Out Of The Box

So, the holidays are over and we’re into the cold, dead months of winter. I’m sure many of you love February, but I don’t. After all of the hub-bub of the holidays, Jan. and Feb. can seem boring and dreary.

Here are some ways to add a little sparkle and have something constructive to do.

Coming up on Tybee:

Feb. 12th & 13th enjoy Tybee’s Mardi Gras. There will be masks, parades, beads, live entertainment, and a ball. Visit the website to get the scoop. This SURELY won’t be boring.

Feb. 28th from 2-5 the Tybee Arts Association will offer a studio tour to see the work of the world renowned teachers and their students involved in the GA Seminars by the Sea Porcelain Painters Retreat on Tybee. You’ll get to watch the art in action, see how the art is done, see finished pieces, AND “get a peek at some of the most beautiful houses and condos on Tybee,” all for $8 ($5 if you are a Tybee Arts Association member). Your ticket will also include a drawing for 2 door prizes – a finished piece of porcelain art and an art piece by Rebecca Rice. Call 912.786.5920 for tickets and information.

March 3rd from 7:00-9:00 p.m. the Tybee Arts Association will present a Showcase of the finished art from the first round of classes of the Porcelain Painters. This is FREE and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. Come and view this fantastic art. Call 912.786.5920 for information.

I went to the YMCA on Tybee recently to start my workouts again (resolutions and all that). I hadn’t been in a while, and I was pleasantly surprised. The Y looks fantastic. It has freshly painted blue and white walls, the windows have new treatments, there’s a new floor, new equipment and they knocked out a few walls to make the place bigger. It’s cleaner, brighter, bigger and better! I understand that soon they’ll have a new rowing machine, too. I’ve belonged to several other Y’s in my lifetime and I’ll hold Tybee’s up to any of them. It’s pleasant and friendlier than any I’ve been in, and some of my long-term friendships that I’ve formed on Tybee began at this Y. If you haven’t been, give it a try.  You can get healthy, meet some people, learn new things, and generally feel better. It’s the best little deal on Tybee.

Cooking, Anyone?
Love food? Love eating it, smelling it and cooking it? Take a cooking class. Several places offer classes ranging from learning how to cook a really good pizza, to romantic Italian, to classes for kids. Here’s where to get information:

Kitchens On The Square – 38 Barnard St. – 912.236.0100 – they have a Lunch and Learn series which includes Southern cooking, Savannah cooking and Lowcountry cooking, and wonderful classes called Ladies Night Out. Classes also include a 10% discount on items purchased in their great store on the day of the class, and free shipping for tourists. Classes are about 90 min. each.

Kitchen Outfitters – 5500 Abercorn St. (Twelve Oaks Shopping Center) – 912.356.1117 – classes have names such as Savory Fish Supper for a Savannah Winter’s Evening, Nick’s Famous Pizza Class and Tropical Warmth for a Winter’s Evening. Damon Fowler, the food writer for the Savannah Morning News and author of several cookbooks also teaches several classes. Wines are almost always included. Most classes are 6:30-9:00 pm, and they also give a 10% discount on items purchased included. Most classes are 6:30-9:00 pm, and they also give a 10% discount on items purchased in their wonderful store on the day of the class.

Chef Joe Randall-Savannah Cooking School – 5409 Waters Ave. – 912.303.0409 – Chef Joe’s mission is to bring the great treasures of the coastal region as close to peoples’ homes as their own kitchens. His motto: put a little south in your mouth. Learn how to cook Savannah Red Rice, Sea Island Smothered Shrimp with Stone-ground Grits in classes with such titles as Creole Feast, the Cuban Dinner and Treasures from the Sea. He also serves wines. Most classes are from 6:30-9:30.

Culinary Cottage – cooking classes for children – 5702 Skidaway Rd. – 912.692.0105 – these “hands-on” cooking classes allow kids to explore new flavors and express their creativity. The classes venture into applying basics of chemistry, applying math and reading comprehension, and exploring nature’s bounty. “Culinary Essentials for Kids” is the current cooking series. They also offer cooking summer camps, parties and special programs with names such as Growing Gourmets (for ages 3-5) and Young Chefs. Spice up your February and try one of the above; better yet, try them all!
Mary Anne

You may contact Mary Anne at tybeeconcierge@tybeevacationremtals.com

Out of The Box

There’s a great little gem of a book called The Customer Comes Second  by Hal Rosenbluth.  At first glance you think the guy is absolutely nutty to be writing a book with a title like this, but if you read the book, you realize that he really has the key to it all. His premise is that if you treat your employees well, great service will follow. When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. Happy employees have greater enthusiasm, a good attitude, give the extra effort, contribute extra in a pinch; AND they provide great customer service because they believe in and love their company. As Rosenbluth puts it, “put your people first and watch them kick butt.”

Part of the reason why I absolutely love my job is that my employers are terrific.  They provide small “perks” to us all to oil the gears and build relationship equity.  We sometimes have pizza for no reason; we often get invited to attend the Tourism Council and Chamber events that require payments and tickets; they treat us to lunches and dinners at some of our best area restaurants. (Today TVR is providing a cake for an employee with a birthday.) They send us to conventions that provide new ideas and tools to help us accomplish great service. We have the best equipment and the newest systems available to do our jobs. For our end of the summer event, we all went bowling — what a hoot and we had a great time. These are the things that make for reasons to want to come to work and to give it our all.

Don’t get me wrong, we still get frustrated, get irritated, get mad at times, but the relationship equity that is built up helps us through those trying times, and we emerge still strong.

