Small Kindnesses Carlson Rezidor’s commitment to service helps one family touched by tragedy.
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aking a difference is something Carlson team members strive to do every day. Scott Durkee, general manager at Radisson Hotel & Suites Chelmsford, learned how, in the face of unspeakable tragedy, the smallest kindnesses can help. The Dec. 14, 2012, shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary left the community of Newtown, Conn., and the country devastated. As residents struggled to move forward, the Radisson Hotel & Suites Chelmsford was able to care for one group touched by the tragedy. Andy Wellman, a wrestling coach from Newtown, and his family visited the hotel in late December as part of a wrestling tournament in Lowell, Mass. He thanked Durkee and his staff for welcoming his family and the wrestling team members as family. “We lost one of our littlest wrestlers, Jack Pinto, in the recent tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School,” Wellman shares. “We have been struggling with our next steps as we grieve and do everything we can to support the families who lost their loved ones. Nothing we do feels ‘right’ or ‘normal,’ but we know we somehow have to try to start moving forward.” The wrestling tournament was part of the Wellman family’s efforts to do just that. “My wife, two sons, daughter and I enjoyed some laughter and pleasant moments together thanks to the environment you have created—and Mr. Durkee implemented—through your principles and values,” Wellman says. “Our business is a hard one with long hours and sacrifice, but we can truly make a difference in people’s lives through hospitality,” Durkee says.