The last "private dinner" of our spring hiatus 

Mary and I shared our last quiet dinner of the spring hiatus last night. Our staff is all returning from their breaks. Chef Frizzie has been in the kitchen cooking all week getting ready to reopen our restaurant tonight. The inn is coming alive for the summer.

Of course, Mary and I have been busy all along. The inn has been providing lodging for guests all spring. Most have either been here to hone their golf games, or just take in the quiet spring season in Vermont. But activity around the inn really accelerates as preparations take place to reopen the restaurant.

Tonight's menu can be found right on the blog. We will be serving dinner this weekend on Friday and Saturday evening. Next week, our full summer schedule begins with dinner service Tuesday thru Saturday, starting at 6:00 PM.

Where every you may find yourself, keep it in the fairway and don't forget the sunscreen.

Clematis currently in full bloom at the Birch Ridge Inn 

Late May and early June can be unique times in Killington. Summer weather is starting to get established. Everything starts to quickly either flower of turn green to take advantage of a short growing season. Even though the number of guests in the area is relaxed from the winter, the amount of work innkeepers and other business owners need to do to maintain their businesses usually goes up. This year has been no exception.

While I have not written a blog in a couple of weeks, the ground work has been laid for a summer full of activity. We have had a slightly above average number of guests at the inn this June. The sense we are getting, which is not necessarily a reflection of reality for those who do not live in a resort town, is that the economy is starting to turn for the better. Only time will tell. But we have heard optimism in conversation with our recent guests, where 12 to 18 months ago the mood was definitely more pessimistic.

Most of my spare time has been spent coordinating the efforts for the Ninth Annual Killington Wine Festival which will take place this year on the weekend of July 16-18th. Last years festival brought about 500 people into Killington for the events held over the weekend. This year we are planning on similar numbers. I am sure you will be hearing more about the Wine Festival in the next couple of weeks.

Mary and I have also spent a fair amount of time developing plans to support the 2 large golf tournaments in town in July and August. The first tournament, the week of July 5th, is the New England Women's Golf Association(NEWGA) Championship at Green Mountain National. Mary is on the tournament committee and is responsible for "Hospitality". Over a hundred women from around New England, plus some of their spouses and friends, are expected in Killington the first week of July. It should be a busy week.

The second tournament, the week of August 2nd, is the American Junior Golf Association(AJGA) Killington Junior Golf Championship. While that is taking place at Green Mountain National, the Vermont Junior Open will be taking place at the Killington Resort Golf Course. Both events will bring in around 200 junior golfers to Killington, with their parents and siblings. While Mary has focused on NEWGA, I have been communicating with AJGA to develop opportunities where we can participate.

Throw in plans to open the restaurant at the inn at the end of next week and hiring a new innkeepers assistant (our current assistant, Mickalyn, is due to have her baby in August), and you start to wonder what happened to the spring hiatus. It is good to be busy....

Where every you may find yourself, keep it in the fairway and don't forget the sunscreen.

Purple Iris and Bleeding Hearts currently in bloom at the Birch Ridge Inn 

In the summer months, the Birch Ridge Inn is surrounded by perennial gardens. Virtually all the cut flowers inside the inn from June through September, are taken directly from the inn's gardens.

The advantage of perennial gardens is they spring back to life each year so they are efficient to maintain. Other than requiring a bit of work at the beginning of each season to recondition the soil, weed and thin, the perennial gardens basically take care of themselves during the summer months. Right now, when she is not out on the golf course, Mary is spending a lot of time outside working the gardens so they will be at their peak this summer. After a long winter, Mary finds working in the gardens quite therapeutic. She does have one problem though; what to do with the plants that she culls from the gardens while she is thinning them out?

After Mary gives everyone in Killington she knows with a garden a bucket full of plants, (whether they want them or not), she will start leaving them on the side walk with a free - take me - sign. But even this stops being effective after a while.

This year Mary is lucky, she has a cousin who just built a new house. Guess what she is getting for a housewarming gift! Anyone interested in some perennials?

Where every you may find yourself this weekend, keep it in the fairway and don't forget the sunscreen.

