Steve Eliot

What is a typical work day for you?

We’re responsible for spraying chemicals, rolling greens, mowing fairways, anything pertaining to the grounds.

How early do you come to work?

Between 5:30am and 6am if we're watering. We come in between 4am and 4:30am on non-watering days. In the winter we start at 7am and are here until 3:30pm.

Are you married?

I’m married to Denise for 7 1/2 years, with 2 kids - Addison, she's 4, and my youngest will be 2 at the end of January - her name is Victoria.

How did you meet?

We met in high school at a friend’s birthday party. I was dating someone else at the time. Then the next year Denise needed a date to a winter formal dance, so she asked our mutual friends to ask me if I would go, so I went with her. I was a senior and she was a junior. We went to school in Wilmington. I grew up in Chester County, she grew up in Delaware, but we both went to private school. I went to an all-boys Catholic school and she went to an all-girls Catholic school - so that was very interesting.

What were some previous jobs that you've had?

Actually I've been doing this since I was 14. I used to work at Wilmington Country Club, then Kennett Square Country Club and then a golf club in Delaware. My 2 older brothers do the same thing. My oldest brother was the superintendent of a golf club in Delaware and my other brother is an assistant superintendent in Greensboro, North Carolina. It's a good job for me because I need to be outside. I can't be contained indoors. I need to be outside where I can breathe and be loud.

Do you play golf?

Not a lot. I like ice hockey, that's my outlet. I get rid of all of my rage that way.

Do you follow any other sports?

Football and hockey. I follow The Flyers and the Eagles. I watch soccer - English Premier League

What is your most favorite place and where would you like to visit?

Maui, I went on my honeymoon there. I want to go to Dublin, Ireland. I've been to London.

What are your interests/ hobbies?

Surf fishing in the summertime, and hanging out with the kids.

What is your favorite book?

‘Angela’s Ashes’ by Frank McCort

What are your favorite TV shows and movies?

I like old shows that aren’t on anymore like Lost 24, classic comedies like ‘The Cosby Show’, 80’s sitcoms like ‘Growing Pains’.My number one favorite movie is ‘Forrest Gump’. I like ‘It's A Wonderful Life’, the Godfather movies, any of the mob movies are awesome and ‘Wedding Crashers’.

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

A paleontologist, and then I realized that there was a lot of schooling involved with that. I thought I could just dig holes and discover stuff. [Laughs]

What is the best advice you've ever gotten?

My Dad told me to always be yourself and be honest and I'm probably honest to a fault. People don't like it and I don't care what people think about me. You either love me or hate me. There's no middle ground.

Is there anything you'd like to do one day?

I'd love to go sailing, but the opposite end of the warm, tropical kind of sailing. I'd love to do the National Pond Hockey Championships in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They have an outdoor pond hockey 3 on 3 tournament. You have to bring a shovel, to shovel the pond. I want to retire young and not have to worry about money [Laughs]

http://www.uspondhockey.com/

What is the best gift you've ever received?

My kids.

Who are a few famous people you'd like to meet?

Kennedy, Obama, Tom Hanks, whoever invented beer, Henry 8th, someone off the wall like that.

If you could give the teen-aged you advice, what would you tell him?

Don't sweat the little stuff when you're growing up. None of the little school drama means anything when you're 20.

Chelsie Yacks

What is your typical day at work?

A typical day would be coming in and giving a couple of tennis lessons, and then teaching clinics from 4 – 6.

Do most of these kids play on the team here - or in school?

The majority play on their school team.

How did you get interested in tennis?

I used to play soccer and do gymnastics. My teacher said I should try tennis. Then my mom said I need to pick one sport, so I picked tennis.

At what age did you make that decision?

I started when I was 5 ½. I started playing

tournaments when I was 7 or 8.

What titles do you have?

I've won a bunch of tournaments. In my senior year of high school I placed second in leagues and every year we made it to states with the team.

What was your very first job?

I worked at Homestead Village, a retirement

community. I was a waitress there.

What is the best place you've ever been to and where would you like to go?

Laguna Beach, CA. I've played tennis out there. One day I would like to go to Wimbledon.

What sports teams do you follow?

I like the Phillies - it was a shame that they didn't make it this year. That was upsetting.

What books and magazine do you read?

I'm reading ‘Open’ by Andre Agassi, Teen, and Vogue.

Do you have any other interests and hobbies?

I like to play all sports, badminton, ping pong, paddle tennis, soccer, and baseball.

I also like acting and modeling. With modeling I've done some runway. With acting, I've gone to New York for 4 weeks last summer to the New York

Conservatory, for dramatic art. I have an acting coach in Ephrata, I have an agent in Philly, and he gets me work. I've been in one movie as a 'featured extra' - I saw my face for about 10 seconds. The movie is called ‘The Café’. Jennifer Love Hewitt is the lead,

Jamie Kennedy is in it too. I went to go watch it in Philly a couple of weeks ago.

At the time were they involved with each other?

Yeah, they were, and then they broke up.

It was funny because when we went to watch the movie, Jamie’s parents were sitting next to me.

Have you done stage work?

When I was a freshmen in high school I took one class, and I was in a play titled 'Cinderella Wore

Combat Boots', or something crazy like that, but I don't like stage as much as film.

What are some of your favorite movies?

Recently I saw ‘The Town’ and thought it was pretty good, I like Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck.

What are your favorite TV shows?

‘The Office’, ‘Community’, I love comedies, a lot.

When I act I would like to do comedies.

Growing up what did you want to be?

I always wanted to be a tennis player. Every time we would get assignments in school that asked 'What do you want to be?" I'd put 'a tennis pro'.

