Meet District Governor Karl Ruether.Karl was born and raised in Germany and came to North America in 1986. He has three grown sons and is married to Denise. They live in Peshastin, Washington.
Karl started his career in the Hospitality Industry with a Restaurant Apprenticeship in 1976 at the Sport Hotel, Droste, Germany. As is mandatory in Germany, the required Military Service came next followed by achieving the Serviermeister (Master of Service) Certification in 1984.
In preparation for going to the US he worked as restaurant Manager in Southampton England after which Karl went to Cornell University in New York for the summer program. At the completion of this program, he worked at one of the hotels at JFK airport, followed by moving to Tucson Arizona to open a new All Suite Property.
In 1987 Karl obtained the CFBE (Certified Food and Beverage Executive) designation.From Tucson it was on to Portland Oregon and then Banff, Canada managing various types of hotels. From here it was San Bernardino California and then Leavenworth Washington’s Bavarian Village where being from Germany was not a pre-requisite, but it helped. Here he opened the Best Western Icicle Inn (1992) which is now known as the Icicle Village resort where he is the General Manager/Partner. In 1995 he obtained the CHA (Certified Hotel Administrator Designation) and after a successful career spanning 40 plus years and four countries, Karl retired from Hotel/Resort operations in December of 2019. Yippee I made it!
Along the way came various volunteer/appointed positions with Best Western International as a Regional Governor, a ........
