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Razey has big plans for The Moose
Doug Flanagan/Post-Register
Ashley Razey is the new manager at Quincy’s Moose Lodge.
Ever since Ashley Razey was named as the new manager of the Quincy Moose Lodge in late November, she’s been extremely busy. In addition to placing food and drink orders, taking care of billing and other legalities and tending bar on occasion, Razey has been thinking about some of the changes she’d like to make at the lodge.
“It’s been good so far,” she said, “but it’s been really overwhelming. This is a great place to be, but I expected it to be slow this time of year. It hasn’t been.”
One of Razey’s main priorities will be to attempt to draw in a younger crowd. That’s where a lot of her proposed changes — adding music, band performances, a pool table, beer pong and Wii tournaments, changing the visual decor of the lodge itself — will be focused.
“We want to keep the older crowd around, but we want to have the younger generation in here,” she said. “We’d like to be open later. They (the Moose board of directors) don’t really want it to be like that (no younger patrons). They’re excited I’m 26 years old and want a younger crowd in here. It makes sense, too, because if we don’t get younger people in here, there will be no more Moose when the older generation dies off. We haven’t had a problem getting younger people signed up when they’ve come in. We just need to do more of it.”
Don Reini, the lodge governor, said Razey’s enthusiasm about bringing in new and different clientele is one of the reasons she was selected to replace Felicia Gibbs over about a dozen other finalists.
“She’s got a lot of new ideas, positive ideas about getting the younger crowd in there,” Reini said. “As a membership organization,we’re limited in what we can do there; we can’t invite the general public in. She’s smart and a hard worker. Hopefully, with her and her younger friends, some of it starts to trickle in and we’ll see a bit of a change there.”
Another change Razey would like to make is beefing up (no pun intended) the lodge’s menus.
“It used to be that the Moose would have these big Friday dinners. This is where the people would come on Friday nights to eat,” Razey said. “I’d like to get back to that, but we’re taking baby steps.”
For the past 3 1/2 years, Razey worked at C7 Bar & Grill in Quincy, but looked to the Moose as an exciting job opportunity.
Plus, she has known about the history and traditions of the Moose for quite some time now — her father, Terry, is a longtime Moose member.
“I’ve been going into Moose lodges ever since I was little,” she said. “I’ve been accustomed to how it is. My whole life I’ve been into community volunteering, and when I lived in Seaettle I got away from that. This is a good chance for me to give back to the community.
“I knew that the Moose needed a lot of help, and I like to walk into situations like that and clean things up and build it back up again. This place has the potential to be big. I’m excited to turn it around. It’s going to take some time, but I can do it.”
Reini thinks Razey’s energy and enthusiasm made her the ideal choice for the job.
“When she worked at C7, she really started to shine and take it to the next level,” he said. “Ashley’s like a tornado. She goes and goes and goes and never stops or gets tired. If there’s cleaning to do, she’ll do it. She’s a hard worker, and she’s very into whatever she does. She’s dedicated. That’s the kind of person she is. That’s why we wanted her.
“She’s small, but she’s mighty. If there’s a patron who has a problem, throw Ashley at him and she’ll take care of him. She’s not afraid of anything. She was passionate about her work at C7, and that’s why we decided to get her. We got her, and it’s been great so far.”
Razey grew up in Quincy and moved to Seattle several years ago. While on the west side, she had a good job working as a nanny, but she knew she wanted to eventually return to her roots.
“The big reason I came back was to be near family,” she said. “I had a chance to take a good job in San Diego as a nanny, but I didn’t take it because my family was here. You won’t find anyone else in a city like you can do in Quincy. That’s what I would tell my friends in Seattle. If you break down on the side of the road, nobody in a big city’s going to stop and help you. Here, five people are going to help. And I didn’t appreciate the beauty of (Quincy). It really is an amazing place.
“I might get a little bored, but that just means I’ll have to get the Moose going.”
