Happy New Year to you all out there! It is always startling to realize another year has passed. We are beginning a new era; it’s now the year 2010 … awesome! Out of my window the wind is blowing, snow has been pushed up into piles, and the streets are mostly clear, but not the side-walks, so! It is bitter cold here in Vermont, but the sun is shining and it is perfect weather for skiing. The Mountain resorts must love these weather reports, but cross-country skiing and ice-skating in the meadow are equally popular around here.

But we didn’t spend the last evening here in Vermont, no, we braved greater horizons: we were off to Ardmore, Oklahoma at the Shiloh Morning Inn. What a beautiful setting for an Inn; their rural landscape with its remote cottages, ponds frozen over, a white rime over every blade of grassy lawn, rolling hills in the distance and the air is cold and frosty, it is wintery here too.

We were there to usher in new Innkeepers, Jessica and David Pfau. They are perfectly matched for the Shiloh Morning Inn. Professionals (she trained and worked as a lawyer in Dallas, TX.) in their demeanor, gracious, enthusiastic and willing to experiment. Where else would you find a new owner practicing New Year’s Day breakfast on his wife New Year’s Eve at midnight? She had to drive into town, a 20 minutes drive, to get the accouterments for our plates to be festive in the Morning.

Coming downstairs to the smell of fresh baked scones, fresh flowers on each table, new art work on the walls; I knew, it was not just a New Year, but a new era had begun at the Shiloh Morning Inn. Congratulations, I am very proud to see a new group of Innkeepers that are joining our Innkeeping industry. Last year we welcomed the owners of Glen-Ella Springs Inn and the Chanticleer Inn both in Georgia. Glen Ella Springs already got an outstanding reward for their excellent cuisine!

I just want to bring great tidings to all of you and let you know how satisfying it feels to have new great Innkeepers join our ranks and keep this industry successful and vital. Happy New Year! Heide