I don’t know about your house, but in mine life centers around the kitchen. That’s what we like to say about Kitchen Kettle Village – “40 shops, restaurants and lodging rooms built around our kitchen.”

The kitchen may be the heart of the Village, but every house also needs a strong foundation. Ours is no exception. The foundation grounds us. It keeps us consistent and it holds us up when we falter. For us, vision, mission and values act as our foundation. They bring us back into focus; set the boundary lines for our decisions, define who we are and tell us what to do. In other words, vision, mission and values are the basis of our corporate culture.

At Kitchen Kettle, our mission has been the same since 1986 – “to deliver a fun and unique experience while shopping.” We launched the vision almost ten years ago in 2002 – to be “Simply…World Famous.” And our values are (in this order) Safety, Integrity, Fun, Efficiency and Community. I would like to think that if you asked any of our team members on one of your visits to Kitchen Kettle Village, they would be able to tell you the vision, mission or values. Try it out – I’m curious to know if I’m right.

One of our newly hired managers asked me a few years back, “Joanne, what do you think is the reason Kitchen Kettle has weathered all the storms over the years?” And I quickly responded, “Our vision, mission and values hold it all together. They keep us on track.” Naturally, they are not the only thing that has helped us weather the storms, but I’ve come to learn, they are the foundation for this wonderful business we’re in.

Does your personal experience of Kitchen Kettle reflect our vision, mission and values? Let me know. It is certainly our intention that it does.

When guests visit and when team members are at work,they both say there is a feeling at Kitchen Kettle that is different. An energy that goes away when they leave the premises. What is that? Where does it come from?

I’m not sure I can explain it. In fact, I’m sure I can’t explain it but I can attest to it and I can say that we work very hard at creating it every day at Kitchen Kettle Village.

Because we hear about it so often I decided to start a new category on Kettletalk.com and share with you our approach to guest service. It’s certainly not something we invented. We have learned from the best of them – Disney University, bizFutures who helped to create the enthusiasm at Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle to name just two of them. Then we add our own Kitchen Kettle flair.

Over the course of the summer I intend to pick apart pieces of what make Kitchen Kettle Village tick and share them with you. If you have questions, suggestions,comments or experiences which were other than I am describing, please let me know. and if you would like to share your own passion for creating a corporate culture, I heartily invite you to get in touch. Any new possibilities are more than welcomed.

Here’s to a new experiment for me in blogging! Let me know what you think!

A long and often snow-bound winter promised this bountiful and glorioius sprintime we are now enjoying.  As you’ve been reading in this blog, the rhubarb crop this year is plentiful, sweet and ready for our festival this weekend. 

In the meantime, lots of changes have happened in the Village.  The Deerskin Leather Shop’s Brighton merchandise has been so popular they needed a whole new store.  So Brighton Collectibles moved into what was By Candlelight.   Country Life has moved in near the Main Street of town and the Flower Shop is now part of Ken’s Gardens, a beautiful greenhouse enterprise just down the street from Kitchen Kettle’s Route 772 entrance.  Some of our existing stores have done major changes – Grande Place closed the Crimson ‘n Clover store but enlarged their music box collection and expanded their line of Christmas offerings; the Jam & Relish Kitchen enlarged their retail space and Lily’s Bears has a brand new home.  So as you can tell, our building crews have been very busy and once again managed to meet our spring deadline of completion.

I hope you will visit us soon and give your approval.  It all certainly has my approval.  The years have shortened my hours on hand but the family and their active associates keep us growing quite nicely.  All those return visits by long-time admirers are a blessing.  Just last week I was talking to a group of people who decided to celebrate their parent’s 50th wedding anniversary at the Inn at Kitchen Kettle Village.  They came from Alabama, Massachusetts and even Equador.  See, all roads really do lead to Intercourse, Pennsylvania!  When you or your family comes to celebrate an occasion, be sure to look me up.  I love getting to know our guests.  And if you have a yen for rhubarb, don’t miss this Friday and Saturday at Kitchen Kettle.  See you there!

What is rhubarb? My favorite line is that it is one of two perennial vegetables. What is the other perennial vegetable? You can find it at roadside stands all around Lancaster County this time of year…asparagus.

