It was a club manager’s nightmare: Our Fourth of July fireworks and festivities were rained out and the rain date was a no-go for our fireworks provider. For a moment, it felt like our proud tradition would be quashed and our members would be disappointed to say the least. But behind every cloudburst is a bit of sunshine, and the nasty weather became an opportunity for our club to welcome our members and our staff in a bigger way than we could have imagined — thanks to some imagination.
Diversity and inclusion don’t happen by accident in any private club, or business entity for that matter. But when you’ve created a culture that embraces the ideals of its employees, good things can happen by accident. Over the years, The Tuxedo Club, located outside of New York City, has emphasized staff ideas and creativity in our operations. Having experienced staff allows the club to broaden its point of view and utilize their unique skills and perspectives to add new and fun dynamics to the club. That’s exactly what happened in our case in 2022.
The Situation
As I stood in my office on the July Fourth holiday, looking out at the smaller than normal number for the event, and knowing that we had an additional fireworks presentation that the company would provide for us, I spoke with a couple of my team members about “what now.”
We decided to have an End of Summer party Labor Day weekend, to close out the season and have the fireworks display for the membership. We knew that it needed to have a “wow” factor and have elements to set it apart from our typical Fourth of July
BBQ celebration. It also just so happened that 2022 was the first year we brought in inter- national workers via the H-2B program. We looked around at the hard-working staff from both front and back of the house that day and came up with a plan.
The Plan
With a team that represented Caribbean islands, South Africa, Mexico, South America, Netherlands and more, we decided to hold an international street food festival for our Labor Day fireworks and end-of-season celebration. While everyone loves all-American burgers and hotdogs, barbecue, chicken and ribs, and so on (which this event had a limited amount of ), this allowed the staff the opportunity be a bit more creative and to share their cultural and family recipes from home to our community. It also allowed our members to experience cuisine that isn’t typically featured at the club during our regular day-to-day operations.
Planning began in earnest with our event manager, chef and his team, to talk about how we would accomplish this event. Instead of one large tent for buf- fets and services, we utilized the club’s pop-up logo tents for multiple stations all across the back lawn overlooking Tuxedo Lake, decorated in theme of each country represented at each station. There were no limitations or rules, only the idea that everyone shared their cultural favorites from home. Our chef allowed his entire staff to use their creative freedom and curate their own menu for each individual station, which ranged from small bites to dessert and even a themed cocktail created by our bartenders. This soon became a one-of-a-kind event where everyone was offered their own ideas and input. It was an awesome way to showcase the talent range of what our staff had to offer and what we could achieve when we opened the floor to ideas.
The Day & Impact
From Argentinian empanadas to a variety of Mexican street tacos to Jamaican escovitch and traditional South African Ackee and saltfish, our team and their cultures were well represented. Not only did our members get to enjoy amazing food, but having the ability to interact directly with the people who created the recipe and food drove the whole vibe of the day. Staff were able to create a little piece of home and what is important to them and share it with our club community and membership. It was a great way to end the summer season as everyone proudly showed off their creations. The pride and smiles were unlimited that day in both the employees and membership. The camaraderie and teamwork of the employees was evident to all who attended.
Members embraced the event. Any pushback was limited as the club made sure to explain the new format and even included the full menu in the club’s weekly email to showcase its diverse array of dishes and some American staples.
“The last two seasons’ Labor Day event was an experience that is beyond explaining in words; the opportunity that I get to share my culture in preparing vibrant Jamaican food is the happiest moment for me. It’s the time that no one tells you what to do and how to do it and that’s where I shine. The preparing of the menu was easy and getting the ingredients was easier than expected. Our assistant general manager, Dan Britts, was able to assist in sourcing special ingredients such as ackee. My fellow teammate Bafana joined my station as well preparing an amazing oxtail dish that was a hit! Labor Day to me is like Christmas in September.” – Rushaine, Tuxedo Club culinary team member.
“It is a bittersweet day for me: It’s our last big event and me and my team members get a chance to give our members an experience of different food cultures, cooking food from my culture and seeing people enjoy it makes me so happy. I have had the privilege to do so two consecutive seasons and this will be my third. In 2022, I worked alongside Rushain, helping him prepare the Jamaican cuisine. I felt like I was part of his culture and I learned so much from him. In 2023 I had my own table. I cooked a variety of food from oxtail curry, chakalala “bean stew,” unique South African steam bread and malva pudding. It made my heart melt when members came to ask questions and enjoy my food preparations. The fireworks are a cherry on top, it reminds me of New Year’s back at home, cooking for the family and watching fireworks afterwards. I never felt homesick on this day because at Tuxedo we are a family, the sad part is it’s at the end of the season, and I have to pack up and leave but I leave with great memories. I am excited for this year’s Labor Day celebration because I have curated a menu that will take our member’s taste buds to South Africa! Until they get to experience it themselves, I will keep giving them the experience in the comfort of The Tuxedo Club.” —Bafana, Tuxedo Club culinary team member
The Future
Flash forward to 2024, and this is becoming an annual event for the club. We have a constant evolution of staff bringing forth new ideas each year, which allows us to look forward to something different each season adding to the excitement of it all.
One of the club’s new staff recognitions is its staff Instagram page. This page was specifically created to feature staff and to get an inside look of what it’s like working here at the club. Posting weekly teammate Tuesdays in the summer months to get to know for fun facts about your fellow employees, birthday posts, promotions & more! It’s a fun way to showcase the diversity of our staff and how we all come together to achieve the same goal.
Members look forward to both the live music and fireworks, but most importantly, a chance to have food that represents staff that take care of them throughout the rest of the year. This new season we are excited to welcome front-of-house H-2B’s to our team in addition to our current culinary H-2B team members. One of the many unique qualities of The Tuxedo Club, is that you engage and work alongside co-workers who have hospitality experiences from across the globe–not something you would traditionally expect from a small, gated community in upstate New York.
At The Tuxedo Club we continuously look for ways to improve our diversity and inclusion while some ideas are planned others come naturally. It is important to us that staff feel welcomed and appreciated given that some of our team members have traveled overseas to be a part of this team. Allowing employees to express what is important them and share their own ideas is one of many ways we create a wonderful camaraderie among our team, The Leafpack.
Randy St. John CCM, CCE is GM/COO, and Maura Lennon is the events manager at The Tuxedo Club in Tuxedo Park, N.Y. They can be reached at [email protected] and [email protected].