Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Co.

Art was born and raised in a small town (Duryea) between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, PA. He graduated from Penn State University in 1976 with a Bachelor of Science degree in General Agriculture. Art began his career at HERSHEY Nursery in 1977 as a groundskeeper. He has held a variety of positions since, including foreman, lead foreman, operations coordinator, operations manager, and finally taking over as general manager in 1996. His interests include watching movies, reading (big Stephen King fan), and sports (Boston Red Sox, Miami Dolphins, and of course Penn State football). He is a member of numerous trade associations including PLNA, ANLA and PGMS. He is also a member of Hershey Rotary Club and the Derry Township Historical Society. Art currently lives in Hershey with his wife Jeannie and daughter Laura.

Whitney M. Fisher is the Principal and Owner of The W Group, a Nashville-based interior design firm specializing in upscale hospitality design. With over 19 years of extensive experience in every facet of the design field, Whitney has acquired multiple awards over the life of her career. These awards include (but are not limited to) the Lodging Hospitality 2002 Design Award, ASID Silver Award, and two IIDA Gold Awards. Publications include Lodging Hospitality, Contract Magazine, Traditional Building and Healthcare Facilities, and Spa Finder ("Best Design for a Spa" 2005). She has participated in several review committees developing new introductions for furniture and fabric design. Her belief is that "good design creates good experiences."

Wayland-Smith has been involved in the hospitality and spa industry for over twelve years, and brings with her an emphasis on planning and development, daily operations, and sales and marketing. She combines these areas with strong administrative and leadership skills as well as a thorough knowledge in spa, salon and fitness issues.

Bob originally was from Woodbridge, N.J. After moving to our area, his previous employment was spent at Four Seasons Landscaping in Lancaster (3 years) and Country Market (12 years). Bob has a wealth of experience in the horticultural field as a manager in landscaping and also running garden center retail operations. He is a native of Hummelstown and lists hunting, fishing, camping and hiking as his favorite hobbies. He also enjoys spending time at his cabin outside of Towanda in Bradford County.

By day, Melissa Bucciarelli is an eMarketing Manager at Hershey Entertainment & Resorts where she works in the Web department on projects such as search engine optimization, analytics, email campaigns, the creation of new websites, and managing content on existing websites. She loves her "day job" but has a true passion for teaching athletic style group fitness classes, especially those with loud music. She began teaching about 12 years ago in Michigan. Melissa has a group exercise certification through AFAA, Aerobics and fitness Association of America, and has a specialty certification to teach TurboKick, a form of kickboxing.

John was born and raised in Harrisburg. After more than 15 years in manufacturing and sales he began working in the nursery business with Gault Nursery in Conestoga, PA. He spent the next 5 years learning the tree growing business and doing landscaping, and came to HERSHEY Nursery in 1995. Starting as the Inventory Groundskeeper, John was promoted to supervisor in 1997. John's interests include hunting and fishing, riding his horses, playing guitar and giving wildlife conservation programs to children's groups. John and his wife Beth live in West Hanover Township where together they have operated a state and federally licensed wildlife rehabilitation facility for over 25 years.

With emphasis on confectionery development and sensory evaluation of chocolate liquors John Rita, of T.C. Cocoa, began his career as a research and development specialist. For more information about go here.

Monica Tuma Brown has been actively developing and working in the health and spa industries for the past 28 years. Her work as an EEG technician, in hospitals both in the U.S. and abroad, specialized in ICU, ER, Neonatal and Neurology. Brown's interest in the spa industry began in Switzerland while employed at the Kinderspital (an international children's hospital) in Zurich. While in Europe, she conducted extensive independent spa research. Upon returning to the U.S., Brown studied international relations and molecular, cellular biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Brown continued to study the application of Naturopathic health care while working in several hospital facilities. In 1983, she became Manager of the Thalassotherapy Department at the Coralita Beach Spa Hospital in St. Martin, French West Indies. From there, Brown co-directed the Spa at Rosario Island Resort and Spa in Eastsound, Washington. Brown then went on to develop and direct the Greenbrier Spa Mineral Baths and Salon, having coordinated all aspects of the 1987 opening of the new spa in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Her management and operational expertise broadened in the position of General Manager of The Marsh, a center and spa for balance and fitness in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Brown is a noted expert on mineral springs and water, and is known for her creative solutions to operations and program development, as well as unique treatment and product developments. She is also noted for her design, development, and operations consulting on a number of premier American five-star and diamond resorts, as well as integrative consulting with hospitals, wellness centers, and surgery centers. Additionally, Brown works with spa product manufacturers developing new treatments and products for use in the health spa industry. Brown now turns her attention to sharing her health and spa industry knowledge as a Spa and Integrative Care Development Consultant. Brown has worked with world-acclaimed spa designer TAG Galyean on a number of spas and resorts, including The Lodge at Pebble Beach, Monterey, California; Kingsmill Resort, Williamsburg, Virginia; The Don CeSar Hotel, St. Petersburg, Florida; The Broadmoor Hotel, Colorado Springs, Colorado; The Aspen Club, Aspen, Colorado, and La Quinta Resort, Palm Springs, California.

Haldeman comes to HE&R from Sea Island Resort in Georgia, home to the renowned Cloister hotel, where she was the assistant pastry chef since 2002. Prior to that resort, Haldeman held positions as pastry chef under Master Chef Jose Gutierrez at the signature restaurant of the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee, Chez Philippe; executive chef and manager for Boon Enterprise, Inc., where she opened various restaurants in Winter Park, Florida; and executive pastry chef at Horseshoe Casino Tunica, in Tunica, Mississippi. Haldeman's specialty is cake design, especially wedding, grooms' and other theme cakes. She will undoubtedly compliment the wedding offerings at The Hotel Hershey. Haldeman won a gold medal for Best Chocolate Dessert at the International Visitors Corps of Jacksonville, Florida, Chocolate of the World competition in 2006. She also won a silver medal at the America Culinary Federation/California Raisin Board Signature Hot Food Competition during the 2005 International Food Expo. Highlights of Haldeman's career include participating in a Food Network Challenge called "Celebration Cakes" and serving eight world leaders and their wives, including First Lady Laura Bush, at the G-8 Summit held at Sea Island Resort in July 2004. As Executive Pastry Chef of The Hotel Hershey, Haldeman will oversee a staff 25 employees during high season that creates everything sweet for all dining outlets at The Hotel Hershey. Haldeman says that chocolate is everywhere, and Milton S. Hershey can take a great deal of credit for that. She believes that it may be the most versatile food on earth since it is eaten, drunk, used as decoration and more. Haldeman appreciates the color, taste and texture of chocolate and loves to use it in or on her cakes.

"President, Swann, Inc. and Managing Director of Diamond Edge Capital Partners, LLC Lynn C. Swann is president of Swann, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in marketing and communications and managing director of Diamond Edge Capital Partners, LLC, a New York based finance company. Mr. Swann currently sits on the board of directors of H. J. Heinz Company, Hershey Entertainment and Resorts, Harrah’s Entertainment, Empower and Transdel Pharmaceuticals. He was also chairman of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports from 2002-2005. A former All-Pro wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers and 2001 Hall of Famer, he spent 29 years with ABC Sports as a sports analyst and broadcaster before retiring in 2006. Since 1980 he has been the National Spokesman for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. He now serves on their National Board of Directors and was President of the national board from 1993 – 1995. Mr. Swann holds a B.A. degree in public relations from the University of Southern California. He and his wife, Dr. Charena Swann, and their two sons reside in Pittsburgh. "