CHANGE BAD - TRADITION GOOD!!!

Tradition has always been a pretty huge part of the Cleves experience both from a Guest’s perspective and from the Staff’s. Some have been around for as long as I can remember and some only last a few years until we think we have found a better way of doing something. That new way often ends up failing in spectacular fashion and we just go back to what people are used to. In recent years we have tried some new things that absolutely bombed. Hardcore Cleves Guests apparently don’t like major change!

Up until the time I was about 18 one of the best and most popular traditions was the Wednesday night Masquerade Parties that were held in the Club every week during family season. The Dining Room Staff kicked off the fun every Wednesday dinner by dressing up and serving in their costumes. After dinner, Rockin’ Roy Kitchen the greatest 70 year old, Herb Tarleck plaid suit wearing DJ, would spin his records down in the club and all of the staff and guests would go down for the night. It was so much fun. The Social Directors would then offer prizes to the best costumes in various categories like Best Man’s Costume, Best Woman’s Costume and Best Group. The coveted prize was a box of ‘Black Magic’ chocolates, I kid you not!

From as far back as I can remember there was one family who came to Cleves for 2 weeks at the end of July every summer. The most hard core supporters of the Masquerade in the family were the Grandparents and they had to be about 60-65 when this all started. To say that they lived for the Masquerade Nights is a major understatement. I really think they planned most of their vacation around it and arrived with supplies, costumes.... and lots of rum. They were really good to my friends and I as kids and always included us in the planning and made sure we were part of the entire process.

Some of the ideas they came out with were pretty elaborate. One year we went as aliens and painted our faces silver with some paint they pulled out of a suitcase. When I think back on that now I am sure that if I did have kids of my own they might have been be born with 2 heads because of what was lurking in that paint! One year they decided to dress up like the Flintstones where the Grandpa ran around the club wearing absolutely nothing but a giant diaper because he was Bam Bam and his wife proudly followed right behind him dressed like Dino wearing a skin tight black full body suit with a huge milkshake cup over her nose held on with the leg of a nylon stocking, one must never forget that they were in their late 60’s at least!! Watching her do the ‘Bunny Hop’ dressed like Dino was pretty great!. You gotta love the enthusiasm and the fact that they really didn’t care about what asses they looked like...it was all about that box of ‘Black Magic’ chocolates. Down in the Club on the other nights of the week all of the entertainment was held in the big room of the Club and those two would dance every night away. He had the best taste in clothing and would show up about twice a week wearing a hot pink, cream and black zebra print blazer. Excellent. Sadly in the late 80’s Masquerade nights lost their popularity and nobody dressed up any more so we had to cancel them.

To say that these 2 grandparents partied would be a huge understatement. They showed up for their two weeks with the same stuff every year and one of my most vivid memories would be when they hauled out the massive bottles of booze and the little silver metal cups they used to drink it from. They would go down to the club with a mickey stuffed in her purse and crank it up every single night and quite quickly you would notice them go from dancing to swaying to the music. There were many nights when the two of them, still wearing their amazing clothes from the dance would show up in the Staffhouse to play caps with the staff after spending all night down at the club pounding back the booze and waltzing / staggering around the dance floor. After weaving their way up to the staff house from the club he’d sit on the floor of the hall wearing that zebra print hot pink jacket and she’d be in a dress sitting spread eagle on the floor with a beer bottle between her legs. I am sorry but it just doesn’t get any funnier. They were a huge part of my Cleves childhood memories and I was very sad when they passed away. Every time I see somebody sitting at table 19 in the dining room I am a little sad because it isn't them :)

TIMOTHY MICHAEL ROSE

The summer of 2002 was horrific. Business was great and we were 95% - 100% full every night but I had major problems with the staff that year. There was so much damage done to the staff house that summer I think I stopped keeping track at one point. Every single morning I got out of bed and actually dreaded going into the office, it was that bad. Thankfully I haven’t had a summer like that since.

