“Inclusive exclusive” University Club celebrates traditions and makes memories

<p>“It's really a very special place,” Grannemann tells Beekman. “It's a home away from home for many of our members, who often call us their ‘Cheers.’ We're a private club that offers services and programs for those who value quality experiences, personalized service, and a lovely atmosphere. It's interesting we can talk about what we are physically, which is a private restaurant, a banquet facility, a fitness center and a spa and a beautiful new outdoor pool and hot tub complex. But I always like to talk about what happens at the club because that's much more significant than the physical facility itself. We're a place where traditions occur and where generations of families have made memories together. We're a place where connections happen, both business and personal. And we have a staff that's passionate about delivering those quality experiences. People often tell us that we've got the best food in town, and we certainly agree with that.”</p><p>Grannemann explains how the pandemic is altering operations.</p><p>“The pandemic has robbed us of the opportunity to provide the traditions our members have come to cherish. If we can’t be open to provide these traditions to our members in person, we were going to deliver them to them anyway. We’re committed to that. We've been doing carry out meals, of course, like many restaurants have, but we've also been doing virtual wine tastings and craft and cocktails carry out. Our bake shop has gone into high gear to produce sweets for our members.</p><p>“And then we get into those holiday events like the gingerbread house workshops. We had seven workshops scheduled and they were all sold out when we were mandated to close a week or so ago. And so we went into high gear and converted all those reservations to kits and packed up all the candy and the icing and everything else and our members are picking them up and taking them home. We sent out over 500 Thanksgiving dinners out the door. We weren't able to do our Halloween party so we staged that as a whole series o