North Country Lodge first in AFRC to win Innkeeper Award

  • Published
  • By Cristina Oxtra
  • 934 Airlift Wing Services
North Country Lodge made history recently by being the first Reserve base to win the Air Force Innkeeper Award.
North Country Lodge is a three-time Air Force Reserve Command Innkeeper winner and has competed at the Air Force level in the small base category in 2002 and 2004 and in the large base category this year. There are only two categories in the competition. This win ranks North Country Lodge as one of the top lodging facilities in the entire Air Force worldwide.
North Country Lodge General Manager Tammy Davis said whenever it competed for the Innkeeper award, the staff saw at it as a good learning experience, regardless of whether it won or not.
"Each time, we were more experienced and learned of our Air Force Innkeeper standards. Over the years, we created outstanding programs and just kept enhancing those already in place," Davis said.
In July, lodging experts from San Antonio, Texas, inspected each command level-winning facility, including North Country Lodge, to determine the winner at the Air Force level. Davis said confidence is one of the things that put North Country Lodge over the top to win the award.
"We didn't have to put on a show. We've been enhancing and improving our programs for years," Davis said. "We have in depth, detailed programs that show daily that we operate at the highest Air Force standards. While we were being evaluated, we were performing our daily operations and the team of inspectors followed us as we went about our daily jobs. They really saw us in action."
Davis added that the staff's attitude and personality also set it apart from the competition.
"Everyone always says it's the staff's friendliness and genuine caring attitude. None of it is put on. It's how we act everyday," Davis explained. "We didn't plan to be the winner and the fact that we are justifies what we feel every day at work, which is pride in ourselves and what we do. We really just do what the regulation tells us to do and add a little flavor of our own, and then there's our personality, which took us over the edge to be winners."
When Davis learned from Margo Leslie, chief of Services, that North Country Lodge won the award, she was elated. To keep the news a secret until it was announced at a wing commander's call the following day, they went into Davis' office, closed the door, and celebrated quietly.
"We silently screamed and jumped up and down in my office and hugged and screamed some more! It was the absolute best secret I had to keep until the next morning when the news was officially announced," Davis said. "My staff went wild, as did the base personnel and our wing commander."
"There are about 100 lodging facilities in the Air Force throughout the world. Winning this award is like winning the Super Bowl. I am extremely proud of everyone in the Services organization for this achievement," said Col. Tim Tarchick, 934th Airlift Wing commander.
Davis said the lodging staff is contented at winning the Innkeeper Award.
"We are so often told by our guests, our comment cards and other Services members who stay here how outstanding the staff and facility are. This just makes us feel even better -- officially recognized for what we love to do," she said.
In November, Leslie, Davis and North Country Lodge staff members will attend the award presentation at in New York City. Leslie said to see North Country Lodge win an Air Force award for the Reserve command had been a goal she wanted to meet before she retired.
"Lodging is the only area that we're competitive in with the active-duty Air Force because we don't have large enough programs to compete for the LeMay, Eubank or Hennessey awards. I've been at active-duty bases that competed for these awards. The excitement for your staff is just overwhelming," Leslie said. "I wanted our outstanding lodging staff to have the opportunity to go to New York to share in this excitement. They will fully understand what a major accomplishment this Air Force award is."