Friday, August 9th, 2002 is a day that forever changed me and everybody that worked at Cleves that year. I was on my way home at about 5:30 pm and I ran into the Corner Store to grab something. It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny without a cloud in the sky. As I walked up to the register to pay for my stuff I saw the 2 trucks from the Minett Fire Department go screaming through the stop sign and head towards Port Carling. I got in my car to head home not knowing that in about 15 seconds my life would be changed forever. When I came around the corner by the ‘Welcome to Minett’ sign, I saw what I can only describe as something that one usually only sees in the movies. There were 2 fire trucks, 3 ambulances, 3 OPP cars and every member of the Minett Volunteer Fire Department about 200 feet in front of me. I got out of my car and walked closer to find out what was going on when I saw 3 of my staff standing on the side of the road. I asked what happened and all I heard was ‘Tim’s really bad.....’. I distinctly remember not hearing another word and I took off running full speed towards the accident and down into the ditch.

Tim Rose a Dining Room Server that summer was riding in a Jeep on a beautiful day heading home to see his family in Waterloo for the weekend. He was with his girlfriend and best friend. When they left Cleves his seatbelt was stuck and he told them to leave and he would get it untangled. Less than 2 minutes later another car coming towards them was driving on their side of the road, the Jeep had to swerve to miss it and they ended up going off the road and down a steep and deep ditch. Tim was thrown from the Jeep. I knew every police officer, fireman and paramedic there that day and they asked for my help to try and get the 2 girls calmed down because they were both very close to going into shock. It is an absolute miracle that neither girl was injured in any way.

When I climbed out of the ditch I was met by one of the OPP officers. We didn’t say it out loud but we both knew that Tim hadn’t survived. The girls obviously didn’t know that and neither did any of the other staff who were there. It was very important that his death not be made known until his family had been notified. He asked me what I needed as he helped me out of the ditch and all I could say was ‘grief counselors at the hotel as soon as possible’. I did my best to try and calm the girls down and they begged me to ride in the ambulance with them but there wasn’t room so I promised to follow close behind.

The next 2 hours were maybe the longest of my life. The girls had been admitted for observation and I was going from room to room to try and comfort them. A physician who was staying at Cleves helped with Tim at the scene and went in the ambulance with him to do what he could. He and I spent our time in the ER just standing with each other, with our heads down holding each other’s hands most of the time. The girls asked me every 10 minutes to go and see how Tim was and to get some sort of update on his condition. Each time I left them I just walked around the corner and did my best just to keep it together. After a few minutes I would come back and tell them they were still working on him. Eventually the ER doctor called me out into the hall and told me they had notified Tim’s parents and that I could now tell the girls he didn’t survive the accident. I distinctly remember telling him as the attending physician it was his job to tell them that. I knew those two amazing girls would resent me for their entire lives if I told them the worst thing they would likely ever hear. Tim’s girlfriend’s parents arrived about 30 seconds later. I went outside, where about 20 Cleves staff had gathered in the parking lot and the doctor took the girls and the parents into the conference room and told them. If I live to be 100 I will never forget hearing the girl’s reaction to the devastating news.

When I got back to Cleves I allowed myself to come totally unglued for a while and collapsed into my Mom’s arms in my office. I remember thinking over and over on the way home from the hospital that there was just too much responsibility involved with dealing with a bunch of kids every summer and for a brief moment decided it was a responsibility that I was unwilling to accept anymore. With the help of a friend, I wrote a letter that was placed on every dining room table at breakfast the next day because our Guests needed to know why every single member of the staff would be hysterical. I had a few Guests come into the office the next day and tell me they would do anything we needed them to do from washing dishes to bar tending, to help us get through it all. We had about 500 guests in the hotel that week and it broke my heart to tell the staff they couldn’t go to the funeral. I had already decided we would have our own Memorial Service for Tim the following Wednesday that his family would attend, which made them feel better about missing his funeral.

The next couple days of my life were totally dedicated to the staff and their emotional needs. They were obviously away from their families and really only had each other to lean on during that horrific time. If you have worked at Cleves before I am sure you can try and imagine what it would have been like if that had happened when you worked here, but believe me, you can’t and there aren’t words to tell you how heart wrenching it was. The morning after he died I went into the dining room at 7:15. I knew I couldn’t help but thought if everybody knew I was just as upset as they were, they might be able to limp through the next few days because we were all trying to cope together. The hardest thing I have ever done in my life was go over to the morning meeting for the children’s counselors that day. I lead everybody out of the Sagamo Centre and we all went and sat outside the colour cube on the ground. I asked the Guests to give us a little bit of privacy while I talked to them, tried to comfort them as best I could and told them about our plans for the Memorial service.

