July 15th 2024
Never forget the people that make you great! Success is seldom a solo venture. It takes a team. And here at RE/MAX Garden City Realty Inc., while we have a collection of some of the finest realtors on the planet, we also have a team of professionals who work behind the scenes to make them great. Our administrative staff. From the front reception who meet and greet the public, through the tech people, the marketing people, back to the staff that handle compliance, accounting and such like we have undoubtedly the finest support team any real estate firm could possibly wish for.
And while we love and appreciate them every day, there is one day a year that is set aside to honour them and give us a chance to express our appreciation in a tangible way. And that’s Administrator’s Day.
On the calendar, Administrator’s Day falls each year in April, but we take a little poetic license and hold ours in June. The weather is warmer and it allows us to celebrate outdoors in the back yard at Wayne and Debbie Quirk’s home. They have over the past few years (Covid era the exception), done a lot of travelling, and so, each year Administrator’s Day has an international flavour in celebration of their most recent trip. Over the past few years, we have done Mexican, Chinese, Thai, Italian, Greek to name a few. This year, in celebration of their recent trip to Turkey the theme was…you guessed it, Turkish.
While in Turkey, with our administration staff in mind, they did a little commemorative shopping. The result was a 6 place Turkish tea setting for each staff member, coming directly from the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. Hand carried we were told. And the table settings featured elaborate Turkish embroidered table clothes and individual Turkish coffee settings, again picked up here and there as they toured Turkey.
Food was a little tricky. I mean when you think of Chinese or Italian, certain dishes come to mind. But Turkey? Apart from Turkish Delight and Turkish coffee, what comes to mind? Well, apparently the fare is pretty similar between Turkey and Greece. In fact, did you know that baklava found it’s origins in Turkey, not Greece? The meal was a delightful mix of both cultures, sourced from Joe Feta’s, George’s and a lovely Greek lady named Patty who made some amazing eggplant based, meat and meatball dishes.
Among other things, Turkey is known for it’s Gypsy’s. And when you think Gypsy, you can’t help but think carnival. The yard was set up with a number of carnival events involving ring tossing, shooting balls off cups, throwing bean bags and a couple of skill testing events involving guessing the quantity of marbles in a jar and answering a trivia quiz about Turkey. Prizes up for grabs were in the form of cash packets and the winners were Jim Holiko – carnival points, Megan Beam – marble count and Michelle Bruce – trivia.
Highlighting the carnival, there was a magician on hand – Ashtar Avatar – Magician & Mentalist, who kept everyone guessing with his card and slight of hand tricks and impressive mind reading abilities.
Sitting around on the back patio in the afterglow of the event you couldn’t help but reflect on what a great Administrative Team we have. We are truly blessed. And while it’ll be fun to celebrate in some branded way again next year, in the meantime we get to enjoy interacting with the bunch on a daily basis.