St. Albans Barn Dance

How has this idea enhanced your club's operation, etc.?

The creation of our Barn Dance was to offer a fun, new event for our members. Locating it in our Golf Course Maintenance barn gave our members a new appreciation of the work that team does for the members of our club. They saw first hand the equipment that is utilized and maintained. We invited our Director of Agronomy and his team of superintendents and managers to attend, which gave the members an opportunity to meet them and glean the depth of knowledge and skills these agronomists bring to our operation.

How was this idea implemented, and what have been the club members' reactions?

We created a shuttle utilizing a tractor & flatbed with straw and locker room benches to shuttle members from our parking lot, the short distance, to our golf course maintenance barn. There, members were met with a signature drink and invited inside the barn. We hired an event decorator who worked with our GCM staff to clean up the barn, hang string lights, back drops, photo ops, tables/chairs/bars, and food stations. We had a game area set up for corn hole and beer pong. While there were bathrooms inside the GCM building, we rented a few porta-potties for outside the barn, as well as stand up propane heaters and extra lighting for those who wanted to smoke outside. We hired a band - one of our members has a Nashville country band who came in town and played for us. We offered complimentary line dance lessons the week of the event for all members who signed up for the event. The chef created a fun "heavy appetizer" menu, and the bar manager created some signature cocktails.