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Show , .. : . L -Z- ZZJZZ ' ' " - - - f - '? : ' -. " ' " ' "' : . . ' ' z 4 r v '' ' ' ' . Western Town Resort's marketing and sales manager man-ager Chris McCormick and entertainer Eric Degler really get into the swing each night as they rally the traveling public into a full-fledged hoedown. The Highway 89 property, now under new ownership owner-ship introduces new ideas as it rapidly e xpands. Western Town Resort's New Owner Introduces Clever Tourism Ideas PANGUITCH "Creating a great 'Old West' experience for the traveler is the whole idea behind the new Western Town Resort," said Marketing and Sales Director Chris McCormick. The resort is located on the west side on Highway 89 near the junction of Highway 12. "We have taken the dream of the original property owners, expanded on it and made it even grander," said McCormick, " so that when travelers travel-ers step onto Western Town Resort property, they take a trip back in time." Western Town Resort (WTR) not only has new concepts and freedom free-dom to explore those, but boasts new ownership and fresh money, infused into the property for a significant sig-nificant expansion effort. The company is now set up with Eric Thompson and the Eagle Rock Group of Provo at the helm in conjunction with Zion's Management Man-agement Company, also of Provo and president Glen Overton and C.F.O. Dave Holcomb. Thompson is a "dedicated owner," McCormick said, and enjoys en-joys creating properties that are "unique, interesting and lots of fun." Other properties under his ownership include Ramada Inn, Salt Lake City Airport; the Provo Mar riott; - St George Sheraton, and the Best Western , Sparks, Nev. McCormick joined with general manager Tim Greenhalgh and the two have put together a "team" that has been off and running to mold and finesse the resort's pure "Old West" theme. Roger Casebolt, was added this season as front office manager. Sharon Munson, as restaurant res-taurant manager has teamed once again with L.C. Hatch to recreate some authentic Western cuisine, along with a colorful and attentive chef, Jose Garcia. Eric Degler, Antimony, An-timony, has been harnessed as the nightly entertainment specialist. Others in this cohesive unit include in-clude Rosa Lerma as housekeeping supervisor, Robert Burns, as maintenance main-tenance supervisor, Debra McKee, groups supervisor and Joe Griffin, as wrangler. They have been joined by Gabe and Bobbi Cedillo working on reservations and maintenance, Desiree Sid well, Karen Beddoes and Tina Miner as servers, Michelle Frandsen at the front desk, and Peggy Marker managing the gift shop. Besides the obvious Western theme to the property, tour buses are being greeted each evening with a fully decked-out wrangler, atop his trusty steed, in chaps and spurs. He escorts the bus at full gallop to the staging area where passengers are unloaded and suitcases quickly stored away. Guests are then escorted to the Wildbunch Restaurant where they are seated on locally crafted wooden seats and benches, pulled up to rustic rus-tic dinner tables. The room is adorned with western paraphernalia and interesting and cowboy hats and trinkets highlight the gift shop. Host Tim Greenhalgh tends to each little detail of the group's evening, eve-ning, beginning by taking a per- (See WESTERN TOWN on pg 7A) WESTERN TOWN From Front Page sonalized photo of the tour operator and bus driver, decked out in western west-ern garb with an authentic barn wood backdrop. Typically Greenhalgh can be found personally escorting a German Ger-man child tourist to the gift shop to see that he iss properly attired in a new, inexpensive cowboy hat and western sidearms. These personal touches and sincere attentive, caring attitudes are what is now endearing this new property to not only tour operators and their patrons, but locals lo-cals and the traveling public as well. Guests are treated to a full Dutch-oven spread with ribs, potatoes, pota-toes, baked beans, hot vegetables, biscuitsrolls, and a complete salad bar. Several side dish selections are available at the buffet such as catfish, cat-fish, bratwurst and sauerkraut, chicken breasts and other nightly international specialties. The fare is $13.95 per adult for the buffet but patrons can also order off the cleverly designed menu (with 20 percent local discount on any menu item, any meal). Dessert each evening eve-ning can range from