Niagara ReporterFamily-owned and operated Delaware North, the multinational fast food and casino conglomerate, lost the contract to run hospitality services at Yosemite National Park two years ago and billionaire owner Jeremy Jacobs, Sr., took it very hard. It seems he and his family are going to miss their western wilderness retreat.
According to the Buffalo News, “The (Jacobs) visit every year, not just to examine the operations, but to hike and climb in the Yosemite Valley and the High Sierra. Margaret Jacobs, an amateur photographer, takes pictures of the breathtaking scenery.
“The sons visit as much as once or twice a year, as well, during peak and off-peak seasons, bringing their children from the time they were babies. They throw themselves into park activities, with Louis Jacobs even taking part one year in the park’s traditional Bracebridge dinner festival, playing the role of the squire.”
Touching accounts of employees supposedly shedding tears as the multibillionaire family took their final leave were circulated by the firm’s public relations department.
Now New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, who was the guest of honor at the Jacobs’ opulent East Aurora estate at a $25,000 a plate political fundraiser, is planning to build the Jacobses a brand new lodge on Goat Island in the Niagara Falls State Park – what a grand gesture!
Lose a lodge – gain a lodge!
Shown the door at Yosemite, here is the “lodge” Jacobs’ Delaware North left behind. Then they tried to virtually extort the National Parks Service into purchasing the hotel’s name, Ahwahnee, among other traditional Yosemite names they had trademarked.