What is the best advice you've ever gotten?

Never give up, don't let people bring you down, if someone says you can't do something - don't believe it, believe in yourself.

  

Who are some famous people past or present that you would like to meet?

I'd love to meet Roger Federer - and beat him in a match [laughs], Amanda Seyfried (she had the same acting coach that I have now), Ashton Kutcher,

Channing Tatum.

If you could meet the younger version of you - what would you tell her?

Focus at every single practice, listen well so you can learn faster.

Christian Ferro

What are your hobbies and interests when you are away from the club?

I’m a big Star Wars fan and pretty much anything with giant robots—yeah, I’m a huge geek!

Where have you worked in the past?

The Hamilton Club, Gusto’s, The Black Knight’s Tavern, Hayden Zug’s.

What is your most favorite place you have ever been?

St. Kitts, it’s remote.

Where would you like to go in the future?

Belize.

What are some movies that you like?

Hud—with Paul Newman,

El Cid (Roger Ebert called it one of the greatest epics no one knows about),

The Graduate, It’s A Wonderful Life and

Batman: The Dark Knight.

What are some TV shows that you like?

Seinfeld (12 years old and still relevant),

Curb Your Enthusiasm,

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Venture Bros.

What kind of music do you like to listen to?

Mostly alternative—Queens Of The Stone Age,

Arctic Monkeys, The Shins, Kasabian, The Bravery, Eagles Of Death Metal.

What is the best gift you’ve ever received?

My grandmother bought me my very first comic book which lead to a lot of uninteresting Geek things that I won’t get into …….

Who are some famous people (past or present) that you would like to meet?

Patton, H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard,

Howard Pyle, N. C. Wyeth.

If I could meet my teenage self,

I would tell him ……………….

The Eagles still haven't won a Super Bowl and

we still don’t have flying cars or undersea cities.



Pansy Michaels

How did you get into cooking?


I always liked to cook when I was growing up. I was always interested in food. When I was older I was working as a secretary. I was sitting at my desk, being bored, reading the newspaper and I saw an ad for the chef’s association, They were accepting application for an apprenticeship program to become a chef and I applied and that’s how I got into cooking professionally, although I did it on my own experimentally. I bought Julia Childs ‘Mastering The Art Of French Cooking’ - so Julie in the movie wasn’t the first to make beef bourguignon. Understand – this was the 70’s, there weren’t female executive chefs then, it was a man’s world.

How long had you been cooking on your own before you saw the ad?

10 years.



What was your first job?

I was a secretary in a previous life. When I started cooking I was a chef’s assistant in the convention center at what was then the Penn Harris Motor Inn which is now the Raddison. It was a 1200 seat convention center the biggest one in Harrisburg at the time.



What is your favorite food to cook for yourself and to make for other people?

That is the worst question in the world because I don’t cook at home. Probably some kind of pasta and seafood. I like doing classical French food, beef wellington, roast duck, things like that.



Where is your most favorite place – and where would you like to visit?

My favorite place is Yorkshire England, my most recent trip being 8 years ago, which has been way too long. I want to do Mary Shelly’s 6 week tour of Switzerland, and France. I love Concord, Mass – Thoreau, Little Women and all that.

What are some of your other hobbies and interests?

I enjoy reading, English literature, history. I collect books. I like doing some crafts – needlepoint and sewing. I grow lavender. I like going out to eat, and trying different cuisines. I do some sewing. I also love old china and crystal and linens.



What are some of your favorite restaurants?

The Accomac, the Belvedere, the Whip – which is this great little English pub outside of Coatsville. I like Taj Mahal – the Indian restaurant. When I’m just hungry – Lyndon Diner. For a great Reuben - go to Friendly's.



What are some books that you love?

Anything by the Brontes. Jane Austin, ‘Jane Eyre’, ‘Pride and Prejudice’, but – I read everything. I just read a book called ‘Three Cups Of Tea’, about building schools for girls in Afghanistan, it was an amazing book – I couldn’t put it down, I love Shakespeare, Byron, Mary Shelley. I love biographies, I like to know about other people’s lives.

Favorite magazines?

Victorian, Saveur, and Realm.


TV Shows?

Greys Anatomy, political shows, Hardball, This Week and Meet The Press. I hate reality TV. I like watching Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, and pretending I could have his job.



Are there any cooking shows that you watch?

I love the original Jacques Pepin and Julia Child shows on the Cooking Channel, sometime Ace Of Cakes. I don’t watch Food Network much – it really annoys me (laughs).



What did you want to be when you were a child?

A librarian, and I should have been one! I have a library in my home, arranged by category, and everything!



What is the best advice you’ve ever received?

“Never stop learning”. “Never think you know everything, because you don’t.” “Be open to learning new things”, “Live in all directions”.



What is something you want to do one day?

I’d love to waltz in Vienna.



What s the best gift you’ve ever received?

For Christmas a few years ago, a friend of mine set a brick in the sidewalk of the reconstructed Globe Theater, in London in my name. It was signed by Sam Wanamaker, the American actor who lead the effort to build the Globe. He died several years ago.

Who is a famous person, living or dead that you’d love to meet?

Past: Mary Shelly. Present: Jacques Pepin and Bill Clinton. (After a long pause) …… and Jon bon Jovi (laughs). I was trying to come up with someone very intellectual . . . but …….

If you could go back and meet your teenage self and give her advice – what would you say to her?

All this garbage that you’re going through now doesn’t matter. You need to plan for your future. Get your life together and go to college. Don’t let other people limit your possibilities, or tell you that you can’t do something. Follow your heart. Find your passion.