Tonight we had a family meet with Make-A-Wish for dinner to make special plans. Our young guest is planning a trip to Italy with his family for his wish. I went over, met the young man, and asked him where he was planning on going, His eyes lit with excitement while telling me about his plans to go to multiple stops across the country. His younger brother was excited to go to take pictures with all the birds by the fountains. We took care of the meal and I asked the young man and the Make-A-Wish coordinator to pass on the RAK certificates. The Make-A-Wish coordinator came in after the meal to speak with me. She was so appreciative of the meal for the family. Originally she had tried to set the plans for an Italian restaurant since he was planning a trip to Italy, but the boy insisted on T-BONES. This is his favorite restaurant and he loves the chicken tenders!
Taking Care of Those Who Take Care of Others
I had a young man part of ROTC that came in on Memorial Day, and had a conversation with him up front. He was asking me to hang a poster for the staff to inform them that the Air Force is hiring. I had a bar guest come up to me after asking where the man was sitting, she wanted to take care of his lunch. I told her that I really like that she was going to do that, but that he didn’t come in for lunch. The guest explains that she always does, and has a nephew who is in the service. She hopes that someone out there will Pay it Forward to him. Unfortunately, he doesn’t live local. I went back over to her and passed her a Gift Card for herself, I said “I want to take care of your tab next time you come in, since you’re often taking care of others.” The woman gave me the warmest smile, then wrapped me in a hug! This was a special moment to happen on this Memorial Day lunch.
Outpouring Support for Local Teacher
There is a substitute teacher from Pinkerton that was diagnosed with Colon Cancer. Some of the students had set up a Go Fund Me page and it received a ton of support, so much that the Eagle Tribune picked up their story. From there, Channel 9 picked up the story and they were overwhelmed with the amount of community support they had received and greatly appreciated it as his wife needed a major surgery of her own. Some of the young employees recognized him when he and his wife came in to dine and approached me to do something nice for him. He was brought to tears and emotional at the level of care his “kids” had for him. His motto when he started teaching was if he showed them respect they would show it in return and he was certainly correct in that theory as they have continued to offer it and show their love for this man and his family. They left holding hands thanking us tremendously and said they will make sure they Pay it Forward.
keeping the good vibes going
We had two tables dining next to each other, an older couple and a younger couple that chit chatted throughout their dining experience. They enjoyed each other’s company, shared stories and kept conversation from drinks to dessert. They happened to be seated at the same time. The older gentlemen flagged their server down, Myranda, and asked to discreetly pay their tab. Myranda loved how they were so friendly to each other and awe inspired to see total strangers befriend each other so effortlessly. So of course, we wanted to keep the good vibes flowing. The older couple dines regularly so we gave them a pay it forward certificate and a gift certificate which they plan to also gift to someone. They said they of course didn’t expect anything in return but will gladly help keep the random acts of kindness alive
for our extended family
We have a lounge regular that is a family member to one of our hosts. His family was in the other day and shared with one of our cocktail servers that they had just come from the hospital. They had been visiting Bill all day. He recently was moved to Beth Israel to have open heart surgery but it was delayed in the hopes of getting him stronger and better equipped to have a successful surgery. Many family members had joined the family after visiting and wanted to of course dine in their family favorite spot. Derry T-Bones. When they were winding down I went over to offer my condolences and support in hopes of Bill having a full recovery. We offered a gift certificate so they could all join us when Bill was ready and wanting his favorite meals again….or food from his favorite place but with some diet restrictions. They were grateful and we hope to hear soon how this week’s surgery went. I suggested dispersing the RAK cert. at one of the local hopitals or doctor’s offices as we have a lot of clientel from local offices. Either way, they were very pleased to know we were rooting for Bill and keeping him in our thoughts through this diffcult time.
Mary on the Mend
In Derry we have a well loved lounge regular. She is lively and fun, Often coming in with her girlfriends. She is a great souce of laughter with the staff. She had some serious medical problems and has not been in for months. Today she returned, and is doing well. I went over, chatted with her, and expressed how happy I am to see her back out to lunch with friends. I took care of her tab, and she’s looking forward to passing on the Rak certificate.
Trip down memory land
Today we had a couple visiting the area. Derry TBones was her Dad’s favorite place to dine. He had passed away and a bench was named in his honor for being a veteran. When they visit the area they like to drive by their old house for a trip down memory lane and their trip ended at Tbones. They had told their server they were visiting Hampstead so knowing that’s my hometown she told me about their day. We chatted about the changes to town and how different it is but yet the same and found out she grew up a mile up the road from me! When I shared why else I was stopping by to chat they were of course pleasantly surprised but also excited as they love the idea of RAKs and paying it forward. They were on their way to the nursing home for a visit to her Aunt and look forward to making someone else’s day before returning to their home in Connecticut. Perfect way to end their trip back home.
welcome to the neighborhood
In the interest of gaining some new regulars. I wanted to extend a gift card to a family that had just moved into town. Moved from only a state away they are however from Colombia and Lebanon and wonderful people. I shared a little bit of infomation about our company’s care and concern for not only their employees, but also the community and they were very much in awe. I let them know they can also visit Copper Door and try them next time if they would like in the hopes of gaining some new excited regulars looking for a great place to be their “go to” drop in.
Dog Lovers
One of my servers Tori is a dog lover. Last night, when she had a couple at her table stop in to get a bite to eat, they told her that they had just had to have their dog put down. : ( She asked me if we could RAK the table, as having to say good-bye to a beloved pet is a tramatic experience. Being an animal lover myself, I of course agrred. The guests were Ray and Lisa, and they were very thankful for the kidness we showed. It was the first time that they had ever had to say good-bye to a furr baby, and very sad for them.
Impressed from Texas
I waited on a sweet gentleman tonight who was in town for work for a few days, up from Texas. He was very impressed with our menu selection and how great everything was A-Z. He had been in once before and tried our seafood, which is actually what made him come back in tonight. He had the fishmans platter, and again raved about the seafood. He mentioned haddock not being a big thing down south, but said it has quickly become his new favorite thing!! I presented him with a gift certificate to come back one more time on us to try something else on the menu, so he could go back to Texas and rave about New England seafood! I also gave him a RAK to pass along to someone on his final days visiting, which he said he would pass along in hopes someone else tries the seafood just as he did.