March 8, 2014. What a fiasco it is here at the Lone Star Jellystone Park. The guests have no idea what goes on behind the scenes. Today was the grand opening where the kids "woke up the bears" and that went OK. Jim dressed up as Yogi, Fran as Cindy, and Gayle as BooBoo. The kids then yelled outside the Bear's Den and out we came. From there we got into golf carts and went across the street to the flag pole where we participated in the Pledge of Allegiance. From there we went to the original Bear's Den and got undressed and headed to the Rec Center for its opening. In the Rec Center we sell ceramics and t-shirts for the guests to paint. There are also games, puzzles, and crayons.
March 15, 2014. It's been quite an ordeal this past week. The "directors" of the activities area got so fed up with the place that they quit on our first day, then were talked into staying. (But by today they were fed up again and quit again, only to have the owner come and talk with them again.) This past week has been very busy and overwhelming. We do not have enough staff to handle all the activities and are hoping we get more people. Between the 6 of us we have to man the activities area from 10-4, and that requires 2-3 people; the train runs twice a day and needs 2 people; each of the bears come out once a day and that requires 2 people. Then we need to break for lunch and days off and those times need extra people. There are also outside games during the day that require 2 people. We also do an ice cream social on Saturday (4-5 people), and pancake breakfast on Sunday morning (4 people). It is more than we imagined.
But we have been told that this past week was the worst as it was Houston's spring break and the weather was cold and rainy so most people came into the activities center to have something to do. Next week is Waller's spring break and it won't be so bad. After that the park will be mostly dead except for weekends until school lets out in May when we will get busy again. But it probably won't be as bad since the weather will be warm and the people will be in the water park a lot.
April 1, 2014. The new managers officially started work on Monday, and Bob & Diane came on Monday (general managers of all the Legacy parks). They came into the Activities center and Bob talked and talked about all the improvements they made this past winter, which included the counter built for us to hand out t-shirts and ceramics. We have lots of room behind the counter and have containers to put the t-shirts in. Bob thought that we have too much room behind the counter and wants to shorten the area so the guests would not have to look so far to see the ceramics. He does not realize that two of the problems facing the guests seeing the ceramics is the poor lighting above us and the window above the ceramics with the sun shining in and causing back light. His solution is to move the counter closer to the ceramics. We think he needs to come behind the counter and work for a few days and then decide what is best for us.
He introduced the new managers but they did not seem very cordial or friendly. They did not talk with us or acknowledge Brenda and Shirl or want to listen to our ideas. Also, when we see them riding in their golf cart around the campground they ignore us as if we were not even there.
They are not getting off on very good feet and none of us like them so far. Wondering what the future holds for us now. Jim heard that they go "by the book" which means he cannot wear a hat that has any other logo than Yogi or it needs to be plain, and that we are supposed to wear white tennis shoes and khakis. Right. If they want to give me the money to buy them, but in 90 weather, I am going to wear shorts, not pants, as well as sandals instead of tennis shoes every day.
April 13, 2014. The same day the new managers met with Brenda & Shirl, the directors of Activities, Brenda & Shirl walked off the job and quit. I think they were just looking for a reason to quit, and that they did not really want to stay on the job. So instead of trying to work with the new managers (as well as the assistant managers who they did not like), listen to what they had to say and be accommodating, they just quit. The other workamper couple is basically doing the same. They got a hair up their butt and decided that even though they could work three or more days a week (instead of 40 hours), they were just going to work one day for their site. The actions of these people do not sit well with Jim & me and it's hard to keep the Activities Center going as we are now the only full time workamper couple there.
We have one older woman working there who was in activities last year as well as a few other young kids who have also worked in activities last summer. So Jim & I are looking to them for guidance and their thoughts on how things work and other things to keep the Center going. This weekend is one of the big weekends before full blow on Memorial Day, being Easter Weekend. We are fully booked and are trying to figure out our hours and what we are doing. Sandi, the manager, has decided to "take over" activities and thinks she has the answers, but I think before any changes are made, that we need to keep this summer the same as it was last summer and let her see how activities, games, wet & wild, karaoke, etc. go.
April 20, 2014. Josh and Karen brought Ellie and Jason up for a visit over April 14 weekend. They had a wonderful time, swimming, riding the train, and painting. Easter weekend was a complete fiasco at the park as it was our first Easter egg hunt. We did our best but still people were unhappy about it. We divided the eggs up into three sections for the different ages of the children - under 5 by the theater, middle kids in Cindy Circle and the older ones by the lake. There were so many parent and kids all over the place who did not want to wait to hunt for eggs. I heard one parent yell out, "Follow me, I know where the eggs are." Everything went haywire from there.