How do you treat your employees? Do you appreciate them? Do you find ways to “oil the gears?” Just like Mr. Fezziwig in A Christmas Carol, giving a little extra throughout the year, treating your employees with kindness, and valuing their contributions make employees want to do a good job and go the extra mile.

Ah, but it takes money! Indeed it does, but think of it as an investment in service; by making your employees a priority and treating them well, you invest in your company, just in a little different way, and I guarantee that the money you spend this way will be far more effective than some of the other ways you invest your funds.

And speaking of service, there is another gem of a book called Choosing Civility: The Twenty-Five Rules of Considerate Conduct  by Pier Massimo Forni.  Forni felt that the world was becoming uncivil, populated with rude people; people who were short, uncaring, not courteous, having a poor attitude, and so forth, and he believed something had to be done to try and correct the situation, so he wrote the book. He says that as a professor, he not only wanted to give lectures on literature, but he also wanted to teach students to be kind human beings.  He launched the book six years ago, and it has changed his life. The book has sold 100,000 copies and has become the focus of seminars and reading groups in communities nationwide. Several schools have made the subject of civility part of their curriculum. The goal is to provide a civil climate in the schools that then will carry on into students’ lives. Inner-city students and prisoners have also been part of forums for discussions and outreach projects in civility.

Forni’s rules, which fit on a bookmark, make civility seem attainable. In short, they are: “Pay attention,” “Speak kindly,” and “Respect others’ opinions.” (There are 22 others, but these sum them all up.) The author himself hands out magnets that say, “Choose Civility” to remind people that when they are dealing with a challenging customer, it’s good to think and act “civilly.”

That’s great advice. We all are faced with what I call, “poopy people” and our knee jerk response is to get defensive and get our ire up. That, of course, will do nothing but produce a bunch of “poopiness.” Behavior is catching, and if you keep your cool, and practice civility, chances are their demeanor will settle, and they will become at least a little more civil.

Of course, there’s no magic fairy dust to MAKE people civil—if they choose to be uncivil you can’t change it, but you can choose how YOU react, and Forni asks that you choose civility. Great words for this new year.

Until next time,
Mary Anne

Mary Anne Street lives on Tybee Island with her husband, The Tybee Handyman, and works as concierge for Tybee Vacation Rentals.  For more information about vacation rentals or othe other wonderful things Tybee has to offer, contact Mary Anne at tybeeconcierge@tybeevacationremtals.com

Out of the Box – December 2009

It all started last February with a sign at the Guard House. It said “China Painting.” My curiosity was aroused. Were there people from China painting in the Guard House? Were people painting on china plates? Was there a new painting class and I missed it?

Being a member of the Tybee Arts Association, I couldn’t imagine a painting experience not being known to all the members. I called the number and got Stacye Jarrell of Oceanfront Rentals. Stacey explained that this was the second year of a yearly art school featuring WORLD renowned painters of china objects. “Have you got some time?” she said. “I’ll take you and show you what this is about.” I grabbed Rebecca Rice and Denise Vernon of the TAA and off we went.

Wow! That’s about all I can say about the wonderment we discovered. We first visited a “studio” where a gentleman was teaching painting on china plates. Evidently you put a layer of paint on, fire it, paint on, fire it and so forth until the plate is finished. Stacey had 5 kilns on her property to take care of the nightly firings. Next, we visited another plate class; then it was on to a porcelain clay sculpting class of vases and boxes. Finally, we visited a studio where mostly ladies were painting portraits on china. All I can say is “wow!” We were privileged to meet some of the world’s most renowned painters of china. What exquisite beauty in this age old art that is now making a comeback.

China painting on porcelain came from the country of China; hence, the name. Several countries stole the idea and began making exquisite pieces, putting their own “mark” and style on them and for years the artists garnered high prices for their beautiful work. However, with time the art lost some of its luster and talent as younger people took up faster and easier ways of making “china;” but
quietly in the background the masters continued their art and taught it to the few interested parties.

Today the art is making a comeback, and Tybee is lucky enough to
be part of a fabulous event called GA Seminars by the Sea that invites artists and masters alike to come to paint and learn. The 2010 event will take place February 25th through March 7th and will bring about 120 artists to our island from states such as California, Vermont and Michigan; along with about 14 of the “grand masters” of China painting from Portugal, Argentina and Brazil.

The Tybee Arts Association will host several events this year to welcome our guests and assist in their painting efforts. We will host a teacher’s reception where local art teachers will gather to meet and greet our artists. There will be two “China Painting Art Appreciation and Educational Exhibits,” at the Arts Center to show the work of the painters (one after the first week, and another after the second). This will be an opportunity to share the various techniques and information about this unique fine art form, including its history. The TAA also hopes to offer an event for children to expose them to this “lost art.”

As the attendees will be given welcome bags, members of the Tybee Arts Association met on Oct. 29th to fashion “favors” for the bags. We made turtles out of clay, painted them and fired them. As turtles are Tybee’s “mascot” it was felt these would make appropriate gifts for the bags.

Consider signing up for these classes. THEY WELCOME BEGINNERS and you don’t have to have any experience in china art at all; plus they give discounts to locals. Interested? Call Suzanne Painter at 706.495.6724, or go to http://www.gaseminarsbythesea.net.

As we come together to celebrate the holidays, don’t forget to think of our friends and neighbors who have no family around. Share your meal, bring a gift, or simply spend some time with those in need of a little time. And there is always the Nursing Home on Tybee—they can always use a little time and TLC.

May your holidays be blessed and peaceful.

Mary Anne