and her last year there which was like 2020, kind of into 2021, you could just, I mean, she'd been doing it for a long, long time and it had gotten to a point where, you know, she had had a kid and was just kind of shifting herself in a different direction in her life.

00:20:07.517 --> 00:20:13.253
And I understand because I would, if I was doing it as long as she had been doing it, I would probably get to that point too.

00:20:13.253 --> 00:20:22.421
But you could just tell it was like we're just going to do the same old same and, if not, like this is, this is what we have.

00:20:22.421 --> 00:20:27.000
We're not, we're not looking for new things, we're not looking to change things per se.

00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:32.276
And so when I took over, I was like, well, I've got ideas and I've.

00:20:32.276 --> 00:20:34.944
You know, I've been here and I'm seeing these events.

00:20:34.944 --> 00:20:41.008
I can see already how I can better them as they are, but I've also got new ideas.

00:20:41.915 --> 00:20:45.796
So, for example, our daddy, daughter dance and our mother son night, new ideas.

00:20:45.796 --> 00:20:47.559
So, for example, our daddy daughter dance and our mother son night.

00:20:47.559 --> 00:20:56.526
Those are two events that we have in February and March every single year, and the daddy daughter dance was always just men wear suits, girls dress up, it's just black and pink.

00:20:56.526 --> 00:20:57.228
That's the theme.

00:20:57.228 --> 00:20:58.317
There isn't really a theme.

00:20:58.317 --> 00:20:59.118
You know.

00:20:59.118 --> 00:21:03.017
You come, you eat dinner, you dance, and mother son night was always superhero night.

00:21:03.017 --> 00:21:13.979
The same signs were used, the same signs were used, the same decorations were used, and that's all well and fine, but for me I'm like, why would we not change that theme every single year, right?

00:21:14.038 --> 00:21:18.335
So just for examples, for mother son night, I've done star wars night.

00:21:18.335 --> 00:21:20.122
We've had light.

00:21:20.122 --> 00:21:21.446
We've had lightsaber fights.

00:21:21.446 --> 00:21:27.721
I did harry potter last year, so everybody got sorted into houses, I had a sorting hat, we did wand duels.

00:21:27.721 --> 00:21:30.020
There's just so many opportunities.

00:21:30.020 --> 00:21:31.662
This year I'm doing dinosaurs.

00:21:31.662 --> 00:21:33.382
It's a dynamite night for Mother Sun night.

00:21:33.382 --> 00:21:36.523
There is a company here in Evansville, they're called Feller Express.

00:21:36.523 --> 00:21:51.222
They have life-size, realistic mechanical puppets that are dinosaurs and I've booked them and they're going to come out and these boys are going to get.

00:21:51.222 --> 00:21:52.347
I mean, they look extremely real, I'm so excited about it.

00:21:52.367 --> 00:21:55.859
So it's like that or like for mother or father daughter, right, I've done this year I'm going to the moon and back.

00:21:55.859 --> 00:22:08.138
But I've done fancy, nancy, I've done under the sea, I've done fairies, I have people coming in, right.

00:22:08.138 --> 00:22:10.207
I mean, my goal is to make every single one of these events a unique experience.

00:22:10.207 --> 00:22:24.346
So, even if you come to Easter brunch or the haunted house or mother son night or father daughter, even if you come every single year, you're not going to be bored, you're not necessarily going to know what to expect and you're going to enjoy yourself, right, because I mean it does these events.

00:22:24.426 --> 00:22:28.683
Because you're working in the country club business, where you're not dealing with new people all the time.

00:22:28.743 --> 00:22:33.903
Right, you have new members come in, sure, but it's like, why would I want to do the same old, same old?

00:22:34.276 --> 00:22:49.208
They saw this last year, right, at some point you're going to stop impressing them and my job is to make you happy and, to the best of my ability and the best of my budget, to make you happy and, to the best of my ability and the best of my budget, impress you right and make you want to be here and to have fun.

00:22:49.208 --> 00:22:57.935
And, for those people who didn't come, look and see and be like man.

00:22:57.935 --> 00:22:58.277
I missed out.

00:22:58.277 --> 00:22:59.559
I should have been there, right.

00:22:59.559 --> 00:23:00.181
That's my whole goal.

00:23:00.181 --> 00:23:07.145
So I don't want to say too much that it's changed, because I feel like it was already kind of the demographics themselves were trending younger when I got here.

00:23:07.145 --> 00:23:16.789
But I do feel like in my area of events specifically, that has drastically changed since I got here.

00:23:16.789 --> 00:23:23.023
And not to say that it never was amazing before, I just feel like, especially with COVID too, that didn't help.

00:23:23.023 --> 00:23:24.544
It just kind of got into a lull.

00:23:24.544 --> 00:23:25.349
I just feel like especially with.

