Piper Dining
Room Staff
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Pat
Eldean
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Patricia
Eldean
Piper Owner and General
Manager
The Piper’s owner and general manager
is Pat Eldean. Pat opened the Piper
Restaurant to complement Eldean
Shipyard, which is owned by her
husband, Herb. In the course of 23
years, the restaurant has had one major
revision. For the first 12 years, it
was the Sandpiper, an up-scale fine
dining restaurant, which won several
awards including the best restaurant in
West Michigan. In 1997, it became the
Piper, a more casual place where guests
felt comfortable visiting more
frequently and spending less
money.
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Over the years, Pat has maintained her
love for the hospitality business. She
enjoys finding ways to enhance the
dining experience. Nothing could be
more challenging, more diverse and more
fun. Pat tremendously enjoys her young
and talented staff. She is thrilled to
meet former staff (or their parents),
and they share how their job at
Sandpiper/Piper made a real difference
in their lives.
Pat likes variety in everything—how she
chooses to rest, exercise and have
fun…. She says, “I love cooking and I
like diversity in food. I don’t have a
favorite recipe because I get bored. I
want new flavors, and I like trying new
things. I like to read and enjoy all
genres of books. I really enjoy my
grandchildren, Ryan, 16 and Alexander,
1 year old.”
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Pat with Chef
Keaton
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Another interest of Pat’s is travel.
Her goal is to try to go to the spots
in the world that haven’t been overrun
with tourism. But of course, that’s
getting hard. I guess you could say she
is passionate about having variety in
all areas in
life.
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Julie Harkema
Piper Event
Coordinator
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A long-term staff
member, Julie Harkema is our Event Coordinator.
This position is a natural fit for Julie since
she has a passion for helping people and having
fun.
Since August of
2002, she has calmed blushing brides, anxious
grooms and nervous parents through hundreds of
weddings, receptions and rehearsal dinners. She
is the ultimate "mistress of
ceremonies."
Julie began her
Piper career as a server and bartender and
moved into her position of Event Coordinator in
2002, forfeiting her job as a Zeeland High
School diving coach.
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Her family is quickly
expanding and is capturing more of her
unlimited energy. She is married to Brian;
mother to Dria, Danielle and Tony; stepparent
to Riley and Mason and grandmother to three
beautiful granddaughters. Besides her family as
her number one interest, Julie enjoys golfing,
traveling and
entertaining.
If you would like to have Julie help plan
your reception or any special event at The
Piper, contact her at
Julie@PiperRestaurant.com.
Julie will also help you plan an off-site party
catered by The Piper.
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Crystal Calkins
Piper Dining Room
Manager
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Crystal Calkins has been Piper's Dining Room
Manager since January of 2008. Her love for the
restaurant business began when she was 15,
working as a dishwasher, and worked up to
server and bartender. She has a passion towards
great food and drink and loves meeting the
variety of people that come to The
Piper.
Residing in Holland, Crystal spends much of her
time helping at sporting activities such as
soccer and baseball. Crystal is a proud and
dedicated mother of two active boys: Avery,
nine-years-old and Jaxon who is
eight.
She enjoys
great food, and a lot of time is spent in the
kitchen together with her boys creating their
meals. "I feel fortunate that I am able to work
for such an excellent restaurant as The
Piper."
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