MEET the TEAM

JOEY RANNER Social Director

Hello

MY NAME IS:

Joey “The Kid”

YOU ARE CELEBRATING YOUR 40TH YEAR AT WOODLOCH. HOW DID IT ALL BEGIN?

I started back in 1983. I spoke with John Kiesendahl, who needed help at the lake. So I started things off as a lifeguard, then moved around with the bar and the dining room.

I eventually met Mr. Randy Barnes. Randy was, at that time, the social director here. Him and I became very good friends and shared some of the same kind of traits with each other. We both enjoyed people and laughing and that kind of thing.

So I became an assistant to Randy; he wanted me to join him in the social department. After a few years together, Randy wanted to spend a little bit more time at home, so as a mutual thing between him and I and the Kiesendahls, I became the social director.

WHERE DO YOU FIND INSPIRATION FOR WOODLOCH’S UNIQUE GAMES AND ACTIVITIES?

That’s a very difficult question, and it’s probably the one I’ve been asked the most. I get my ideas from so many different sources.

Ideas often come up from looking at things differently. If I walk into a Wal-Mart and see a child’s toy, a lot of people look at that as something they might buy their grandchild. I look at it and I’ll see a game- something that kids, moms, dads, grandparents and everyone can enjoy together. I’ll get inspiration from movies, television and my wife of 40 years, Donna. So it keeps everybody that I work with very fresh on things, including the people who are on social staff that actually have to make these games and then run them. Crazy ideas... that’s what keeps it fun!

OUTSIDE OF WORK, WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE HOBBIES OR PASTTIMES?

I have six kids, a bunch of grandchildren, and a “chi-weenie” named Mia, so they tend to keep me busy. I love spending time with my wife. We get ice cream, go out to dinner, take walks and just sit on the porch and hang out. I still like to fish, shoot, and just go on drives. I have always appreciated classic cars because of my father and my father-in-law. And of course... fall Sundays will always belong to my San Francisco 49ers.

I’ve also always enjoyed cooking and food- I grew up working at my family’s restaurant. When I started working at Woodloch, I befriended many of the chefs in our kitchen, including my good friend Dave Nordenhold. From that, we worked together to provide our famous midweek “Cooking Class,” where we would teach our guests to prepare so many of Woodloch’s famous dishes. We have a bunch of laughs, and of course enjoy it all at the end of the class. We would sell the latest chef’s kitchen gadgets at the end, with proceeds benefitting our employee Crisis Fund. So everybody wins!

LONG-TIME GUESTS REMEMBER THE OLD STAFF SHOWS. WHAT WERE YOUR FAVORITE SKETCHES?

There are just too many to count. I had fun with so many of our staff members over the years in skits. One in particular was a vampire sketch with my good friend Mike Coppola. I hung upside down for almost 10 minutes as we rattled off all kinds of puns and vampire jokes! We also did our take on the famous SNL “Butabi” brothers. We filmed part of it on location in New York (which our guests loved) and then continued it live on our stage every staff show night. Lots of fun! I also got to play “Garth Brooks” and enjoyed being lowered almost 40 feet from the roof to the stage. It scared me to death each night, but we can laugh now.

WHERE ARE YOUR FAVORITE PLACES TO VISIT ON VACATION?

I don’t get to travel all that much, but when I do, one of my favorite spots to visit is the beautiful town of Spring Lake on the Jersey Shore. There are a lot of great places to eat, shop, and just relax on that wonderful beach. Plus, you’ve got the charm of the famous boardwalk at Point Pleasant. When my kids were younger, we used to love visiting Hersheypark. We would do all of those great rides, and of course follow it up with an annual visit to “Chocolate World.” I went to Bermuda on my honeymoon, and it was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. I haven’t made it there yet, but I’ve always wanted to visit San Fransciso to cheer on my beloved 49ers in person at Levi’s Stadium. Then I’d love to check out some of the cool places in California.

YOU’RE A HUGE MUSIC FAN. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE CONCERT YOU’VE GONE TO?

The most memorable was my first- that would have been the band Boston back when I was 15 or 16 years old. I saw them up in Binghamton. Tom Sholz was the amazing guitarist, and Bradley Delp was a phenomenal singer, and they played their entire debut album. What’s even more crazy, the opening act was Sammy Hagar- who would one day be in my all-time favorite band, Van Halen. Speaking of which, I’ve seen them several times with both David Lee Roth and Hagar. We’ll never see a guitarist as amazing as Eddie Van Halen again. As good as he sounded on records, he sounded even more impressive in person. I also enjoyed seeing Rod Stewart and Bon Jovi with my wife. There was a lot of energy with those acts, lots of fun. Plus, U2 put on an amazing show as well.

LOOKING BACK AT YOUR TIME HERE, WHAT IS YOUR PROUDEST MOMENT?

We did a lot of great things through the years: car shows, charity events, and even obtaining a world record. But two things really stand out to me. First was a weekend a few years back celebrating Randy Barnes and myself. A lot of friends and family made the trip to our nightclub to celebrate our time at Woodloch. We were touched, to say the least.

The other thing would be the opportunity to work with all of my kids. At one point or another, all six of them worked at Woodloch. All of them found their own areas of expertise in their fields, but they all started in activities. I think they all would do it again. They met a lot of lifelong friends here and continue to keep tabs with many of the guests and staff-memebers they crossed paths with through the years... just as I did.