NEW GENERAL MANAGER AT THE HELM
ELIZABETHTOWN – Dan Allen, sitting in the warm and welcome December sun of North Carolina at Cape Fear Vineyard and Winery said that he grew up “about a mile through the woods” from where the interview was taking place.
“The property we grew up on, we owned it and it was a farm where my daddy was the manager,” Allen said. “This property (Cape Fear Vineyard & Winery) was Green Brothers Lumber Company and they owned a big farm. They dug the pond and so I grew up playing here.”
Little did Allen know that years later he would be the general manager of a highly successful vineyard and winery.
A 1974 graduate of East Bladen High School, he then furthered his education at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington and graduated in 1978 with a degree in education and wanted to be a teacher.
“I did my student teaching,” he said. “And I was toying with going into education and I knew I would do either one of two things. I would either be completely broke because I’d ultimately have a kid in my class who didn’t have anything and I would help out financially. The other thing was the lack of understanding how anyone could abuse a child. If I saw it, I don’t know what I’d do.”
Allen’s wife, Sunday Allen actually did become a teacher and retired last year. Partially. She, like her husband didn’t find retirement all that appealing and is now teaching and helping out at Emereau Bladen.
“She keeps very busy in the community,” he said. “She also teaches Sunday School and we go to the Methodist Church in Elizabethtown and we are also on the board of Boost the Boro in Bladenboro.”
Shortly after taking on a few short-term jobs after college, Allen went on to have a successful career with Four County Electric Membership Corporation as a vice president of Customer Services.
“I started in the marketing department,” Allen said. “I then became the district manager, and served this office here in Elizabethtown. I then went on to be a vice president.”
A job he retired from after almost four decades in January 2020.
“I retired from there just in time for COVID,” he said. “So, I sat home for a month with absolutely nothing to do and you couldn’t go anywhere. It about drove me crazy. I had to have something to do. I did a bunch of stuff around the house and I told my wife that I needed to do something. So, I called Ronald Allen who is with Allen Brothers Outdoors in Bladenboro and I went to work there part time until Alex (Munroe) called me and asked me if I’d come down here about two months ago.”
Cape Fear Vineyard & Winery have had a few general managers through the years, but the position was vacant and had been vacant for a while. Munroe, busy growing his business needed to find a general manager so that his focus was not all upon some of the details of the day-to-day.
At the beginning one of the first challenges for Allen was the unexpected death of award-winning chef, Timothy McDowell.
“I call it one of those God things,” Allen said. “The Monday that he died we had somebody contact us and tell us that they were from here, but had been in New York since high school. He worked in New York and New Jersey as a chef. His name is Antoine Wooten.”
As for his regular duties as he settles in, he oversees and meets with department leaders.
“After being in management with Four County for 39 years, I have always been a participation type manager,” Allen said. “I want to get in and get my hands dirty and learn the jobs of those that report to me so I can feel better about doing what I need to do. In a normal day, I review reports from the previous day and sales reports, that type of stuff. I then gain insight from the reports and talk to my leaders about what I can do to help them. New weekly meetings focus on what we can do here to improve.”
One of the new and exciting changes that Allen talked about was a new menu coming out from The Cork Room and the exciting entertainment scheduled for 2025.
“We’re trying to get back to having locals support us here,” he said. “We’ve lost some of that over the years. We’ve got a more budget-friendly menu coming out in January. I think the future of this place is unlimited. It’s such a great facility. We have a very unique Tipsy Toad gift shop over here and we are also adding three new cottages that will overlook the pond.”
Although a great couple of faith who love to remain a solid fixture in the community, the Allens love to travel. And not just travel, but adventure.
“My wife and I take unusual vacations,” he said. “We generally decide which way we’re going and we leave with no reservations, no plan and try to stay off the interstate as much as possible, visiting small towns in America. My wife’s first job every morning is to find us a place to stay that night. Our next trip will be up through the Dakotas and into Wyoming and Montana.”
It is certainly a couple being led in their moments. They have truly learned that joy is not just in the destination, but in the journey. Letting life dictate their schedules and their passions. Unafraid of the unknown and actually embracing it to find the beauty and the wonder therein. Twin-gems as a gift to Bladen County.
For more information and upcoming events at Cape Fear Vineyard & Winery, you can visit their website at: https://www.capefearwinery.com/
Mark DeLap is a journalist, photographer and the editor and general manager of the Bladen Journal. To see more of his bio, visit him at markdelap.com or email him. Send a message to: mdelap@bladenjournal.com