Thursday, July 29, 2010

Quarterly Growth Awards

On July 28th, Grande Villas celebrated our quarterly GROWTH awards ceremony. The GROWTH awards are to recognize employees for their outstanding performance. A committee made up of managers chooses one employee from each department based on their work ethics and documented involvement with the guests as quarterly winners. Each winner is then nominated for a company GUNG-HO award. This quarter’s winners were Gerald McKenna from Marketing, Taiwan Bryant from Public Areas, Issai Mladenov from Engineering, Glenda Maldonado from Housekeeping and Brett Williams from Front Desk. Congratulations to all of the winners!
Growth Awards Committee

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

New In-House Marketing Manager

Congratulations are in order for our new In-house Marketing Manager, Gerald McKenna! This sales and marketing all-star started back in October of 2004 as a sales associate. He quickly became the Call Center Manager in June 2005 before making his way to an In-house marketer in January 2009. Jerry has long been a favorite among co-workers and guests alike and I think we are all happy and proud to see him get this well deserved promotion.
Congrats Jerry!

The Golf Guy Visits Grande Villas

A recent visit to the Grande Villas made headlines! The Golf Channel encourages its members to write about their golf travel experiences and a man who goes by the name of "The Golf Guy" did just that. Along with staying at our resort, he visited some of the local area golf attractions including the Slammer and Squire and the King and Bear golf courses. Read it for yourself by clicking the link below.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Introducing Jeff!

Next time you pass the front desk, be sure to say hello to our newest employee, Jeff Paarlberg. Jeff, who is orginally from Chicago, previously worked at the Daniel Island Club in Charleston, South Carolina before making his way down to St. Augustine. When not answering phones and helping guests, he can be found playing just about any sport available!
Let's all give Jeff a warm Grande Villas welcome!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Concerts in the Plaza


Reminiscent of days gone by when friends and families would gather in the early evening to listen to music in the town square, Concerts in the Plaza brings a wide variety of musical entertainment to St. Augustine’s historic downtown all summer long. Bluegrass and blues, jazz and country, swing and folk, old time and popular rock: Concerts in the Plaza has something for everyone.
This year Concerts in the Plaza celebrates two decades of great entertainment in a great place. The series has been called “the best way to spend a Thursday night in St. Augustine,” and it’s easy to understand why when you’re sitting under the majestic oaks of the Plaza de la ConstituciĆ³n enjoying quality musical entertainment.
The concert season starts with an afternoon performance from 1 to 5 p.m. on Memorial Day presenting the St. augustine Jazz Society featuring ET 'Swings the Thing' and Roland Fleming Connection, rhythm and blues.
The concerts continue all summer long on Thursdays at 7 p.m. and concludes, as does summer, on Labor Day with another afternoon performance.

New Front Office Manager

We are very pleased to announce the promotion of Chelsea Wynn, seen here with the 2009 Quality Express trophy, to the position of Front Office Manager at Grande Villas.

Chelsea started with Bluegreen as a Front Desk Associate in 2007. She was very quickly able to learn the different aspects of her job and become one of the most valuable Front Desk team member. Chelsea earned the respect of the owners/guests as well her coworkers and mangers. She was the winner of the Q1 2009 GROWTH Award.
In 2010 Chelsea was promoted to the position of Front Desk Supervisor. She was able to provide initiative and leadership to the Front Desk Team and maintain high level of customer service and owners’/guests’ satisfaction.

Please join us in congratulating Chelsea on this well-deserved promotion.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Tiger Cubs

Our neighbors at the St. Augustine Wild Reserve have recently had the pleasure of welcoming 2 baby tigers to their reserve and are offering you the chance to come and play with them. The cost is a $50 donation per person and includes a 20 minute play and photo session. For this once in a lifetime opportunity, call the St. Augustine Wild Reserve at (904) 940-0664.
http://www.staugustinewildreserve.org/index.htm

Friday, July 9, 2010

Independence Weekend



Independence Day weekend was a thrill a minute!
July 2nd, our nieghbors at the World Golf Hall of Fame had their famous annual fireworks display. People came from all around to watch, but only our guests got to watch poolside!
July 3rd we had our Watermelon Festival, and boy was it fun! The event started off with a 15 gun salute by the Navy Color Gaurd. Everyone went poolside for games, music and of course, watermelon. Zumba dancers taught us how to groove while the hula dances taught us how to move!
July 4th there were fireworks all around, but none like the ones in St. Augustine! A beautiful display of flashing colors shooting into the sky over the 500 year old Castillo de San Marcos was the perfect way to end the amazing weekend!
Happy Birthday America!


 

Meet Charity Bear



He is soft, cuddly and a lovable stuffed animal with a caring heart. When you purchase Charity Bear for $8 from our Sundry Shop, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Bluegreen Charity of the month.

Real Ghost Stories of St. Augustine

With a history as old as ours, there are going to be a few ghosts! Every Thursday night, we tell stories from around St. Augustine about ghostly encounters and haunted happenings. Guests are suprised to learn that the restaurant where they enjoyed their lunch was once the scene of 2 bathtub drownings or that the giggles they heard while visiting the lighthouse were those of the children who died there over a century ago. Even if you don't believe in ghosts, you can learn a lot about the history of our town with these true stories.