00:23:25.369 --> 00:23:25.550
COVID too.

00:23:25.550 --> 00:23:26.174
That didn't help.

00:23:26.174 --> 00:23:36.086
It had just kind of gotten to a lull and I was able to step in and, thankfully, bring my new ideas and be able to put them into play, which is which is neat, because you don't always get to play out your ideas.

00:23:36.086 --> 00:23:51.243
But with Gary, and now with Ralph too, I mean, they both trust me a lot and give me the freedom to try new things, and sometimes they don't always work, but most of the time it turns out well and that's just a great experience all around.

00:23:51.243 --> 00:23:52.467
So what?

00:23:52.527 --> 00:23:57.046
what have you tried that hasn't worked, and why didn't it work and how come it didn't work?

00:23:57.046 --> 00:24:02.313
What do you no, no, no, meaning like what do you describe as not working or unsuccessful Cause?

00:24:02.313 --> 00:24:12.039
I think some people you know, especially when it comes to events, let's just say they try one thing once and for some reason there was like a low turnout, like ah, it was a bad, but it's like no, just because a lot of people didn't show up doesn't mean it was a bad event.

00:24:12.039 --> 00:24:20.221
There's external factors, could have other stuff going on, but as long as those people who showed up and had a good time.

00:24:20.221 --> 00:24:23.385
That's why I was asking so what events didn't work?

00:24:23.506 --> 00:24:24.907
and why didn't it?

00:24:24.907 --> 00:24:26.490
What was your why for it?

00:24:26.915 --> 00:25:20.200
So the one that comes to mind that is kind of now infamous around ECC is I have tried to throw an adult tiki party down at the pool and I tried 2021, 2022, 2023, all different months, all different days, and when I say that there was a tsunami, all three of those days and all three of those years and everything I mean and, and most of my most of the time when I'm setting up events, right, like I show up to the club and sweats, like I sweats or leggings, like I'm not trying to set up these events because I go all out, right, I'm up and down ladders, I'm hanging up things, I'm extra, I'm not doing it in heels, right, so I always so I'm, I'm down at the pool all day long, I'm creating tiki lanterns and I'm hanging up lays and like just all the different things.

00:25:20.200 --> 00:25:25.365
Right, we're prepping a pig, we buy a huge pig and it's being smoked and it's got the apple in its mouth and everything.

00:25:25.365 --> 00:25:40.906
And just three years in a row, like I said, one was in June, one was in July and I think another one it was either late July or early August huge storm, winds, my decorations are going everywhere and I'm just, like you know, the first year it happened.

00:25:40.906 --> 00:25:50.843
You're like, man, that's sad Cause we had a huge turnout, we had a huge list of people signed up.

00:25:50.843 --> 00:25:53.151
So next year I'm like, okay, well, we're going to try this again because we had people who wanted to come.

00:25:53.151 --> 00:25:54.734
Same thing happened and I was like, oh my God, oh my God, okay.

00:25:54.734 --> 00:25:58.259
So then the I remember 2023 Gary's like are we doing that?

00:25:58.259 --> 00:25:59.460
And I was like, do we have to?

00:25:59.460 --> 00:26:03.744
Like I feel like it's cursed, like I just don't, I don't think it's meant to be Gary.

00:26:03.744 --> 00:26:06.086
And he was like, well, we have all the stuff, like let's try it.

00:26:06.086 --> 00:26:09.029
Sure enough, it's raining.

00:26:09.029 --> 00:26:10.352
And I'm, I'm just.

00:26:10.352 --> 00:26:14.765
I just remember I was like, I was like I'm, we're not doing this anymore, ever again.

00:26:14.765 --> 00:26:17.317
And I just I just like we took everything down.

00:26:17.317 --> 00:26:21.123
Most of the things broke on that last one because the winds were so bad.

00:26:21.123 --> 00:26:30.001
I remember I jumped in the pool before I left to just like cleanse myself of whatever the tea curse was, and we had not tried it since.

00:26:30.001 --> 00:26:32.019
So that's one of the things that it's like.

00:26:32.540 --> 00:26:34.406
Was that event itself a failure?

00:26:34.406 --> 00:26:45.048
No, I actually think that it would have been super cool and, technically, one of those years, it had stopped enough to where we did let some people come out.

00:26:45.048 --> 00:26:49.424
I mean, the decorations were down and all of those things.

00:26:49.424 --> 00:26:57.526
I mean we didn't get to do any of that, but those people that were there, they did have fun, but it's one of those things where we've just let that die.

00:26:57.526 --> 00:27:01.740
We've just laid that to rest in the graveyard and we're just letting that be.

00:27:03.035 --> 00:27:10.384
Otherwise, I don't really feel too much like any theme hasn't gone over well or any new event that we've tried.

