Silver Dollar City -- Where Management Makes a Difference in Employees' Lives
by Randall Murphree
November 9, 2006
(AgapePress) - - Hugo Herschend came from his native Denmark to Chicago almost a century ago with a solid work ethic, a dream and the willingness to take a risk. The world traveler found a bride in Chicago, was widowed in the1920s, remarried, and built a comfortable life in the windy city. Still, Herschend's entrepreneurial spirit and wanderlust left him always open to new adventures. In 1950, those qualities led him to lease Marvel Cave, a minor league tourist attraction, in Branson, Missouri. He, his wife Mary and teenage sons Pete and Jack poured their lives into developing the site into a first-rate regional attraction.
When Hugo died of a fatal heart attack just five years later, the family decided to carry on. With Mary Herschend at the helm and both sons going full steam ahead, their perseverance was rewarded. Marvel Cave and the Silver Dollar City family theme park they built around it have thrived and grown beyond anything Hugo Herschend could have imagined.
After Mary Herschend's death, the sons regrouped again to expand the vision and reach of Silver Dollar City. Its growth has paralleled, and sometimes paved the way for, Branson's development as a family-friendly entertainment city. The park now includes scores of attractions -- thriller rides, concerts, games, annual festivals and great food vendors.
"Mary had just died in 1983," said Danny Eakin. "Jack and Pete will tell you they sat down there behind the Wilderness Church and decided, 'If we're gonna do this, it's gonna be in the name of the Lord, or it's not gonna be at all!' That just blew me away."
A 21-year veteran at Silver Dollar City, Eakin is a part of the Homestead Pickers who perform 1880s Ozark mountain music on the front porch at the McHaffie Homestead, one of the earliest cabins in the park. He grew up a hundred miles south of Branson, so he knows the Ozarks.
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Danny Eakin has played with Silver Dollar City's Homestead Pickers for 21 years |
"The only reason I'm at Silver Dollar City is the two Herschend boys," Eakin said. "If they didn't own the park, I wouldn't be here. Those boys are our friends, they're our brothers in Christ."
The Herschend company is committed to Christian principles, even articulating them in their corporate policies: to create memories worth repeating, to exceed customer expectations, to empower their personnel and to do those things "in a manner consistent with Christian ethics."
Eakin entered the music field playing at Branson's Hillbilly Inn in 1972, then toured the country for several years as a professional musician before he and his wife decided to come back to Branson to raise their family. Friends urged him to pursue a more conventional recording career -- and money and fame. They couldn't understand why he would "settle" for Branson.
"My goal in life was to sing and to write music," Eakin said, "and Silver Dollar City is the only place I could that in the name of the Lord. I can stand in front of my audiences and witness to them. I can say whatever God puts on my heart."
Gene Bortner, a 26-year staffer at Silver Dollar City, took a little different route to Branson. Born in Baltimore, Bortner grew up in Pennsylvania Dutch country, went to San Francisco looking for gold and found it. Well, at least he found a Kansas City wife in gold country.
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At age 81, Gene Bortner has worked at Silver Dollar City for more than 25 years |
At 55, Bortner retired from his career with a Midwest food company. He and his wife had vacationed in the Branson area and decided it was a place they'd like to call home. He quickly grew tired of retirement and went to work at Silver Dollar City in 1981. Bortner is committed to the company's mission. "We have a mission statement which directs all the employees to 'make memories worth repeating,'" Bortner said. "I believe that every one of the employees follows that mandate."
He's been around long enough to see a lot of additions to the park, noting especially the festivals that draw in crowds with special interests -- Bluegrass and Barbecue, Kids' Festival, Salute to the Great American Cowboy, and the Southern Gospel Picnic.
Bortner is one of the first to greet guests to the park, standing sentinel at the entrance to Marvel Cave, where it all began. He'll welcome folks, then point out the bathrooms, restaurants and other important details. He also oversees the entrance to the cave, where the strong of heart climb close to 600 stairs in an hour-long tour.
After 17 years at Silver Dollar City, Bortner was named Missouri's 1998 Outstanding Older Worker of the Year. "Whole dadburn state!" he laughs. "That was sumpin'!"
"These men are authentic," Jack Herschend said. "This is what Silver Dollar City is about." Authentic Ozark entertainment, happy customers, valued employees and Christian principles will reign at Silver Dollar City as long as Pete and Jack Herschend have anything to do with it.
"We work very, very hard to provide worthwhile entertainment," Pete Herschend said. "But we do have the underlying principle of St. Francis of Assisi -- we will 'preach the Gospel always, using words whenever necessary.' I think that's important."
Randall Murphree, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is editor of AFA Journal, a monthly publication of the American Family Association. He visited Silver Dollar City near Branson, Missouri, over Labor Day weekend. This is the fourth in a five-part series of stories about the people behind Silver Dollar City. For more information on events, schedules and days of operation during the theme park's Christmas festival and other special events, call 800-831-4FUN or visit SilverDollarCity.com.