boysenberry cobbler and cake to homemade fruit and cream pies. Great effort is being be-ing taken to make every item on the menu homemade and fresh daily. The highlight it appears for tour guests is the self-described jack of all trades and resident entertainer, Eric Degler, imported nightly out of Antimony. He is present for every tour group and undoubtedly will be the drawing card that causes repeat business at Western Town. And a "card" he is. But it is the chemistry and sheer determination of the entire WTR "team" to make visiting patrons join in and have a memorable experience, expe-rience, that cements the entire operation. op-eration. Wranglers, hosts and servers serv-ers jump up, clap hands and create a hoe down atmosphere each evening, as Degler lures in his mostly female fe-male participants. It seems females of all persuasions persua-sions have a natural attraction to a decked out cowboy image, but Degler De-gler takes it one step further tossing in a little German or French phraseology, phra-seology, a little Elvis, a few Beatles tunes, a British accent here or there, the favorites with visitors, many just plain cowboy or familiar old tunes. Degler fashions his show straight out of his farming, cowboy and rodeoing past, with (See WESTERN TOWN on pg 8A) . . WESTERN TOWN From Page 7A heavy emphasis on tradition and culture. Patrons gladly join in the singing, dancing, and spoons, jug and washboard band that Degler puts together nightly to help him in his floor show. The entertainment and group camaraderie may make this the up-and-coming "night spot" of Garfield County in very short order. The atmosphere is" comfortable, clean, down-home and totally upbeat. Just ask repeat local customer Sheri Schlundt of Panguitch who seeks out the Wildbunch Restaurant almost weekly to join in the fun. 'Schlundt says she believes the delightful de-lightful experience WTR is giving its bus tour customers will promote the area and cause return business, season after season. The "laughter, fun and dancing are contagious and make for a complete entertainment package, the only one I know of in the area," she said. Local wrangler Joe Griffin currently cur-rently operates horse rides out of the property, adding another dimension dimen-sion to the WTR visit. New owners of the popular property quickly infused development develop-ment money into the mix hiring local contractors Doug Heaton, Alton; Al-ton; Larry Rose, Orderville and Garfield Gar-field Ready Mix, Cannonville to begin expansion efforts. Plans are fl QDDDE to extend the building now housing the restaurant out 30 feet into a portico por-tico or covered entry for bus unloading. unload-ing. The two-story facility will sport dual outdoor decks on either side of a conference area, an expanded ex-panded restaurant, new lobby, gift shop and small convenience store. At the south end of the property a fully outfitted RV park and campground camp-ground will be constructed. In the communal, central portion por-tion of the property a red rock courtyard will be fashioned with a stream running under a covered bridge. A swimming pool and covered cov-ered pavilion are planned, along with a black smith shop and outdoor out-door dining. Planned future activities include more western theme ventures of riding, rid-ing, roping, and shooting demonstrations; demon-strations; mock shoot-outs and hiking hik-ing trails are being developed along the property. Possible gazebos and fountains also will adorn the central area as well. Western Town Resort, already AAA, is working hard toward a Three-Diamond AAA rating. Part of the expansion will include in-clude a movie memorabilia collection collec-tion obtained from former Tooele stunt man, Tony Kruletz. These include an authentic John Wayne saddle, Pancho Villa's saddle, an original wagon from the musical Paint Your Wagon, a huge gun collection col-lection and a whole lot more. New owners are endeavoring to work hand-in-hand with fellow properties to make their property and Garfield County a destination (See WESTERN TOWN on pg 9A) WESTERN TOWN From Page 8A location. They have recently sponsored spon-sored the Panguitch High School champion basketball team for dinner din-ner and a night out and donated I $150 to assist Miss Garfield ' County Teresa Hatch in her continuing con-tinuing reign. Local workers are excited about the new management and ownership of WTR and are ambitiously working work-ing toward a common goal. |