With the help of the Minister from our church up here the Memorial was planned. I invited the volunteer fire department to come to the ceremony and hand yellow roses to everybody after the service. Tim’s entire family came up for it and I remember dreading meeting them. When I introduced myself to his parents they both threw their arms around me and told me how much Tim loved working at Cleves and that they were so glad his last days were spent there surrounded by his friends. His parents still come up twice a year to visit the site and come to the office every time they are here to see me. They are incredible people who will always have a special place in my heart.

After the Memorial service ended, I was on the sundeck talking to Tim’s family and the parents of the girls that were with him in the accident. I could hear a huge commotion off to one side but wasn’t really paying attention until I looked over the side of the sundeck railing and saw at least 50 people swimming. Everybody had jumped off the dock in their clothes. The commotion I heard was them chanting my name. It took me about 30 seconds to run down those stairs, take off my shoes and cannonball off the dock in my suit... then Ted promptly jumped off the dock and did his best to land on me! If you weren’t there you won’t understand this but everybody jumping in the lake was a major turning point. It was at that exact moment that the kids realized life would go on and they were allowed to still have fun for the rest of the summer even if it was with a heavy heart.

The whole event had a very profound effect on everybody who was at Cleves that summer. It forced all of us to bond in a way that quite frankly I never want to experience again. I saw the best in some people, like the Guests who volunteered to help in any way possible, and the Doctor who helped at the scene and ended up at the hospital with me, all of whom ended up becoming great friends of mine. It also brought out the worst in some in people, like the Guest who came into the office to freak out because we cut the kids program short so everybody could attend the memorial (don’t worry, my Dad handled her....). I do have to thank RB for coming with me and being at my side that entire day and night at the hospital. I leaned on you a lot that night but didn't want to put words in your mouth about how you felt during those awful hours we shared. I will always value the support you gave me that day and in the days to follow as I know you had your own team to lead while grieving yourself. As always you did it with class and stoic grace.

Today marks the 8 year anniversary of Tim’s death and like every other year I will go and sit with my Mom on the bench at the Memorial Garden we made in his honour. I will remember the handsome young man I hired, with the amazing smile and great personality who’s brief time at Cleves made such a huge impression on so many people. We were all so much better for knowing him even if it was for such a brief time.

GENERATION 'WHY'

Having spent 41 summers at Cleves I have seen 3 different generations of employees come and go. The first one being the ‘Baby Boomer Generation’, the Second one, my generation ‘Generation X’ and the one I have worked the most with, this generation ‘Generation Y’. There are so many differences between the 3. The ‘Baby Boomers’ were just happy to have a job, the ‘Generation Xers’ were happy to have a job that came with the the chance to party and most of the ‘Generation Yers’ have a job that interferes with the party. As I have said before back when I was 19-22 I went out 6 nights a week, maybe got 8 hours of sleep a night twice a week. We all partied hard and got up, went to work and never complained. Most of us were scared shitless of the management team and the thought of being hauled into one of the Manager’s offices was quite frankly horrifying!

I started working as the Director of HR in 1996 and quickly after, once the shift from Gen X to Gen Y occurred, there was a definite change in the staff’s behaviour. I would have to say that the most difficult years for me would be 1997 - 2003, with 2002 being the worst by a long shot. That summer the doors in the staff house were being broken and kicked in every day, several kids were late for work almost every shift and there was a definite rebellion against any sort of authority with many staff constantly asking why they had to do something. I have decided that the internet is a major cause of this generation being so different (how ironic is it that I am posting this on the very same internet) and has turned a lot of them into the instant gratification generation. Before I go on I have to say that a lot of the kids in the last 10 years have been great, but the attitude of a few of them is that they start work and can’t understand why they aren’t the manager of their department one week later. I still smile when I think of the day about 10 years ago when we were just opening and I asked somebody to vacuum one of the areas of the dining room. The obviously slightly spoiled girl turned to me and said ‘Sorry Sandy you will have to show me how to use a vacuum, I have never had to do that before’. WOW we interviewed well that year!!

