Foregoing typically laid back spring of seniors who spend their last term at Dartmouth off from classes, Sarah Markus '07 is instead using her senior spring to track down stray rodents, fix power outages and deal with downed telephone lines while working at the Dartmouth-owned Moosilauke Ravine Lodge, located about an hour north of campus.
"Over the last week, we've had baby mice falling from the ceiling," she said. "We're not really sure where they're coming from."
Each Fall, Spring and Summer term, about six students are hired to work on the lodge crew. Crew members are responsible for answering the phone and taking reservations, cooking and serving breakfast and dinner for guests and maintaining the physical plant, according to Ada Graham '08, who is currently working as lodge manager during her off term. The lodge acts as a hotel and catering hall to visitors.
"It's an old building, and it needs a lot of love," Graham said of the lodge, which was built in 1938.
Graham, who has also spent off-terms doing research and working for a law firm, said that the working at the lodge has been more challenging than her other jobs.
"Sometimes you get 20 extra people showing up for dinner or a power outage," she said. "You have to be really flexible and willing to pitch in on a project, but I'd recommend it to anyone without reservation."
Laura Kamfonik '08, who has never worked at the lodge, said she tries to visit it as much as she can.
"I like the atmosphere, and the food is usually pretty delicious," she said. "Usually I go with a bunch of friends."
Crew-members work at the lodge for 11 days straight before taking three days off, time which Marcus uses to hike the White Mountains and occasionally visit her friends at Dartmouth.
Markus said her interaction with guests is an added bonus of working at the lodge.
"Anybody who comes here enjoys it," she said. "They care about this place a lot, and that's really awesome."
Markus, who also worked at the lodge her freshman summer, chose to join the Spring lodge crew instead of taking classes during her final term at Dartmouth.
"I wanted to work a fun job before getting a real job," she said. "I love the environment up here.... You can't really beat living at the base of a mountain."
A wide variety of Dartmouth students use the lodge, Graham said. The ultimate Frisbee team and the Tabard have held formals at the facility, and many of the weekend visitors are alumni or professors. Commencement and Reunion usually see a significant increase in visitors as classes or other groups rent out the space for reunions.
"Seeing little kids come up whose parents are alums is great," Graham said. "We're working to make that possible."
Lauren Altschuh '07 said the lodge provides an occasional escape from the usual Dartmouth lifestyle.
"I like the really good food," she said. "And the fact that I can get out of Hanover."
Former lodge crew member Vicki Allen '06 called the lodge an integral part of her Dartmouth experience.
"Over the years it has grown on me in little ways so that has become a home for me."
Since its opening in 1939, the lodge has been used at various times as a base for environmental researchers and a ski lodge before settling into its current schedule in 1996.
