Figuratively speaking, there are days when Carol Davino must first ensure a ceiling is properly painted and then may go and paint the sky.
Davino is general manager and part owner of the Holiday Inn in Fishkill, a landmark at the junction of Route 9 and Interstate 84. She is also an avid fly fisherman, adept at the skilled casts that cause unwary trout to snap at a skillfully dropped lure.
The 157-room hotel has the largest conference center in the area and history as a gathering place. Â She hopes to restore the hotel to prominence after she and her husband became part of the ownership team last July, taking her long term experience as owners of the restaurant and beverage operations at two area hotels into management of the hotel itself.
“I didn”™t realize what a big challenge it would be, it”™s been a lot more challenging than just running a food and beverage department,” Davino said. “It”™s so much more involved. It”™s a big challenge. But I love it.”
She said as general manager she is involved in everything from ensuring the re-painting and refurbishment of the facility to asking guests about ways staff can help them further enjoy their stay. “I work at it. I”™m not just here for the investment, I”™m here for the customers. My slogan is, the spirit is back.”
But when she is done coddling guests, Davino, 44, seeks to get away and go catching fish with her husband, Stephen, and three children. She has been fishing since she was a child growing up near Jamaica Bay. She describes her husband as an avid outdoorsman and said their children have caught their passion for fishing and the outdoors.
Their favorite pastime is to be fly fishing for trout, a challenging form of recreation combining mastery of technique, knowledge of trout habits and sharp eyes. Davino combines the ancient techniques of fly fishing with the modern gear of a successful angler.
“I wear polarized sunglasses so you can see the trout in the water,” she says of her approach. “It”™s like an addiction; you have to get that perfect cast. It has to land just right on the stream so it looks like a fly landing on the water.”
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Describing the intricate casting technique used to unfurl the fishing line so it is properly playing out parallel over the water and then dropped alluringly near a hungry trout, Davino said, “They say it”™s like painting the sky.”
Modern shades and quality casting tackle aren”™t the only equipment Davino takes along when she wades the stream seeking promising nooks to cast a fly. She takes her cell phone. “I used to not have the phone and I would worry more. The phone is like my peace of mind, they kids and the business, they can both get me if they need to. But they both know not to call me unless it”™s an emergency.”
But normally, wading the water seeking trout and precisely working her lines “Clears my mind.” Fly fishing requires concentration to be done properly, commotion spooks the trout, or alerts them to a danger so they don”™t strike even a well cast fly.
“You have to have a balance in life, it”™s like a wheel,” said Davino. “You have a spoke for your family, a spoke for work, a spoke for spirituality, a spoke for fun. For me, when I”™m out there in the stream, casting, seeing the deer on shore and hearing the water running that”™s my little piece of heaven. That”™s my connection with God.”
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