Some of the kids in this generation ‘have a very large chip on their shoulder, that’s very unattractive’ (kudos to those of you who get that movie reference), questioning authority all of the time and could care less when they are late for work. I am sure some of it stems from the ‘get a trophy for showing up to a sporting event’ that is the norm for kids now - what happened to getting a trophy for winning!! It has just made so many of these kids feel that they should be given raises and praise for just showing up to work when they are supposed to. Over the last couple of years I have actually noticed the behaviour and attitudes getting better and the kids have some respect for authority again but that just happened fairly recently.

So many of the doors in the staff house were being kicked in every year that I actually had to write a policy that if somebody kicked in a door they had to pay the damages and labour to fix it (I think I charged them $150.00 and they lost their entire $50.00 room deposit), if they did it again they had to find accommodation somewhere else. One night one of the girls who worked in the kitchen got totally plastered, kicked a huge hole in her door and then told the Night Manager and Security Guard to fuck off. She was actually painfully shy when she was sober, or so I thought...I called her into my office and told her I was firing her, not for kicking in her door but for her complete lack of respect for the Night Managing team.

About three weeks later I came back into my office after having lunch with my friends in the dining room to this exact voicemail, (It was way too good not to memorize) ‘Ya hi Sandy, this is Laura, you know the one you fired. I was at Cleves today and saw that somebody had kicked another hole in the door to my room. Did you fire them too you AAAAASSSSSHHHHOOOOOOLLLLLEEEE’ I am sure most Directors of HR would be horrified by that, but I can honestly say it is still one of the funniest things I have ever heard. Just imagine how proud her parents would be to know she called me and left that voicemail. I have to say the joke was actually on her, I saved that voicemail for months and had a lot of my friends call in and listen to it. She just about crapped her pants the next summer when she and I ended up alone in the bathroom at Bala Bay one night, I loved seeing the blood drain from her smug little smart ass face when she saw me walk in!!

FILL ME IN....

One morning a few years ago, I pulled into a parking spot in front of the office at around 7:00 am to start what I assumed would be a typical busy day at Cleves. I had no idea how atypical it was about to be. Waiting for me outside the office was our Baker. As soon as I saw the look on her face I knew something pretty bad had happened. I opened my door to ‘we had to call an ambulance. A girl was found almost naked and covered in mud in the Main Hotel Lobby - BY A GUEST’ (For the record that was not very funny that morning but is HILARIOUS now looking back). Trust me that is not the way the Director of HR at a resort wants to start her day!! I found out that her roommates had moved her to the front of the staff house to wait for the ambulance. When I got there, lying on the ground on a blanket was the most wasted human being I had ever seen and having spent my whole life at Cleves, that is saying a lot. There was talk that she had potentially been drugged by somebody and obviously finding her naked, alone and this wasted in the morning, in the Main Hotel Lobby was bizarre even for Cleves. I tried to wake her up and she head bobbed a few times at me but I couldn’t get one coherent word out of her.

Due to the bizarre 9-1-1 call that was made the OPP were also dispatched. The paramedics arrived, did their assessment and loaded her in the back of the ambulance. This poor girl had just earned the distinction of being labelled ‘the drunkest human being this paramedic had ever seen in his career’ - YIKES. He told me to follow them but that the police would come and the ambulance would pull over so they could brief him. We had just gotten on our way when the cop car came screaming from the other direction, did a U turn and we pulled over. It wasn’t surprising that I knew him. There was some panic with all of us because we didn’t have a clue what had happened to her or how she ended up where she did, in the state she was in or if anything horrific had happened to her. After a brief chat we all headed to the hospital. They put her in a room in emerge and started an IV to get some fluids other than vodka running through her veins and thought it would be a good idea for me to sit in there with her while she came to, lucky me.

At about 9:30 am she opened her eyes and saw me standing beside her bed and said, ‘Where am I?’, I said ‘Where do you think you are?’ She looked around and said ‘In a hospital’ to which I nodded. That was quickly followed by ‘What time is it?’ I replied ‘About 9:30’ - she bolted up in bed and screamed ‘I AM LATE FOR WORK!!!!’ That was immediately followed by me saying ‘Honey, that is the least of your problems right now. What happened?’ Of course she couldn’t remember. The Doctor on duty wanted to run some tests and said she wouldn’t be let out for a few hours so I decided to head back to Cleves and try and figure out what happened and how she ended up where she did, looking like she did.