Tight Lies : Go to jail on GMNGC #9 

Heading into Memorial Day weekend, it is important to tip the hat to all the veterans who have served this country, those currently on active duty, and those how have made the ultimate sacrifice. It is easy to throw barbs because of this problem, or that...it is one of the "great" things our freedoms allow, but without the sacrifice of those who serve and have served, none of it would be possible. Thank You.

Memorial Day Weekend at Killington has an interesting new/old twist this year. The Killington Stage Race makes its' return after a long hiatus. Over 500 riders are expected to be applying pedal power to race through the mountains around Killington. More details, including course layouts and viewing areas, can be found on killingtonstagerace.com.

The weather forecast looks like it is going to be just beautiful for outdoors activities. Both golf courses are up and running in beautiful shape. I was out chasing the little white ball this morning at Green Mountain. Todays "Tight Lie" picture is of my tee shot on the 9th hole. The ball was struck about 240 off the tee down over the right fairway bunker where it decided to take an unfortunate position nestled between 3 rocks. It was your basic, go to jail, taken an unplayable lie position. So it goes...

Have a good weekend. Keep it in the fairway...and don't forget your sunscreen!

Killington Wine Festival returns July 16-18, 2010 

One of the projects I am currently working on is this years Killington Wine Festival, produced through the Killington Chamber of Commerce. The wine festival returns for its' ninth year from Friday July 16 through Sunday July 18, 2010. Over the last 8 years, the wine festival has proved to be a great summer weekend in Killington. How can you beat tasting fine wines from around the world with Killington Peak and the Green Mountains of Vermont as a scenic backdrop?

Once again this year, the Birch Ridge Inn is offering complete wine festival packages for the event. Our base packages include lodging, tickets for 2 people to the Grand Tasting at Killington Peak on Saturday July 17th, and dinner for 2 at the wine dinner hosted at the Birch Ridge Inn on Saturday evening. Rates vary by room type and start at $499 for a 2 night weekend package. More details about our wine festival packages can be found on birchridge.com.

Of course, you can also make reservations online with the Birch Ridge Inn (Specify Killington Wine Festival Package) or call the inn toll free at 800-435-8566 for more information.

Keep it in the fairway...and don't forget your sunscreen!

Washing pine pitch off my parents house on Cape Cod. 

Mary and I took advantage of the quiet time in Killington last week to visit with family in Massachusetts. We are quite lucky in that both sets of parents, in the mid to late 80's, are still with us. We always try to get down to visit them this time of year to do "some projects" around the house.

Today's picture shows one of those project; cleaning off the combination of pine pitch, pollen, and associated mildew from the vinyl siding on the north side of my parents home on Cape Cod.

It was not all work during our get away. Once again this year we stayed at the Liberty Hill Inn near my parents house in Yarmouthport MA. The innkeepers, John and Chris, run a beautiful inn. If you find yourself on Cape Cod, this is a great place to stay. (of course you should be coming to Killington, but we understand that even people who enjoy the mountains year round, sometime need to go to the sea for a change of pace.)

Keep it in the fairway...and don't forget your sunscreen!

Special Town Meeting at Killington. 

In yesterdays special Killington Town meeting on Article 1 to purchase of the "Fireside Lodge" property there were 408 votes cast. 252 were no, 155 were yes, and 1 was a "spoiled ballot". Article 1 went down to defeat. The vote margin was bigger than that which occurred on the regular town meeting day, March 2nd, when a similar proposal went down to defeat with 205 no and 145 yes.

At the open town meeting which took place last night, to vote on funding Article 1, MB Neisner, the town moderator, introduced a motion to indefinitely postpone voting on Article 2, as its' purpose was moot. That motion carried on a "unanimous" voice vote from the 100 or so residents in attendance.

Ignoring the outcome of the vote, Killington residents should take pride in the high voter turnout. I am sure that there will be many conversations in the next few days, on both sides of the issue, about "were the voters right". I believe that the only conclusion that can be drawn from the vote is that a large number of residents of Killington are genuinely interested in the community. Interested enough to participate by learning about issues, and taking the time to vote.

Coming out of the current economic downturn will throw many challenges at Killington. Having an engaged, active, citizenry, while potentially giving elected officials pause, also represents an opportunity to be harnessed to reinvent the town for a strong future. And that's a good thing!

Keep it in the fairway...and don't forget your sunscreen!