TDA column: Thankful for those who give so much to Henderson County
I’m sitting at my desk in the Henderson County Tourism Development Authority office in Hendersonville. As I write, I can hear the volunteers at the front desk helping visitors.
I also hear a good chunk of the TDA staff working on Christmas decorations for the visitor’s center. They are pitching in together as they so often do. There is laughter here and there as things come together in preparation for the holiday visitors.
I look out the window at newly-bare trees against a backdrop of blue sky and a church steeple. The mountains I’ve loved and hiked in since my youngest days are all around me. I can feel them even when I cannot see them.
I am again in Henderson County. And I am grateful.
You never know which road will lead you home. A year ago this time, my husband and I were just beginning to plan our move back across the state. I had yet to see the job posting for the position I now have with the Henderson County Tourism Development Authority.
A year ago, I was working from home in my consultant business, as I had been for several years. When COVID hit, and everyone’s life was turned upside down, mine had largely remained unchanged.
That fact got me to thinking – perhaps it’s time I consider returning to an office setting. Maybe I missed working with a team of people. We decided that if the right thing came available, I would toss my hat in the ring.
If not, I would continue on with my own business, for there was much I enjoyed about working as an entrepreneur in the communications and tourism worlds.
So I was aware that there would be few positions that would be right. The qualifications: the position would have to be in the mountains, in the tourism industry, and preferably in a TDA.
The chances were small that I would find this. And yet, somehow, it happened. Now, six months into the position, I am ever more thankful that it did.
We get used to beating up on elected officials and government employees. I’ve done my fair share of it. But as I have re-entered the realm of local government, I am struck time and again by so many people working so hard for their community.
Not one of us is perfect, and not everyone agrees, but people move me with how much they try to do what they believe is right for the place they love. I’ve seen it all over the county, but I see it up close and personal in my office daily. And I am thankful.
I see it in the fourth review of a newsletter to get it just right. It’s in a dogged effort to get into the publications that will best talk about us and bring more who love who we are to visit. It’s in the efforts to assist anyone who walks into the doors of the welcome center, in the day-in-and-dayout kindness to the thousands of strangers asking about what there is to do here.
It’s in the dedication to making sure we do all we can to utilize our funding (we are funded by an occupancy tax paid by visitors staying at lodging properties in Henderson County) to the best benefit of the community.
It’s in the roll-up-your sleeves to put on an event to help businesses, or to build a grants program to do the same. It’s in the staff, in the volunteers, and in the (also volunteer) TDA board.
Most impressive of all to me is the work that happens when no one is looking. It’s emblematic of who Henderson County is, and of the industry we serve.
I am thankful, and often humbled, for we at the Henderson County TDA work for some of the hardest-working people you can find: those in the hospitality industry, who have and are going through a great deal.
During COVID, a large swath of our lodging properties, restaurants and attractions had to shut their doors while finding creative ways to serve their customers and stay in business. Those same businesses are now struggling with a lack of employees.
According to a study by the Rosen College of Hospitality Management, the rate of those in the hospitality industry leaving the workforce is double that of any other industry in the U.S. Those who remain are filling the roles of two, three, even four people.
And why? As one local hotel GM - who is also running the front desk, cleaning rooms, and working 12-hour days, often seven days a week – told me, “You know, when that one kid comes running up and hugs me and tells me I helped his family have a great time – it’s all worth it.”
Hard work and caring are not the exclusive domain of the hospitality industry – not by any stretch. Many fields of industry are filled with people who exemplify these traits. And again, no one, in any field of endeavor, is perfect. But in a world so often divided, those who make a profession out of welcoming, serving, and giving kindness to strangers?
Well, I know I am biased, but I am extremely grateful to be a part of such. This Thanksgiving, I hope you get to pass the turkey with people you love. But if you host guests, cook or carve the bird, or wash the dishes – if you also have a moment to think of the people whose lives are dedicated, every day, to doing the same – there’s a bunch of unsung people who might never ask for appreciation, but for whom your happiness means the world.
Many of them will be working through the holidays. No way could I be anything but deeply thankful - this year in particular - to get to work with and for people such as this.
May each of you have something in your life to be so grateful for. Happy Thanksgiving.
This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: TDA column: Thankful for those who give so much in Henderson County
