Housekeeping Olympics will be held Sept. 13
By Jim Makowsky HTF Contributor
MT. IRON - Have you ever had to clean up after another person? Clean the bathroom after they have showered? How about cleaning the bathroom after a family of four has showered? What if that family of four all stayed overnight in one room, ordered pizza, slept, then took showers? Now multiply that by 40 rooms. This is exactly what the housekeepers of the Iron Range hotels and motels go through day in and day out! Week in and week out!
My name is Jim Makowsky, I am a general manger of a local motel. I see every day the hard work of our housekeepers. I complicate the above scenario by adding things such as labor expenses, scheduling, linen inventory, cleaning products, MSDA sheets, laundry and the lists goes on. It is easy for me to talk the talk in housekeeping, but it is a different world when it comes to walking the walk!
That is why over six years ago we created the Iron Range Housekeeping Olympics. This event held every fall in conjunction with National Housekeepers week both recognizes the hard work of housekeeping profession and allows those hardworking people to blow off some steam while have fun doing what they do best! My hat goes off to those people. I not only have that appreciation of the people of my properties, but that of housekeepers everywhere. The spirit of that appreciation is what the Housekeeping Olympics is all about.
This year the Holiday Inn Express in M.t Iron will host the 6th Annual Iron Range Housekeeping Olympics. Teams from across the area will compete in events such as laundry folding, bed making, laundry stacking and the ever popular obstacle course. Let me explain the obstacle course. A team of four push a housekeeping cart through a maze of cones, they stop to stock their cart, then proceed to a bathroom area, where they need to clean a toilet and shower stall. After that, it’s on to the bedroom area where they strip a bed, then race back with a dirty linen cart to the finish line! All this happens while another team is competing side by side. Did I mention this event is timed? (Just like back at the hotel.) Crowds of spectators cheer on their favorite team!
This year’s event will be anchored by Shannon Lee and Jim Currie along with many local celebrity judges. Many thanks to the sponsors who make this event possible: Perkins Resturant, Fortune Bay and the Iron Range Tourism Bureau.
The 6th Annual Housekeeping Olympics will take place at the Holiday Inn Express in Mt. Iron, Monday, Sept. 13, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Come for the fun, come for excitement and entertainment, but most importantly, come to show your support and appreciation for your friends and family who work in the housekeeping profession.