I just love rhubarb. We have been celebrating it at Kitchen Kettle Village for 27 years. One of my favorite activities of the festival is the baking contest.  You would not believe the beautiful desserts that are created by local & non-local residents (and they taste great too). There are cakes, pies, crisps, cookies, muffins, and one year even a beverage…all featuring rhubarb. The contest takes place on Saturday, May 22nd at 10:30am; all desserts must be at Kitchen Kettle by 9:30am that morning.

All the desserts are judged by a panel of judges, winners are selected, prizes are handed out ($250 in cash for the grand champion) and did I mention the bragging rights! To be the grand champion of the Kitchen Kettle Rhubarb Dessert Baking Contest puts you in the company of a local cookbook author, a father/baker, a PA Farm Show Grand Champion and the list goes on. It is about the appearance of the dessert, but taste is also a big factor. It’s just the right combination of rhubarb that creates a mouth-watering treat.

My favorite part of the contest is eating the desserts! After we announce the winners, we slice the rhubarb creations and sell them by the slice with all proceeds going to the Lancaster Farmland Trust. It is a win-win situation. Our guests get to enjoy some of the best baking around and the Lancaster Farmland Trust gets some funds to support their preservation efforts.

So how are your baking skills? I encourage you to enter the competition or at least come purchase some outstanding rhubarb desserts at the Kitchen Kettle Village Rhubarb Festival. And if you are saying to yourself, “I don’t like rhubarb,” then you definitely need to come to the event. I know I can tempt you with desserts, beverages & other delicious rhubarb concoctions. Happy spring!

Yummie’s Giant Easter Egg Hunt takes place on Saturday, April 3rd. The fun gets underway at 9am for those who want to have breakfast with Yummie and the Easter Bunny (reservations are required). We also have crafts, balloon twisting and the Cherry Crest Farm live peeps at the stage area from 9am until noon. And just this week we added a sky diver to the mix. Local Sky Diver Steve Lapp will “drop” into Kitchen Kettle around 10am with some treats for the kids. I think this is the first time we ever had a sky diver at Kitchen Kettle. Should be fun.
The egg hunting starts at 10:30am for the 0-3 age children; 10:45am for the 4-6 year olds and 11am for the 7-10 year olds. We wanted to stagger the times in case moms had a few children and needed to be at multiple hunt locations. Our lodging department has been busy filling eggs since January and at this time all 3,500 eggs are filled and ready to be hidden next week. We do have a golden egg in each category with a special prize for those children who find the golden egg.
Right now the weather forecast for Saturday looks good, much better than last years rainy day. Come enjoy a day at Kitchen Kettle Village, find some eggs, collect some prizes and have a wonderful holiday weekend.

It’s my birthday next week – Patricia Kling for St. Patrick’s Day – so Lisa asked me to write some perspective.  I never claim to be a poet but I sometimes get inspired to write in a rhyming scheme.  So here goes:

There are memories, and people, and things to record

My full mind can contain them no more

There is music, and dancing of those from before

Who taught me the worth of this bountiful lore

There is constant new change and insights galore

Mistakes to improve and late thoughts to explore

There were lessons for growth that I should have known…

Never use two flat tires in storms that have blown

With an uncharged cell phone

There are books to be read, plans to be made

Words to be heard and thanks to be said

There will always be trust for those near me to love…

Most truly the wisest:  my good Lord above.

As Browning quoted Rabbi Ben Ezra:

“Grow old along with me; the best is yet to be”

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.  We’re about to be hit with the second of a double shot of foot high snow accumulations.  Last Saturday we all but gave up.  A few intrepid participants from the NAFDMA Convention were bound and determined to visit the Village and trudged through almost 20 inches of snow.  Thank you to all the shopkeepers who came in and to those incredibly adventurous NAFDMA folks!

So we got all dug out on Monday, it’s now Tuesday afternoon and we’re about to be hit again.  Wouldn’t you know we were to host an all-day workshop with some of those same NAFDMA conventioneers called Agri-Tourism Lancaster County Style?  We had seminars, tours, lunch and a visit to Lapp Valley Farm all ready to be explored.  But we don’t do very well in the snow.  It takes a while to plow out the parking lot, to assure guests that it’s safe to travel the roads and to make sure that all our employees can safely make it to work.  So we’ve had to cancel our plans for tomorrow.  Instead, I’m going on the road and will take the seminars to downtown Lancaster at the Convention Center.  Where there’s a will, there’s a way I guess.

