Ken and Mary Dressen have been serving Pizza Ranch guests since 2006 and over the years they have worked hard to allow their faith to be part of the way in which they serve their guests. Mary shared with me so many stories of how her guests have become more of an extended family to her and her staff. Stories like “Cowboy Bob” who was a regular guest for many years until later in life when he had Alzheimer’s Disease and passed away. “Cowboy Bob was a fun guy who was always dressed in cowboy attire. We had fun with him often and we know we made an impact as shortly before he died, he wrote Pizza Ranch on a napkin and gave it to his family. His daughter came to the Pizza Ranch to pick up some of his favorite foods for him and we were able to give him one of his last meals! We have a memorial picture of him that we still set up by our buffet.” Mary shared multiple other stories of guests who were regulars who would come share life and hardships with her and her staff. “I think I could go on for hours with stories of folks we have come to know and love. It’s more than just guests coming in the door, it’s really about family. Pizza Ranch allows us and really encourages us to work and live by faith in our restaurants. We get to choose to surround ourselves with it and Ken and I have tried to let our faith be part of our work.” Mary also shared that they have established a prayer board at their location, where they encourage staff and guests to share prayer requests for her and her staff to pray for. “When we did our remodel, we had someone take an old booth and convert it into a chalkboard that we now use for our prayer board. On one occasion we had a guest come in to pick up some food for a young local boy who was going through a tough medical situation. I shared with this guest that we would love to prayer for him and encouraged her to put his name on the prayer board. That week the father of this boy came into our Ranch and wanted to see his son’s name on this board and find out more about it! Prayer is something we and Pizza Ranch take seriously. I get to share this with our guests often and they can hardly believe that we have a company that does this.” All in all, Mary, Ken, and their Baraboo team are creating and making their restaurant a place that’s more about family and caring for one another, whenever the opportunity presents itself. As Mary stated, “The Holy Spirit at times pats you on the shoulder and it’s up to you to act on it!”

Thank you, Mary and team, for being legendary, living out your faith, and for continuing to serve your extended Pizza Ranch family well!