00:27:10.384 --> 00:27:14.005
We had another one or turf care extravaganza that we were trying to host last year.

00:27:14.005 --> 00:27:14.546
A lot of them.

00:27:14.546 --> 00:27:18.263
When I say they didn't work, it was because of those outside factors that you were talking about.

00:27:18.263 --> 00:27:20.623
So we're going to have this turf care extravaganza.

00:27:20.623 --> 00:27:22.777
We wanted 200 plus people signed up.

00:27:22.777 --> 00:27:23.518
It was going to be awesome.

00:27:23.518 --> 00:27:24.419
We're going to have a bonfire.

00:27:24.459 --> 00:27:33.288
We had a band booked fire band the day before and we're like, well, okay, can't do that anymore, never.

00:27:33.288 --> 00:27:39.568
And I mean the whole thing was centered around like Jeff was going to have this huge bonfire with his band and s'mores and hot dogs and all that.

00:27:39.568 --> 00:27:47.805
And it was like, okay, another pig, we got another pig, um, and so couldn't have that right.

00:27:47.805 --> 00:27:50.924
We, we moved that and that was actually two years in a row.

00:27:50.924 --> 00:27:52.882
It wasn't a fire ban the first year, but it was.

00:27:52.882 --> 00:27:56.404
I think it was some sort of inclement weather that we couldn't do it.

00:27:56.454 --> 00:28:02.136
So most of the time when we have an event that doesn't work well or maybe it doesn't turn out right, a lot of it is those outside factors.

00:28:02.136 --> 00:28:05.082
It's not because it didn't necessarily align with the membership.

00:28:05.082 --> 00:28:08.688
Um, thankfully that's something I feel like.

00:28:08.688 --> 00:28:09.308
They have tried.

00:28:09.308 --> 00:28:16.278
A lot of those things maybe that didn't align.

00:28:16.278 --> 00:28:18.147
So the the kind of rundown that we have now do always seem to go well with the membership.

00:28:18.147 --> 00:28:19.273
We do try to throw in a new event, like the Tiki party.

00:28:19.273 --> 00:28:23.220
That was new, right, we try to throw in something kind of new every single year to try.

00:28:23.220 --> 00:28:29.209
But yeah, tiki Party, that's a no-go.

00:28:30.516 --> 00:28:31.460
I don't think I'll ever do one.

00:28:31.460 --> 00:28:38.021
You realize as soon as you leave, they're going to try it and it's going to be a huge hit, like the best weather ever, Probably.

00:28:39.556 --> 00:28:41.282
I'll be like you know what post about it, whatever.

00:28:42.656 --> 00:28:43.442
Just don't invite me.

00:28:43.442 --> 00:28:50.099
Yeah, exactly, I don't know about it, any events that you thought of or came up with, and it just was like a big hit.

00:28:50.140 --> 00:29:06.287
It was a new thing, it was like a big hit and now it's like an ongoing thing yeah, so one of and I can't take full credit for it because it was actually our superintendent and he'd gone to another club and they had this like indoor putt putt um area and so we we started that.

00:29:06.287 --> 00:29:11.207
So the pro shop guys, they helped me, um, they, they design a course throughout.

00:29:11.207 --> 00:29:13.938
The club goes upstairs, downstairs, all the things.

00:29:13.938 --> 00:29:16.067
So it's called it's the ecc carpet classic.

00:29:16.067 --> 00:29:17.173
We've had it two years now.

00:29:17.173 --> 00:29:19.099
This will be the third um.

00:29:19.099 --> 00:29:26.023
I normally do like a glow-in-the-dark room where one of the rooms is just completely black light with neon and stuff like that.

00:29:26.023 --> 00:29:26.675
That's super fun.

00:29:26.675 --> 00:29:33.380
So that's coming up I think March 14th is when I have that and that's a super fun experience, something new that we tried, that's.

00:29:33.380 --> 00:29:34.383
That's really awesome.

00:29:35.044 --> 00:29:39.361
Um, haunted house is my baby Um.

00:29:39.361 --> 00:29:39.961
That was.

00:29:39.961 --> 00:29:55.823
We used to do haunted hay rides, which was out between like seven and eight and they would get a tractor and we'd have a movie out there and a buffet and they'd get on the tractor and kind of just do a little path and they'd hang some ghosts and stuff in the trees.

00:29:55.823 --> 00:30:00.320
Then when we had the construction project, they were like, well, we can't do that out there.

00:30:00.320 --> 00:30:01.525
So what are we going to do?

00:30:01.525 --> 00:30:13.380
And I don't know if it was stupidity or ingenuity, but I was like, well, I could build a haunted house, um, and I did.

00:30:13.380 --> 00:30:19.642
And now I've built three and if I ever want to go into any other sort of business, I think I could make a living building them.

