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Great Wolf Lodge howls over Halloween festivities

BY ALEX GALLAGHER Progress Staff Writer

October is traditionally a busy month for the Great Wolf Lodge in Scottsdale – and one of its most festive.

Every year, the resort decks out its indoor attractions and lobby with decorations and embraces the spirit of Halloween with its dubbed “Howl-o-ween” activities.

“October for us is always a great month because guests have gotten through the summer and the start of school,” said Great Wolf Lodge Scottsdale General Manager Brian Johnson. “The weather is nicer now and we have things like fall break to make October one of our busiest months.”

After having to scale down last year’s festivities because of the pandemic, Great Wolf Lodge has upscaled its celebrations this year.

“We’ve done things differently than last year,” said Johnson. “Last year we had a grandiose spider as our decoration but this year we looked at the feedback from our guests to carry the theme throughout the resort and we have a giant bat as our decoration.”

Another way the resort has been able to expand on the previous year’s festivities has been by returning to full capacity.

“Last October, we were probably going to a maximum of 65 percent,” said Johnson. “Now that we’ve been able to open up to 100 percent of room availability to our guests, this October has been much better than the last one from that standpoint.”

This year’s festivities include “Grab ‘N Go Howl-O-Ween” arts and crafts, a “Monster Bash” dance party, “UnBOOlieveable” story time, a trick or treat trail and several other mini events.

“‘Howl O’ Ween’ is a branded effort and what’s unique about this is that it’s done for all 31 days of the month,” Johnson said.

This time of the year is exciting for Johnson and the members of his pack as the festivities give guests a new way to experience the Great Wolf Lodge.

“This gives them something different and new activities to try out,” he said. “It’s just a different experience from the nor-

Great Wolf Lodge General Manager Brian Johnson has planned a festive Halloween

atmosphere for guests. (David Minton/Progress Staff Photographer)

seeWOLF page 23

Scottsdale caregivers now train others in senior care

BY MALLORY GLEICH Progress Contributor

Tiffany Phelan has been in the senior care industry for 19 years.

After seeing how challenging it was for her grandparents to deal with her grandfather’s battle with Huntington’s Disease – her grandmother was his primary caregiver – she realized she could help and was ready to make a difference in people’s lives.

Tiffany’s husband, Shaun, entered the senior care industry 15 years ago after watching his mother care for his grandfather for the last couple of years of his life. Shaun lived in Arizona while his family lived in Buffalo, N.Y., where he grew up before moving to Phoenix 27 years ago.

“When I saw the opportunity to engage with seniors here in Arizona and increase their quality of life, I left my career in commercial printing to do something meaningful for the community,” Shaun said.

Enter Senior Helpers Scottsdale caregiving facility, which the Phelans have owned and operated for 15 years.

Senior Helpers is a national organization that offers in-home senior services to “help the senior population age gracefully and with dignity in the comfort of their own homes.”

Shaun and Tiffany met through Senior Helpers – they both owned separate franchises (Tiffany’s in California); after they met and dated, Tiffany moved to Arizona and they were married.

Their connection to the senior living facility also helped them to open their latest venture, the Senior Helpers Center of Excellence in Caregiving training center.

This facility is open to professional

Tiffany and Shaun Phelan each have been involved in senior care for years and now they’ve opened a center to train other caregivers. (Special to the Progress) seeCAREGIVER page 23

mal Great Wolf Lodge.”

One of the guests’ favorite events is the trick or treat experience that is set up in the cabanas surrounding the pool.

The cabanas each have different decorations inside and offer a unique experience for the trick or treaters.

“With the great weather we have here, we �igured we could make a great outdoor trick or treat experience,” said Johnson.

Despite being a key part to the implementation of these festivities to the lodge, Johnson gives all the credit to creative executives who work out of Great Wolf Lodge’s corporate of�ice.

“We have a great creative department in our home of�ice,” he said. “In that creative department and through feedback from guests, they come up with these ideas.”

He feels those ideas create new and exciting experiences that drive guests to the resort multiple times a year.

“When we look at a lot of our guests here, most of them are repeat guests who come �ive to six times a year,” Johnson said.

He also credits the attire worn by members of the Great Wolf Lodge “pack” to being a reason people enjoy visiting the lodge.

“I’ve been in hospitality for over 40 years and what’s nice about Great Wolf Lodge is that it’s professional yet fun and relaxed,” he said. “I don’t know any other job where you get to walk around wearing fun ears and practice howling with guests.”

“We want the employees, or our pack, to have fun and interact with the guests and they can do this when they have ears and a funny mask on,” he added.

Johnson also believes that the attire and fun nature of the lodge offer something that guests have been aching for.

“There’s a lot of stress and pressure in the world right now so this is an oasis for families to get away,” he said. “What I see here daily is that families are spending quality time with each other.”

Because of that, Johnson expects Halloween to be a treat for his lodge this year.

“Even though Halloween is on a Sunday this year and Sunday is usually a busy day, I expect that we’re going to have more people here and more of them will be decked out in costumes,” he said. “It’s just going to be a fun culmination of the whole month.”

Info: Greatwolf.com/arizona

caregivers, family caregivers, and members of the community who assist the elderly.

Classes and training sessions will focus on hospice care, autonomy in caregiving, engaging in meaningful activities, safety in the home and quality of life.

The goal of this facility is to elevate the level of care provided to the elderly in Scottsdale and around the Valley. This is the third location to open, with the others in Baltimore and Chicago.

The center is located at 9832 N. Hayden Road, at the corner of Hayden and Mountain View, behind Mountain View Presbyterian Church.

“With almost two decades of experience providing care to seniors, we know that each family has a learning curve when their loved ones begin to need assistance,” Tiffany said.

“We envision the Center for Excellence in Caregiving as the link to ensure everyone who wants to become better at caring for seniors, personally or professionally, is supported along their journey.”

With a unique curriculum, each class is 90 minutes long, with at least 60 minutes of hands-on learning. Caregivers receive a certi�icate of completion for all classes.

The Phelans have a personal connection to their business, as Tiffany’s mother is disabled and currently living with her daughter and husband.

“My mother receives care four hours per day, �ive days per week, and we provide care during the other hours of the day,” Shaun said. Tiffany’s father also lives down the street from the pair, and he receives care three days per week.

This is another reason why the Phelans felt that a new training facility could be bene�icial – not only for them but for all caregivers in the Valley.

“My entire Senior Helpers team loves helping people and making a difference in people’s lives. We see this as a great opportunity to do just that, as well as to provide top quality training experiences that allow us all to continue to learn and grow,” Tiffany said.

In the future, the pair plan on adding more classes to the new facility. For

more information, visit seniorhelpers.com.