But I promise we’ll dig out once again and be ready for the three day weekend coming up.  The Annual President’s Day Sale starts Friday morning at Deerskin Leather, Girls Day Out, Village Quilts, and Village Outfitters.  A lot of their merchandise is 50% off and it only happens one time a year so make your way out here.  Deerskin Leather even has a few styles of UGG on sale this year.  And for the first time Village Quilts has selected a few quilts for the sale.  If you can spend the night there are a couple of  rooms left.  It will be beautiful in Lancaster County – the roads should be cleared but the fields will still be covered in snow.  Bring your boots!

All this and I almost forgot Valentine’s Day.  What a great romantic surprise to spend the day or the night in Pennsylvania Dutch Country!  See you soon.

lSeveral inquiries about the early days of Kitchen Kettle Village have caused me to search my memories and memoirs for facts about how it all happened.  However, today I am thinking of the complicated phases of family business and how they develop.

The second generation arrived at the business after their college years mostly because they were sorely needed.  The Mom and Pop operation had become a pretty good backyard jelly business.  Nevertheless, it had become apparent that cookies could no longer be sold for 5 cents, the love of heritage could no longer meet the payroll, and purchasing had become a knowledgeable occupation.  We seemed to have established that we were at the right place at the right time and so we just had to admit that we had to operate in a profitable, business-like fashion.

The third generation has now arrived with new standards and plans for growth which fortunately meld into the original intent.  Our path so far has been fostered by good leadership, endless seminars, and associations with a continuous stream of helpful compatriots.  My files are filled with letters and records that may never be destroyed in my lifetime.  The terms faith, family, fair and fun have been important hallmarks over these years.  My husband and offspring have included me in their daily affairs.  So for me, I only offer, “What more can a Mother ask than that?”

It is hard to believe that another year has come and gone. And not to mention, it is the start of a new decade. What will 2010 bring to Kitchen Kettle Village? Here is my wish list:

1. Many cherished memories for the guests who visit with us.

2. Unique and delicious new Kitchen Kettle products to compliment our current lines of sweets & sours.

3. Awesome festivals (like Rhubarb, Berry and our Tailgate Festivals) that people can’t miss attending.

4. The perfect mix of shops, so our guests are always excited about the items they found throughout the Village.

5. The opportunity to enhance relationships and create new friendships with guests and neighbors.

Of course, there will be a few physical changes in the Village – a new shop here or there (we’ll keep you posted with all the details). We are also working on a new website for Kitchen Kettle that will go live sometime in February or March. Be sure wit visit www.kitchenkettle.com in the spring to check out the new site.

Here’s wishing you a fun, prosperous and exciting 2010. We hope visiting with us will be on your list of things to do in 2010!

It’s my favorite time of year at Kitchen Kettle Village –  crisp, fall air reminding us all that winter is coming; Christmas decorations on the lightposts telling us the  season has arrived;  lots of good food for gifts, family meals and holiday parties; and crowded Saturdays full of guests who want to share the joys of Lancaster County.

We wait all year for these Saturdays,  old-fashioned outdoor shopping at its best.  Remember when that was the only way to shop?  We got all dressed up in scarves, mittens and hats and headed to Wanamaker’s in center city Philadelphia to see Santa Claus every year on Black Friday.  It was tradition.  Now people are making traditions at Kitchen Kettle.  Dinner with Mrs. Claus, make your own s’mores, carolers and bellringers  in the Village,  buying Aunt Mary’s  Chow Chow or Dad’s favorite Black Bean Salsa, and finding a new sweet & sour for Grandma – this year maybe she’d like to try Kickin’ Pickles.  She still has a sense of adventure in her.  Finally, don’t forget the Pepper Jam!

Thank you o for making us part of your holiday tradition.  We appreciate your loyalty, your kindnesses and your visits.  55 years later we’re still very grateful for our many blessings and count all of you among them.