I spent about 3 hours putting her night together and when I had fully solved the mystery I was relieved and quite frankly highly amused at the same time. The following is the abridged version of what happened.....

It was a Tuesday night so she hopped on the bus to Resort Night. She was underage (not a big surprise) and had excellent fake id that apparently also worked at the LCBO. She and her roommates started priming for their night out almost immediately after they had finished work at Play World that day so she was well on her way before she even got on the bus. When they got there she met up with a bunch of people that she had just graduated high school with (the same school I graduated from - so proud...) so her Cleves friends lost track of her. At the end of the night when the bus was leaving to come back to the resort her roommates tried very hard to get her on the bus but her high school friends wanted her to go back to their cottage with them. They assured everybody they would have her back in the morning in plenty of time for work.

She continued to drink and party at a cottage. At the first sign of daylight the time came to get her back to Cleves. When the boat pulled up at the dock, she fell in the lake, dragged herself up on the dock and proceeded to take her jeans off. They watched her stumble and weave halfway up the dock and then left. Looking up she obviously thought that nice looking cottage (the Main Hotel) would be a perfect spot to have a nap before work so she continued up the path. She bailed in 2 different gardens (hence the mud on the legs, I later saw the ‘body prints’ in the flowers), weaved up the stairs and curled up in front of the fireplace to have a little pre-work nappy.

Her parents were called by the hospital and they showed up a few hours later. The Dad tried to give blame me for the events of the night. He couldn’t believe his underage daughter was allowed to go to the bar. I pointed out that she was an adult and if she was old enough to work at Cleves she was going to be the one doing the babysitting for the summer, not me. Even though I am sure he didn’t appreciate my answer, the argument ended after I said that.

She didn’t come back to work at Cleves that year. It turns out that the ‘lab tests showed some irregular numbers in her liver screening...’. A few days later they came back up, packed up her stuff and moved her out. I don’t think she actually had ‘liveritis’... I think she had ‘humiliateditis’. Imagine the man who originally found her curled up in front of the fireplace going back to his wife and kids after picking up his paper and telling that story!!! That gave a whole new meaning to ‘Dirty’ Dancing.

DON'T JUDGE A BOOK....

Like most people when I was a kid I really didn’t like it when my Mom told me what to do. The sad thing is that in every single instance she was right. She and I have talked many times about specific things she told me not to do when I was a kid and I did them anyway just to prove her wrong. It always ended up backfiring in spectacular fashion. The best example I can think of is the day I ran up to the house to ask if I could go to ‘Queen’s Face’ by boat with a bunch of people when I was about 12. She said I could go with them but under no circumstance was I to jump off. Obviously that was the wrong thing to say to me. (Thanks Rand!!)

The boat pulled up to the dock at the church and I was one of the first up that rock. It was pretty high so I carefully stepped down to a lower platform and hurled myself off the ‘nose’ with reckless abandon and landed with a big splash. It was completely exhilarating! I quickly climbed up on the dock and ran up to jump again. On my step down to the ‘nose’ I lost my footing and SLID THE WHOLE WAY DOWN ON MY SIDE AND LANDED FEET FIRST ON SOME ROCKS!! I have to say I was very lucky that day because even though I did have MAJOR road rash on my thigh that was it. Now I had to think of a great reason why I got hurt because I had promised not to jump (and for the record I haven’t jumped off of that rock since) and I made up this big story about leaning against a railing that broke and I fell on a rock (not bad for a 12 year old). Even though it was a good story Mom and Dad didn’t buy it. I wasn’t grounded but I think my punishment of having to be taken to dinner in the Dining Room being pulled in a wagon because I couldn’t walk was enough. Pride lost = understatement!!

I am sure you all know I have the greatest woman in the world as a mother and I quickly learned after my teenage years when I didn’t think she was ever right, to pay attention to her advice and stories because even though I found it incredibly annoying it turned out she was never, ever wrong. I think she said the expression ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’ many times to me growing up and this little story is why I am so grateful that I eventually went from thinking it was a ridiculous expression to actually taking her advice.

