Kraai to take management reins at Chateau
From our weekly issue dated February 10, 2010
Menno Kraai has accepted the position of general manager of the Chateau at Oregon Caves National Monument.
Menno Kraai has accepted the position of general manager of the Chateau at Oregon Caves National Monument.
In his announcement on behalf of the Illinois Valley Community Development Organization (IVCDO), Executive Director Robert Schumacher praised Kraai’s breadth of professional management experience, as well as his work as a volunteer in Illinois Valley.
Said Kraai, “Adventure, discovery, and magnificent memories await visitors to the national monument and guests of the Chateau. It’s a cool cave with a warm hearth.”
He intends to carry this easy, fun and positive message to new audiences, special groups, and families. He has many plans for improved services. A new Website is in the works, and special weekend packages including the popular “Romantic Retreat” are scheduled to begin Mother’s Day weekend and extend through June 20.
As a founder and board member of Friends of the Chateau, Kraai has helped with the fund-raising effort to renovate the structure during 2014.
“IVCDO has a contract with the National Park Service to be the concessionaire at the Chateau through 2013,” he states. “The Chateau and the Oregon Caves are vital to our valley’s economy by attracting tourists, employing Illinois Valley residents and providing an outlet for local products. We are privileged to offer the work of local artists, local food and souvenir products at the Chateau.
“July and August bring heavy traffic to the Chateau and monument when families are free to travel,” Kraai points out. “We plan to increase ‘shoulder season’ traffic for April-May and September-October with activities and events geared more toward special groups and adults.
“Due to the excellent publicity we received last year as we celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Chateau and the 100th anniversary of the monument, we’re already on track to make this our most successful year yet.”
Kraai moved to Illinois Valley with his wife, Jennie May Donnell, in 1977, following fellow Peace Corps volunteers and friends from Hope College, in Michigan. Kraai’s service in the Peace Corps included learning Farsi and teaching English in Khandahar, Afghanistan.
Kraai began his career in management and the arts, as an entertainment director for the military at Fort Sill, Okla. He continued as a professor at Illinois Benedictine College and then Augustana College where he managed the performing arts center and taught theater arts, public speaking, theater history, and scenic design.
He then took a position as director of the Fine Arts Center at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa for seven years.
More recently, Kraai managed a two-theater complex at the French Institute in New York City. These two locations, Tinker Auditorium and Florence Gould Hall, are routinely rented by corporations such as Disney, and have housed diverse presentations from Ken Burns’ premiere screenings to cooking lessons from Julia Child.
Kraai’s own business, as the Northwest Representative for “Live on Stage,” occupies his attention during the off-season. Kraai and his wife book national and international musicians who perform at locations in Grants Pass, Crescent City, Redding, Roseburg and throughout the Northwest.
As a volunteer, Kraai organized the first meeting of the Illinois River Valley Arts Council, acquired grants. Then, with Kenny Houck and Roger Brandt, managed “Hathkapasuta,” a River Celebration at Illinois River Forks State Park, for six years.
Approximately 15 years ago, when he sat on the board of the I.V. Community Response Team, Kraai helped shepherd the I.V. Family Coalition (IVFC) project, on River Street. Kraai became the executive director of the new facility and saw the organization through the challenging transition from rented office space to building owner/manager.
He’s proud to point out that his friend, John Meengs, was IVFC board president at the time and still serves on the IVFC board of directors.
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