Successful Meetings magazine, March 2006
The Bard of Bartenders
Matthew Stover
Harrison Lake Bluff Conference Center—Bartender
The Manor House in Lake Bluff, IL, was built in 1919 by a railroad baron, later willed to a prestigious university, then sold to the Catholic Church and used as a seminary before it ultimately became the Harrison Lake Bluff Conference Center. Sounds like the perfect setting for a Stephen King novel, doesn't it? Not if the center's bartender is the one crafting stories.
Bartender Matthew Stover, a developing science fiction author, landed in the big time when he wrote the novelization of George Lucas' Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith screenplay. "I've always had an interest in science fiction. I was 15 years old when the first Star Wars movie came out and I saw it in the theaters more than 20 times. I was the right age and it pretty well caught me," says Stover.
"There are rather substantial differences between the novel and the film. I knew I wouldn't be able to make it identical because Lucas is notorious for making changes to the film until literally the last day," he explains, although prior to writing the book "I was able to go out to Skywalker Ranch and talk about the film at some length with Mr. Lucas—about the characters and what they were thinking, and the themes and philosophy he wanted the story to project."
Stover has found that his fame in certain circles does not extend to the Harrison Lake Bluff guests. "Every once in a while if I'm talking to someone about books and they mention they are a science fiction fan, I might mention that that's what I do in my other life. Harrison primarily caters to high-level corporate groups, though, so their kids are the ones who would know who I am."
"It would be a difficult thing to top writing the novelization of Revenge of the Sith, since that's the last of the films," he says, but concedes that "it's not out of the realm of possibility at all" that he will pen another Star Wars tale.
In the meantime, Stover is hard at work on his eighth novel, and continues to tend bar. Bartending "gets me out of the house and puts me in contact with people," says Stover, and although he's done it for 23 years, Stover particularly enjoys his time at Harrison Lake Bluff, where he will celebrate a three-year anniversary in July.
Talk Like An Egyptian
Alfred Sabet
Renaissance Washington D.C. Hotel—Group Housing Coordinator
Ancient Egypt is heady stuff–mummified pharaohs, architectural wonders such as the Sphinx and the pyramids, and the mystery of hieroglyphics. If you ever wondered what those carefully etched characters actually mean, Alfred Sabet is your man.
Sabet, born and raised in Cairo, Egypt, received a degree in archaeology with side studies in hotel management from Cairo's Helwan University, and became a tour guide in Egypt before moving to the United States in 1999. "Hieroglyphics was one of my favorite things to study in college. I was taking classes to learn more about it as a tour guide; it was great to be able to read those inscriptions on ancient walls." Unfortunately, there are few opportunities to use his skill with hieroglyphics in the United States, but "I fascinate people by writing their names in hieroglyphics," he says. Wouldn't that beat a caricaturist for your attendees?
Sabet now works as group housing coordinator for the Renaissance Washington D.C. Hotel, but in his spare time, he also serves as an Arabic court translator and occasionally gives presentations to school groups on Middle Eastern culture, religion, and tourism: "It started because I was at the Nashville Airport Marriott when I first came here to the States, and one of the managers knew about me and my experience as a tour guide so she asked me to give a presentation to her child's school."
"I enjoy having two careers, because interpreting is mainly a part-time thing," he says of his work for the Maryland court system, though he has found his services required more frequently than ever: "There is such a need now for Arabic translators; the need has increased rapidly over the past couple of years."
Last-Minute Minister
Kerry Carouthers
Carolina Inn-Chapel Hill—Sous-Chef
Amy Magrini, wedding specialist and social catering manager for the Carolina Inn-Chapel Hill, NC, was beginning to panic. The minister for the wedding she was planning was a no-show.
"Everything was ready and we were getting closer and closer to the ceremony time and the minister was not there," says Magrini, who now serves as the Inn's corporate catering manager. So Kerry Carouthers, a sous-chef at the inn who is also an elder at the nondenominational Raleigh International Church, came to the rescue and performed the ceremony.
"The wedding coordinator came into the kitchen and said 'Hey, I may need you to officiate the wedding.' I said, 'Okay,' because I thought she was kidding," recalls Carouthers. When he realized Magrini was serious, he spoke with the couple (who, coincidentally, also attended Raleigh International Church) before the ceremony, and managed to keep lunch going too. "I got the guys started and told them when I needed lunch ready to be plated."
"One of the banquet captains is about my size so I got his tuxedo and it all worked out quite well," says Carouthers. "I had no idea that I would know the couple, so I felt a lot better when I found out, because I knew I would see them the following weekend at church–it was like a divine appointment."
"The minister was able to fax over a copy of the vows and Kerry took it from there and handled the ceremony, signed the certificate, and went back to the kitchen to finish preparing the meal," Magrini says.
"It's nice to have people who wear so many hats," Magrini says of Carouthers, who is self-effacing to the end: " 'Minister' means servant, so to me it's no big deal. It was nice that I was in a position to help."