Events, Banquets, and Parties

   Shawnee Inn is such a beautiful resort with so many things going on. "The most popular part of the resort is their banquets," exclaims Jimmy Cox, a banquet server at Shawnee Inn. Jimmy is one of the best servers Shawnee has because of his hard work and loyalty. For being in high school, he still has time to work most of the events that Shawnee Inn hosts. Shawnee hosts from golf outings to sweet sixteen parties to weddings.

Front Entrance of Shawnee Inn

   The historical Shawnee Inn captivates you by its majestic mountain scenery and remarkable charisma. The calm flowing Delaware River sets the mood for this resort and with a beautiful view of the pure green golf course gives a vibrant touch to it. Every day in the spring you can smell the freshly cut grass of the golf course as it lingers throughout the air.  Shawnee Inn offers so much more than just parties and events. "The golf course and the river combined make a really naturalistic view for weddings," explains Jimmy. As you walk through the brightly green short cut grass with the aroma of fresh air filling your nose, you can see the slow moving Delaware River where many people had their wedding next to. On the other side of the river is the tree filled woods. The dark green trees give the area such a graceful and sophisticated feel to it. To the left of the front lawn is the volleyball court, tennis court, and the little hut that holds the rafts and kayaks for the river adventures that Shawnee Inn provides. To the right reveals the antique Shawnee Inn resort.

Actual Picture of Shawnee Inn Golf Course

    Shawnee has events almost every single day. They are always super busy with them because they won't just have one event in one day, sometimes they will have multiple. "There is not a moment you are not moving while working here, "laughs Jimmy.  Most events are held in the Worthington Ballroom or out on the front lawn by the river sanctuary. The Worthington Ballroom is spacious and elegant. As you walk through the doors of the ballroom you step onto a red and black checker carpet with a built-in hardwood dance floor. The crisp white walls capture your eyes as the chandeliers create a welcoming ambience. The large windows give the room a natural lighting as well as having a view of part of the enormous golf course. Just by the set up of the ballroom, the antique look of history flourishes in the room with a modern day touch. Having a party in this room would truly make you feel like royalty.

   "Working at Shawnee Inn as a banquet server isn't just serving drinks and food or just setting up the buffet table, its so much more than you can imagine," Jimmy says as he paces around the plate storage room. He grabs a dark brown cart with two levels to hold all the plates. He starts loading up on everything he needs for this banquet in the Worthington Ballroom. Luckily he is not alone in this. With him he has the managers, other servers, bussers, and also the kitchen staff providing the event with food. Jimmy prances along grabbing everything he needs to set up the long, white linen covered table that lies across from the two entrance doors for the buffet. It practically feels like he is speed walking back and forth grabbing freshly cleaned silver utensils, sparkling water glasses, enormous shining silver chaffing dishes, red napkins as red as blood, and of course all of the plates. He knows he only has a certain amount of time to complete everything as he trots in black dress pants with black non-slip shoes, a smooth, ironed white button up shirt, with a black vest and bow tie as well. He places everything on the buffet table and then starts working on the other tables for the people to sit and eat at. It feels like white takes over the room with the table cloths and seat covers being striking with white color but fortunately the red napkins gave a more flower look to it like roses sitting upon each plate setting. Finally everything is set up. The last thing to bring out is the food but first the people and guests enter. "You are dealing with people the whole time. You have to be kind and understanding with the guests," Jimmy says with a more displeased face. "Sometimes certain guests will have more problems then others. You have to be ready for those who give you more of a hard time. Most events go smoothly with minor problems but you will always get that one or two people that find something wrong in everything," Jimmy clarifies as he laughs.



Actual Picture of Worthington Ballroom

    As the night finishes after the guests eat their food and with music slowly starting to fade, the people start to leave. Now Jimmy and the rest of the staff start the clean up process. They grab all of the linens and napkins and throw them into a large rolling bin for them to be taken to get cleaned. "At the end of the event, all of us move rapidly because at this point we all want to leave," exclaims Jimmy with a tired vibe. Removing the plates, silverware, and glasses bringing them all to the dish washers to clean means getting closer to being done. The dish washers take care of the plates and glasses by putting them away and the banquet servers take care of separating the silverware and bringing them back into the silverware storage ready to be used for the next event. Now that everything is finished the staff comes together to talk about the night and how they believe things went. "I thought it ran smoothly," Jimmy says as he is ready to leave. The staff breaks apart and everyone goes home calling it a rap.

    The ultimate goal that Shawnee Inn tries to achieve is to make sure that the people who are take part in this event are enjoying their time. The staff tries to make everything perfect for them. They strive to make it the best night and a memorable one as well. Shawnee Inn truly cares about their guests and really do want to make sure they've had a good time.