00:30:19.642 --> 00:30:21.861
Um, I just don't know if I'd want to.

00:30:21.861 --> 00:30:25.144
We're not doing one this year.

00:30:25.144 --> 00:30:26.780
I told Ralph, I said Ralph.

00:30:30.601 --> 00:30:31.301
I need a break Like I need.

00:30:31.301 --> 00:30:36.390
Um well, so it's, it's also a budget thing, it is, it is, it is.

00:30:36.390 --> 00:30:38.820
I think he was relieved to hear that as well.

00:30:38.820 --> 00:30:41.154
He was like that's fine, let's do it, let's he goes.

00:30:41.154 --> 00:30:50.224
I want you to take the haunted hay rides and turn that into something different, and we'll go back and forth every single year Because, I mean, it costs a pretty penny.

00:30:50.224 --> 00:30:54.848
But you know, the first year God loved me, I was just.

00:30:54.848 --> 00:30:57.471
You know, I'm putting things together, I'm figuring it out.

00:31:03.236 --> 00:31:06.605
The last two, years, though I mean I am, you know not to brag I am so proud of them.

00:31:06.626 --> 00:31:08.352
You're going to have to send me some videos and pictures.

00:31:08.352 --> 00:31:13.490
I was going to say most of the members would say that it's better than the cities.

00:31:13.490 --> 00:31:14.095
That's impressive.

00:31:14.095 --> 00:31:16.121
They were legit.

00:31:16.121 --> 00:31:17.265
I had so much help.

00:31:17.265 --> 00:31:20.704
My family God love my family.

00:31:20.704 --> 00:31:25.366
There's a lot of events that I wouldn't get done here without them, because they come and they're willing to help me.

00:31:25.366 --> 00:31:27.823
My mom plays Mrs Claus.

00:31:28.955 --> 00:31:30.181
My little sister who works here.

00:31:30.181 --> 00:31:31.555
She's the Easter bunny I mean.

00:31:31.555 --> 00:31:35.567
So my family helps out a lot, but they helped out with the haunted house a lot.

00:31:35.567 --> 00:31:36.680
They're in the haunted house.

00:31:36.680 --> 00:31:39.682
I use different, you know, my pro shop boys.

00:31:39.682 --> 00:31:41.787
They help out their characters in the haunted house.

00:31:41.787 --> 00:31:53.223
This year was definitely the most put together because I mean, I was proud of last year's but this year it was like I don't know if there's like a competition where you can like enter into a magazine, but I'd enter it because it's just, it was just so.

00:31:53.223 --> 00:31:54.777
How many kids did you get to pee their?

00:31:54.797 --> 00:31:58.926
pants, kids and, uh, adults for that matter, I mean really anybody.

00:31:58.926 --> 00:32:02.638
How many people walked away with with pee?

00:32:02.679 --> 00:32:03.059
pants.

00:32:03.059 --> 00:32:04.801
I don't know of anybody, I think there was.

00:32:04.801 --> 00:32:10.490
I had one person throw up, Um, I did have.

00:32:10.490 --> 00:32:16.241
I did have someone a kid threw up, Um, and I did have lots of crying.

00:32:16.241 --> 00:32:17.444
Right, there's lots of crying.

00:32:17.444 --> 00:32:26.615
And, and we did something a little bit different the last two years I've done scare free sessions or scare sessions, so they'd tell me when they'd walk through.

00:32:27.878 --> 00:32:43.419
However, this year it just it does get confusing, right, your actors are in here, they're in costume, it's hot, and it's just hard, because sometimes you'd have kids change their mind halfway through and you're like okay, well it's, I can't be running around going wait wait, wait, don't scare me.

00:32:43.419 --> 00:32:44.983
You know that just it just didn't work.

00:32:45.044 --> 00:32:51.604
So I was like listen, no other haunted house that I know of you can go in and be like I'd like to go through, but please don't scare me, right?

00:32:51.604 --> 00:32:51.915
It's a?

00:32:51.915 --> 00:32:53.000
It's a haunted house.

00:32:53.000 --> 00:32:55.403
So we did it a little bit differently this year.

00:32:55.403 --> 00:32:56.760
Normally we have to set it all up.

00:32:56.760 --> 00:33:08.230
It takes me about two full weeks of I mean I'm talking 12 to 14 hours a day.

00:33:08.230 --> 00:33:22.171
Wow, normally the last two years we've had to take it down that night, which is just heartbreaking because that means like I mean I'm I'm doing things on it until like 30 minutes before we open it.

00:33:22.171 --> 00:33:25.928
So I mean it's all this work and then it's up for four hours and then you have to take it completely down.

00:33:26.630 --> 00:33:31.103
This year we did it a little bit differently because normally there's a wedding, so I do it in my lady's locker room.

00:33:31.103 --> 00:33:33.397