Gold Men's Necklace in Lost and Found

Lost and Found is one of those issues that I think every innkeeper, hotelier, and restaurateur in the world wishes would just go away.  Actually, there are probably a lot more entities that have to deal with this kind of thing.  It is, quite frankly, an annoyance.   But deal with it we must, and we try to make the best of a difficult situation.   What makes us the happiest is when we can locate the items in question!

In private we vent, "Why, oh why can people not keep track of their own stuff! "  We have to have a system in place to decide what is something that we should keep, and what is simply left-behind trash.  We have to keep it someplace.  Some of it is valuable, so we have to protect it somehow.  We have to deal with the calls and emails of people who just "think" they may have left it here, and the people who are "sure" they left it here, only to find out later on that they tucked it in an obscure pocket on their suitcase and never thought to look there, or another member of their family or traveling companion packed it up for them.  That is, if we actually do hear back at all.  

We have to search rooms high and low for things that people "may" have left behind.  We have to decide just how long to keep things, and then find the best way to dispose of them.  We actually collect many more things than people actually call back for, so we have to find places to store those things, and we quickly run out of room.  

Honestly, it is a big job to keep track of everyone's things.  Can you hear our exasperation leaking through?  I know it is there, and I apologize for what sounds like, and probably is, grumbling.

Now that I am finished grumbling, it is time for the real story.  Just this week we received a rather odd voicemail message from a former guest.  He stated that he had stayed in one of our rooms in our Fidelia Bridges Guest House several YEARS ago and left something behind.  Here is the actual report from our lost and found form that he filled out on line:

hi yes this is a different type of loss.soon after divoce i removed a neclace and I stupidly, passionately, but carefully placed it up inside the flue of the fireplace of the top floor southern front room of the guest house. i know antige chimneys and they have a flot area up inside...there is a good chance the necklace is still there. Please let me look for it when the room is serviced.

After reading this account, our executive housekeeper, Megan Campbell, went to the room he described, and carefully searched where he indicated, and behold, there was the necklace after several years time, hidden away inside an abandoned chimney.  We arranged for him to get his necklace back, and life is good.

I love happy endings, and am so glad this one turned out that way.

Juli

Hawthorne Hotel's Flags of the Week ~~ June 4 through 10, 2012

This week's line-up of flags that will be flying on the front of the Hawthorne Hotel. We do have a special request on Saturday to fly the flag of the Netherlands.

Monday , June 4 Tunisia and Oregon
Tuesday , June 5 Turkey and Pennsylvania

The current design of the Turkish flag is directly derived from the late Ottoman flag, which had acquired its final form in 1844.

Ottomans used several different designs, most of them featuring one or more crescents, for different purposes, such as the flag with green background signifying the caliphate. During the late imperial period, the distinctive use of the color red for secular and green for religious institutions became an established practice.

In 1844, the eight-pointed star was replaced with a five-pointed star and the flag reached the form of the present Turkish flag; Red was the colour of Umar I, the Caliph who ruled from AD 634 to 644 and was known as a great consolidator of the Islamic Empire. In the 14th century red became the colour of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Flag's crescent moon was thicker than its current design.


Wednesday, June 6 Turkmenistan and Puerto Rico
Thursday , June 7 Tuvalu and Rhode Island

Tuvalu

Like many former and current British dependencies, the Tuvaluan flag is a blue ensign based on the Union Flag, which is shown in the upper left canton of the flag; however, the field is a unique shade of light blue not seen on other blue ensigns. The previous flag (with the Gilberts) was also based on the Union Flag but with the coat of arms created by Sir Arthur Grimble in 1932, the resident commissioner of the British colony.

The stars represent the nine islands which comprise Tuvalu; the arrangement is geographically correct, with the east towards the top (i.e. north to the left).

The first inhabitants of Tuvalu were Polynesian people. The islands came within the British Empire's sphere of influence in the late 19th century. The Ellice Islands were administered by Britain as part of a protectorate from 1892 to 1916 and as part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony from 1916 to 1974. In 1974 the Ellice Islanders voted for separate British dependency status as Tuvalu, separating from the Gilbert Islands which became Kiribati upon independence. Tuvalu became a fully independent dominion in 1978.


Friday , June 8 Uganda and South Carolina
Saturday , June 9 Netherlands* and South Dakota

Netherlands

The national flag of the Netherlands is a tricolor flag. The horizontal fesses are bands of equal size in the colours, from top to bottom, red (officially described as a "bright vermilion"), white (silver), and blue ("cobalt blue"). The flag proportions (width:length) are 2:3. The first stadtholder of the Dutch Republic was William I of Orange, who joined with Dutch nationalists and led the struggle for independence from Spain. Partly out of respect for him, the first flag adopted by the Dutch was a horizontal tricolour of orange, white, and blue. It became known as the Prinsenvlag ("Prince's flag") and was based on the livery of William of Orange.[2] The orange dye was particularly unstable and tended to turn red after a while, so in the mid-17th century, red was made the official color. The flag has flown since then, but was confirmed by Royal Decree only in 1937, at the same time the colour parameters were exactly defined. As the first revolutionary flag, it has had a seminal influence throughout the world, particularly on the Pan-Slavic colors of Russia. Until about 1800, in the case of both the orange- and the red-striped versions, the number of stripes and their order frequently varied.

Sunday , June 10 Ukraine and Tennessee

If you have a special request for a flag of the UN or the USA, please call us at 978-825-4444 or 4322.  You can leave a message and we will certainly get back to you.

Juli

House of the Seven Gables

Earlier this week I had reason to be touring the grounds of the House of the Seven Gables.  I couldn't help taking a few (!) photos, so you could come along on my walk vicariously in case you can't make it here right now. The peonies were in full bloom, and they are my favorite flower.  Here are my photos:

Peony blooms were spectacular

There is a beautiful sundial in the garden

The well.

The "boat" complete with ship wheel and bell, is well-used by children visiting the site.

Compass painted in the sidewalk along the fence next to the water.

I hope you take the opportunity to visit this lovely site when you visit Salem.  It is well-worth your time.

Juli

Hawthorne Hotel Names Employee of the Month

Yesterday the managers of the Hawthorne Hotel went on a field trip to the Peabody Essex Museum.  This time our mission was not to see a lovely exhibit there, but it was important.  One of the things we wanted to attend to was awarding the Part-time Employee of the Month Award for April to Deb Connors.

While Deb has only been with us for a relatively short period of time, during that time she has been the delight of our team that works at PEM.  She is always smiling and happy to be doing whatever she is doing, and she is always busy working to make the Atrium Cafe be the best she can help us be.

Congratulations, Deb!  Thank you for all that you do for us.

Juli

Iris Apfel is "Coming" to Salem

Here is great news for those of you interested in fashion, and who love to dress in an eclectic style.  Click on this link to read Destination Salem's blog post from earlier this week.  It's all covered right there.

Iris Apfel Rare Bird of Fashion

I hope to see you here, wearing your best "Iris" look!

I'll be the one wearing five different antique rhinestone pins.

Juli