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A LITTLE HISTORY OF THE CRATER LAKE WINTER RIM DESK
By Judy Buckingham
You may wonder. How did the Friends get involved staffing a winter desk at Crater Lake? Well, the idea began early in our history, back in 1994. Chief Naturalist, Kent Taylor, and Marianne Mills, Ass’t Chief Naturalist, asked the Friends if they would be willing to help at the Steel Center during the summer. Training was held in April of 1994. I’m not sure if anyone actually did this, but the idea then led to a proposal to staff a winter desk at the rim during the following winter. The idea of the winter desk gained some interest and training was held in December and January of 1995-96. The desk was set up in a portion of the old cafeteria underneath what was then the Watchman Restaurant. There were crossed skis and an arrowhead as a backdrop with several park display boards, as well as information about the volunteer ski patrol. A small cadre of dedicated volunteers staffed this area for many years. (See photo of Sandie Siefer staffing this desk.)
Camden Brewster and Andy Leszcykowski of the interpretive staff held the next training in the fall of 1996 with Sally Wells of the Friends as the coordinator. A note from Camden was published in the July 1997 issue of our newsletter saying she appreciated the effort and enthusiasm of our group. Every year until the winter of 2001-2002 training was held in the fall and volunteers staffed the desk on winter weekends. During that winter the Rim Gift Shop and eatery were closed for renovations and volunteers were asked by Ranger Kevin Bacher to help at the Steel Center. They would be selling snacks and coffee, as well as answering questions. During the fall of 2003 the restaurant and gift shop were again open and Friends were able to staff the winter desk. We had fewer Friends volunteering during the winter of 2004. Greg Reddell stated in the Spring 2004 issue of our newsletter that there were some weekends not covered and that he wanted to try to find more volunteers. He mentioned winter housing was available for those wishing to stay overnight. We were able to staff the winter desk during January through March of 2005.
But during the summer of 2005 the Cafeteria and Gift shop were closed for major renovations and removal of the central portion of the building. Gifts were temporarily being sold from the Community House building. During that summer we recruited members to do roving interpretation at and around the rim. Training was provided and housing was available in one of the stone houses.
In the fall of 2005 Ranger “Pete” Peterson recruited Friends members to help out at the Steel Center on weekends, since the rim area was under construction.
In 2008 Larry Smith, a long-time seasonal at the park, became the Friends Winter Rim Volunteer Coordinator. He recruited a large number of volunteers and the numbers staffing winter rim desk increased from just a handful to over 40 dedicated people. The park provides good training each November. The Friends provide lunches for all attendees. Housing in Sleepy Hollow is available for weekend stays. And Larry solicited funds from the Friends to make several display boards which answer visitor questions. The displays are an invaluable tool for the volunteers. And visitors seem to pore over them as they explore the upstairs viewing room above the new gift shop, eating area. We applaud Larry for making all this happen. And we applaud all the volunteers who give of their time to share their love of the park.
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