Ex-POA exec now head of Havasu resort

After serving as the Director of Food and Beverage at the Canyon Lake POA, little did Jeffrey Main know his life would be forever altered when his family took a weekend vacation to Lake Havasu three years ago.

After that August 2017 trip to Lake Havasu City, Jeffrey was offered a food and beverage operations job at the London Bridge Resort.

“We immediately fell in love with the town,” Jeffrey said. “My family and I officially made the move in July of 2018. Less than a year later, I was recruited by Civitas Management, along with Summerlin Financial and Desert Land Group, to head their startup project, The Views at Lake Havasu, as their Director of Food and Beverage.”

The Views at Lake Havasu is a 55-plus resort and features 92 upscale housing units, a full-time activities department, full scale food and beverage operations and more inclusive resort living with the best views of Lake Havasu, he said.

“Today, I am now the Executive Director and manage all operations of the facility,” Jeffrey said. “My surroundings here in Lake Havasu City remind me of Canyon Lake and the road traveled to get to where I am now.”

Jeffrey’s Canyon Lake tenure started back in 2003, when he began working at the Lighthouse Restaurant as its Executive Chef. He was eventually promoted to POA Executive Chef in 2005. He left the Canyon Lake POA in 2006, but returned to the Lighthouse Restaurant in October of 2011, once again as Director of Food and Beverage.

“Under the exceptional leadership of past General Manager Christopher Mitchell,” Jeffrey said, “and working one on one with many of Canyon Lake’s wonderful residents, my business operations knowledge excelled to a higher level. We accomplished many goals during my tenure as Director of Food and Beverage.”

During the next several years, Jeffrey and his team implemented several promotions and events at the restaurant that are still in place.

“As I look back on those years,” he said, “I recall many of the amazing projects we had developed in their early stages such as Taco Tuesday’s expansions, the Lighthouse Restaurant’s summer concert series, Sunday Champagne Brunches and so many other events. I’m proud to have been a part of the development for these items that are still being enjoyed by those in Canyon Lake.”

In October 2015, Jeffrey left the Canyon Lake POA to join Steele Canyon Golf Corporation as its corporate director of Food and Beverage for both Bear Creek Golf Club in neighboring Murrieta and Dove Canyon Golf Club in Trabuco Canyon in Orange County. He was eventually promoted to General Manager of Dove Canyon Golf Club.

“It was at this point that many of the Canyon Lake events and operational structures I learned at the POA were implemented and were successful,” he said. “Many are still intact today.”

With many Californians vacationing in Lake Havasu City, Jeffrey is now reaching out to those in his former Canyon Lake community to spend some time there. One of the promotions he is running will reward four winners of a drawing he is holding to spend a weekend stay in one of the resort’s furnished rooms with all accommodations provided at no charge.

“If you are not a winner, remember, the next time you are in Lake Havasu City, please stop by for a tour,” he said. “We’ll provide you with lunch or dinner in our amazing restaurant.”

As he enjoys his management responsibilities in Lake Havasu City, he reflects back on his Canyon Lake experience as incredibly influential.

“I can only thank all Canyon Lake residents along with the mentoring of Chris Mitchell for paving the way to this opportunity,” Jeffrey said. “I believe Canyon Lake has had a major influence on many who have passed through it, resident or employee, for futuristic positive impacts.”