In 1986 a family from Fort Lauderdale where we have vacationed since I was 5, came to Cleves. To make a long story very short it turns out the Dad was originally from Toronto. When they got to the resort Mom and Dad insisted on dragging me up to the table to meet them because they had 2 daughters and one was my age. I had absolutely no interest in meeting what I assumed could only be a stupid, blonde ‘Buffy’ from Florida but I didn’t have a choice so up I went to table #1 kicking and screaming!!! I think all I said was ‘nice to meet you’ while I was thinking ‘get me out of here!!’ For the record she didn’t like me at first either!!

She started dating one of my best friends that worked down at the ski school (oh those ski boys….sigh) and they continued dating over the winter. The next summer she came a week before her family came to Cleves to spend time with him at his cottage. One afternoon I was walking by the ski school heading to the end of the dock and saw her sitting by herself so I swallowed my pride and sat down beside her. I decided I should make some sort of effort to get to know her if she was going to be in his life.

I can honestly say that was a life changing moment. After I sat down we started chatting and I asked how things were going. Her honesty actually surprised me because she said she couldn’t wait until her family arrived because they weren’t getting along at all. She must be okay if she was sharing all of this with me…

Since that day she has been one of my best friends and I am thankful every time we talk or see each other that she is such a huge part of my life. She has lived in Washington DC for 20 years and I have been there to visit many, many times and she and I have had some serious fun together other over the years. I love to get her fired up about American politics and I bring up certain topics just because I know it is going to infuriate her. She is now married and has 10 month old twins. Her husband is amazing. The 3 of us laugh our heads off when we are together and he loves it when I tell him the stories of her prancing around the dock in front of the ski boys in that damned bikini. Thank God for my Mom’s wisdom or else this ‘Cleves Guest’ and our amazing friendship that has lasted 25 years might not have happened!

THE BREAKFAST CLUB

Turning 40 is a pivotal moment in most people’s lives. I actually found turning 30 a lot harder. On my 30th birthday I barely acknowledged the people who called me. I am super lucky to have so many great friends that call on my birthday but that year I just wanted to crawl under the covers and wake up the next day. I can’t explain why turning 40 wasn’t a big deal. Maybe it is because I still feel 20 and not a lot has changed in my life, I am not married, don’t have any kids that I gave birth to (lots of surrogates and god kids though) and I still get to work at Cleves. Actually when I was 20 all of that was true, so I guess absolutely nothing has changed except that I am in bed at 10:30 pm and at the office by about 7:00 am, instead of going out at 10:30 pm and coming home at 7:00 am as my Mom was heading to work announcing what breakfast food there was out her car window!! I have to say those were some fun days. I have been very lucky to spend every summer of my life here and I guess having just opened has made me feel very grateful and nostalgic. Maybe Cleves is Neverland and I get to be Peter Pan!!

I am amazed how so many things that we all used to do, wear, partake in at Cleves back in the 80s just keep coming back around. I wore a pair of plaid shorts the other day to a family dinner and almost everybody there commented on them. I had to laugh, I was dressed exactly like I would have been 25 years ago but I just bought those shorts so apparently plaid is back but obviously so are polo shirts and popped collars. I have to smile when a dining room server comes to work with a popped collar and I casually go up behind them and flatten it!!

I am a little horrified to admit that I like some of the music the staff listens to now. Many of you obviously remember the music we used to listen to at Cleves in the 80’s. Who can forget Rockin’ Roy, everybody’s favourite 70 year old DJ who spun a mean ‘Rock Lobster’, ‘Celebration’, ‘Le Freak’ and ‘Super Freak’ in that adorable plaid suit he used to wear on Wednesday’s Masquerade Nights (don’t worry Masquerade Night will be discussed in great detail some time in the near future!!). How about the summer of 1982 with 'Men at Work', 1983 when ‘Dancing in Heaven’ was all the rage or in 1989 when all we played was ‘The Hip’ but most people hadn’t had the pleasure of hearing them yet! I am sure if I looked hard enough I could find my mixed tapes full of Duran Duran, Howard Jones, New Order, The Thompson Twins, INXS, Simple Minds and the Cult. I can’t bring myself to get rid of my CDs even though all of them were put on my iPod years ago. My iPod by the way, is still full of ‘mixes’ they are just in the form of ‘Playlists’ now with titles that all mean something ranging from ‘Almost Forty Something’ to ‘Be Right Back’ (the summer I had my first back surgery in 2006) and the latest one I am filling up called ‘Titanium Rocks’ a tribute to the success of the last back surgery!!

