Black Butte Ranch Blog
Archives : 2009 : October
The Origin of Fire (In the Pit)
At first there was no fire and the world was cold. People could not enjoy the great outdoors after the sun went down. They never knew the joy of sipping a warm beverage while sitting around a glowing hearth. Their eyes didn’t reflect the dancing flames, their fingers were frozen and they were without a warm shelter (because they didn’t know about the Ranch’s awesome family vacation packages).
Then one day the fire pit was created and there was a new-found warmth around the Lodge. People could come and sip a warm peppermint mocha and be comforted by the glow of the crackling fire before going back to relax in their cozy Black Butte Ranch vacation rental. They were overjoyed to learn that they had so many trails to explore, vistas to view and fun to have. All because there was fire in the pit.
View from the fire pit at the Lodge
Cheers!
Katie
There is a Place – With Heroes
A fine example of that statement is Ruth Davis who has been with the Ranch for 10 years, and is the Grounds Maintenance Supervisor and Winter Home Inspector. Today, Ruth is a hero!
In the course of simply doing her daily duties Ruth was in the lodge area when she noticed what looked like smoke or possibly steam coming from one of the Lodge condos. As a trained firefighter (she was the Captain of the Crooked River Ranch Rural Fire Protection Dept and a Paramedic for seven years) Ruth made a mental note of it. About 10 minutes later she glanced over in the vicinity of the condo once again and was surprised to see the same stream of smoke rising in the air.
She called her co-worker Bob (who coincidentally is her husband and was once Chief of Police for Crooked River Ranch). After a quick conversation she suggested that they both go over to the condo and check it out . When they arrived they were surprised to see fireplace ashes that had been dumped in a paper bag and left on the wooden deck. The ash had been smoldering overnight and burned through a small portion of the deck. Ruth knocked on the door of the condo to see if anyone was there, but received no answer. Bob, on the other hand, having been a police officer tried again with a more “forceful” knock ( he used a piece of wood to bang on the door). Amazingly enough, the occupants were awakened and alerted to the smoldering fire. Bob then proceeded to dump water on the area, while the Black Butte Ranch Fire Department was called and arrived on the scene to finish the job.
Thanks to the keen eye, sharp instinct and quick action by Ruth a disaster was averted and the condo was left with only minor damage. Thanks Ruth!
See ya around the Ranch,
Katie
BBR Guests Participate in Nat’l Forest Foundation
This is such a great program that Black Butte Ranch is participating in and I just had to share it with you. The National Forest Foundation (NFF) Lodge Guest Contribution Program has been an ongoing program whereby guests at various lodging properties throughout the United States may add-on $1 to their room bill and that donation is paid directly to the foundation. The best part is that each lodging property can choose which forest their donations will benefit. Of course we have chosen Deschutes National Forest as the beneficiary. It gets even better, for every dollar that our guests contribute the NFF will put in an additional $0.25 (25 cents). The total amount raised per year per forest is $1,000,000 and above. The money is managed by the NFF and earmarked for various projects in the selected forest.It’s amazing what can be done when everybody pitches in. Thank you to those that have contributed and tell all your friends and family to help our forest by staying at Black Butte Ranch.
Cheers!
Katie