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March 15, 2014. It's been quite an ordeal this past week. The "directors" of the activities area got so fed up with the place that they quit on our first day, then were talked into staying. (But by today they were fed up again and quit again, only to have the owner come and talk with them again.) This past week has been very busy and overwhelming. We do not have enough staff to handle all the activities and are hoping we get more people. Between the 6 of us we have to man the activities area from 10-4, and that requires 2-3 people; the train runs twice a day and needs 2 people; each of the bears come out once a day and that requires 2 people. Then we need to break for lunch and days off and those times need extra people. There are also outside games during the day that require 2 people. We also do an ice cream social on Saturday (4-5 people), and pancake breakfast on Sunday morning (4 people). It is more than we imagined.
But we have been told that this past week was the worst as it was Houston's spring break and the weather was cold and rainy so most people came into the activities center to have something to do. Next week is Waller's spring break and it won't be so bad. After that the park will be mostly dead except for weekends until school lets out in May when we will get busy again. But it probably won't be as bad since the weather will be warm and the people will be in the water park a lot.
April 1, 2014. The new managers officially started work on Monday, and Bob & Diane came on Monday (general managers of all the Legacy parks). They came into the Activities center and Bob talked and talked about all the improvements they made this past winter, which included the counter built for us to hand out t-shirts and ceramics. We have lots of room behind the counter and have containers to put the t-shirts in. Bob thought that we have too much room behind the counter and wants to shorten the area so the guests would not have to look so far to see the ceramics. He does not realize that two of the problems facing the guests seeing the ceramics is the poor lighting above us and the window above the ceramics with the sun shining in and causing back light. His solution is to move the counter closer to the ceramics. We think he needs to come behind the counter and work for a few days and then decide what is best for us.
He introduced the new managers but they did not seem very cordial or friendly. They did not talk with us or acknowledge Brenda and Shirl or want to listen to our ideas. Also, when we see them riding in their golf cart around the campground they ignore us as if we were not even there.
They are not getting off on very good feet and none of us like them so far. Wondering what the future holds for us now. Jim heard that they go "by the book" which means he cannot wear a hat that has any other logo than Yogi or it needs to be plain, and that we are supposed to wear white tennis shoes and khakis. Right. If they want to give me the money to buy them, but in 90 weather, I am going to wear shorts, not pants, as well as sandals instead of tennis shoes every day.
April 13, 2014. The same day the new managers met with Brenda & Shirl, the directors of Activities, Brenda & Shirl walked off the job and quit. I think they were just looking for a reason to quit, and that they did not really want to stay on the job. So instead of trying to work with the new managers (as well as the assistant managers who they did not like), listen to what they had to say and be accommodating, they just quit. The other workamper couple is basically doing the same. They got a hair up their butt and decided that even though they could work three or more days a week (instead of 40 hours), they were just going to work one day for their site. The actions of these people do not sit well with Jim & me and it's hard to keep the Activities Center going as we are now the only full time workamper couple there.
We have one older woman working there who was in activities last year as well as a few other young kids who have also worked in activities last summer. So Jim & I are looking to them for guidance and their thoughts on how things work and other things to keep the Center going. This weekend is one of the big weekends before full blow on Memorial Day, being Easter Weekend. We are fully booked and are trying to figure out our hours and what we are doing. Sandi, the manager, has decided to "take over" activities and thinks she has the answers, but I think before any changes are made, that we need to keep this summer the same as it was last summer and let her see how activities, games, wet & wild, karaoke, etc. go.
April 20, 2014. Josh and Karen brought Ellie and Jason up for a visit over April 14 weekend. They had a wonderful time, swimming, riding the train, and painting. Easter weekend was a complete fiasco at the park as it was our first Easter egg hunt. We did our best but still people were unhappy about it. We divided the eggs up into three sections for the different ages of the children - under 5 by the theater, middle kids in Cindy Circle and the older ones by the lake. There were so many parent and kids all over the place who did not want to wait to hunt for eggs. I heard one parent yell out, "Follow me, I know where the eggs are." Everything went haywire from there.
Back to Daily Journal 2014
Go Forward to Daily Journal 2015