One of my New Years Resolutions this year was to scan all of my photos into my computer. Believe me that is not an easy undertaking. I have about 20 albums to plow through and I am not even close to being finished but the entire process has brought back some amazing Cleves memories and smiles like the aforementioned Masquerade Nights and the Inn on the Bay (lesson learned - how to have the most amount of fun in the biggest dump ever built!!!). I was really comforted to find the pictures of all of us hanging out at the end of the dock day after day. That tradition began when my parents first started working here and it still continues today, the difference is that my parents used iodine in baby oil on their skin and I am sure we used some sort of SPF even if it was just a 2!!!

The new staff just arrived and were trained this week. This is a great time of year for me, the newbies are too scared to cause any problems and are rarely late. For the first year ever the servers will be punching in on the terminals in the dining room. I will really miss the familiar sound of the back door flying open, somebody running to the clock outside my office to punch in for the breakfast shift they are super late for and me yelling ‘I HEARD THAT’ as they shriek and run to work! As the season goes on though the fear fades and I inevitably have to drag some kids into my office to give them shit for some offense they committed. I absolutely love it when they give me this big song and dance about why they did what they did and I just chuckle and say ‘did you not see the name on the door of this office - I wrote that one!!’

...AND THIS ONE IS JUST RIGHT!!

Before I bought my first house, I lived at Mom and Dads. It was actually great. It was super close to Cleves so I could be back down there in a heartbeat if necessary and I had the whole top floor to myself. My room ran along the front of the house facing the road. During the summer months I am in the office pretty early every morning so for those first few years after I became a manager I saw some amazing things out my window as I was getting ready in the morning. Many days I would see somebody walking up or down the road from Dodds past the house before 6:30 am. It was super obvious that they were sheepishly looking out the corner of their eyes to see if anybody was awake at the Cornell house. Every time I saw somebody walking very quickly up or down that road I quietly opened one of my bedroom windows and screamed at the top of my lungs ‘YOU ARE DOING THE WALK OF SHAME AND YOU ARE SO BUSTED!!!’ The person in question would always scream and bolt. That never got old.

A few years ago the mother of all ‘Walks of Shame’ happened. It was my day off and at about 10:30 am my phone rang. I could tell it was the office calling, which is not a surprise because I don’t think a day off goes by when at least one person doesn’t call me about something, which I am totally fine with. I answered the phone to Ted’s voice, which actually was very strange and he said ‘I don’t mean to alarm you and I waited as long as possible before I called but we can’t find “Erin”’ (again I have changed the name...). Now I am panicking. Erin was a department manager and was NEVER late, not once in the many seasons she worked at Cleves. I started my usual round of ‘filling in the blanks for somebody the day after’ questioning. Yes he had talked to lots of people she was with the night before and she had gone missing somewhere between a cottage close by and Cleves. I could feel my heart racing and actually thought about when I should call my OPP friend to start getting serious about this. Ted just wanted me to know what was going on and promised he would keep me posted.

To say the next hour was a very long one would be an understatement but he did call me to say that Erin had arrived at work and was being pretty quiet about what had happened. The story about what had happened was eventually told and it went something like this.... It was getting late and the cottage she and a bunch of other Cleves staff were at was really close by. Nobody was in any condition to drive but nobody else was ready to leave yet either. She really wanted to sleep in her own bed so she decided to walk back to Cleves alone. About 15 minutes after she started her hike back to the resort it started to pour rain. She was a lot closer to the cottage she had just left then she was to Cleves so she turned around and headed back. When she got back to the cottage all of the lights were off because everybody had gone to bed so she quietly went in and just crashed on the couch in the living room.

Imagine how horrified she was when she opened her eyes the next morning to find a blanket on her while she lay on a couch she didn’t recognize, in a cottage she didn’t recognize, in front of a family she didn’t recognize....she had gone in the wrong cottage and crashed... It almost killed me to wait several days to call her and ask if Goldilocks would come and see me in my office and that I hoped the pink leather chair in there was just right!!!