My Office, The Treasure Chest

By: Cassandra Sunell

Currently, I am the marketing and social media coordinator for Glacier Park, Inc. (GPI), and my office is located adjacent to GPI’s Grouse Mountain Lodge property in Whitefish, Montana.  I am in a typical office with a computer, desk, corkboard, and an awful relationship with the printer. However, as I look out my window, I can see (literally as I am typing this) a family of deer eating away at the grass. I can also see the eastern tip of Whitefish Mountain Ski Resort in the background, hear the sound of golf balls being hit from the 17th tee-box at Whitefish Lake Golf Course, and smell the wildflowers surrounding the property.

The treasures that lie outside my office are simply remarkable and I don’t take any of them for granted at all, but I have  found great admiration for the treasures inside my office  as well. Upon my first week of working at GPI, I was left a box of historic photos, books, post cards, letters, and other Glacier National Park memorabilia dating before 1913. I use many of these photos for our “Throwback Thursday” posts on our social media platforms, so Wednesdays have become nearly one of my favorite days of the week, as I dive into stories from the past.  I often state that Wednesdays are when I open up the “Treasure Chest.”

One of the photographers, whose album photos date back to the1920s, is Doctor Ector Boscatti.   Dr. Boscatti worked as a Red Bus “Jammer” driver during his summer breaks from the University of Oregon Medical School. From the photos, you can see he climbed nearly every ridge across the park and had some extraordinary journeys with many other drivers and workers from the various lodges. Another “Treasure Chest” find includes a series of postcards that have been addressed to a woman named Ella in Wisconsin, from a gentleman named Ray from Midvale, Montana. It appears he had helped in the construction of Glacier Park Lodge, as he describes the extreme weather building the lodge and then later on tells stories of his backpacking trips and boat rides in 1913.

Looking through the photos and reading the personal stories has been a unique experience, as I  now walk in the same lodges, climb the same trails, and  capture the same photos nearly a century later. It’s mystifying to ponder that those who worked in and around the park, had the same enamor for their jobs and the park’s  remarkable surroundings, but didn’t have the ability to share their experiences like I am able to now via the internet. I have the opportunity every week to reach into my “Treasure Chest” an

d share their stories with the world—stories that may have only been told to a small number of people.

In recent weeks, the development that GPI’s near 32-year contract to operate the concessions in Glacier National Park is not being renewed at the end of this year has come as a shock to many, including myself. We take great pride in the opportunity we’ve had to work at many of Glacier National Park’s properties—it has been an honor. The loss is disappointing; however, moving forward, we are excited to continue making long-lasting memories as the “Gateway to Glacier” at GPI’s many owned lodges and properties in and around the national park—Grouse Mountain Lodge, the Princes of Wales Hotel, Glacier Park Lodge, St. Mary Lodge, Cabins and Motel, and the Stewart Hotel—so that a century from now, someone else at GPI will have a “Treasure Chest” to dig through on Wednesdays. 

Grouse Mountain Lodge Location Chef Position

The position of Location Chef for Grouse Mountain Lodge will be posted until 5pm on Friday, August 23, 2013. Interested and qualified candidates should complete the Position Opportunity Application and attach a current resume, and return to me no later than the 23^rd.  

This opportunity is based out of Grouse Mountain Lodge, and is a full-time, year-round position.  Full benefits (medical, dental, vision, 401(k), vacation, sick time, holidays) are included.

Apply for this position by filling out the online job application: 

https://external-glacierpark-viad.icims.com/jobs/2427/location-chef-%28grouse%29/login

Job Description

Overview

Oversees Kitchen staff to ensure a quality guest and staff dining experience. Must operate in a timely and ethical fashion while adhering to recipes, standards, safety, and food cost guidelines. Work directly with the F&B support staff in a positive manner to ensure all GPI sanitation regulations and requirements are met. Must assist in other departments and do related work as required.

Responsibilities

Conducts regular physical inventories of food supplies and provides inventory to Executive Chef upon request.

Delegates responsibilities of production and communicates proper instructions to staff.

Follows up to ensure completion. Enforces all Company policies and regulations.

Establishes controls to minimize food and supply waste and theft.

Maintains pre-set budgets in labor and food costs with the help of Corporate staff members.

Manages (plans, directs, schedules, supervises, evaluates, rewards and disciplines) all tasks performed by Kitchen staff.

Generates prep list for each station.

Must complete all paperwork assigned by the Executive Chef.

Maintains Food Safety logs.

Must spend at least 50% of each shift working in a designated kitchen position.

Will rotate work schedule through all shifts, and will work a minimum of 2 evening shifts per week. Oversees ALL deliveries for accuracy with Storeroom Manager and completes paperwork deemed necessary by the Executive Chef.

Participates in all GPI Health Inspections and QA Inspections.

Plans and organizes daily production levels according to forecasts of covers per meal period.

Produces a quality product in a timely fashion for guests and employees.

Responsible for the implementation of menus for hotel Dining Room and Employee Dining Room (EDR).

Presents creative daily specials for the Dining Room.

Trains, instructs, and motivates seasonal staff in proper knife handling, sanitation, safety, food preparation, and guest and staff satisfaction.

Works directly with the General  Manager to ensure positive employee morale.

Works with the Executive Chef on all aspects (menus, ordering, set-up, etc.) of special events.

Qualifications

3-5 years executive chef experience required within a hotel or restaurant setting.

Must have a strong background in sanitation and pass GPI Sanitation class.

Serve Safe Sanitation Certificate required.

Culinary degree preferred or equivalency in work experience.

Good organization and communication skills required.

Must give instructions clearly and precisely and follow up in a reasonable amount of time.

Must be able to manage under pressure when necessary.

Must be able to physically operate all kitchen equipment

Must be able to work at a competent level in all kitchen positions.

Must be able to write clearly and precisely.

Must be knowledgeable in plate presentation – depth, flavor and guest needs.

Must be team-oriented, positive, and upbeat.

Must have experience in food costing, kitchen accounting, scheduling, production standards, and creation of a quality product.

Must have knowledge of food and labor cost controls.

Must have the ability to supervise and train employees, to include organizing, prioritizing, and scheduling work assignments.

Strong interpersonal skills required.

Must be pleasant, helpful, friendly, outgoing, enthusiastic and courteous in dealing with co-workers.

Work Environment

Job requires standing for long periods of time, walking, bending, handling, reaching, grasping, lifting 50 lbs., and repetitive motions.

Kitchen environment may have times of high noise levels.

Kitchen  in a historic hotel. Climate control equipment may or may not be present.

Non-smoking environment.

Varied hours, split shifts, holidays, AM and PM shifts required.

https://external-glacierpark-viad.icims.com/jobs/2427/location-chef-%28grouse%29/login

Top 10 Favorite Hikes in Glacier Park: Voted by our Facebook Fans

In May, we asked our Facebook followers "What's your favorite hike in Glacier National Park?"  Here’s the list of the top ten hikes our followers voted for:

10.  Gunsight Pass - This 20.6 mile hike begins at the Jackson Glacier overlook and ends at Lake McDonald Lodge.  This can either be a full day hike or it can also be split by camping along various campgrounds along the way or with a stay at Sperry Glacier Chalet and a side trip can be taken to view Sperry Glacier.  

Photo by ouachitamaps.com

 9.  Medicine Grizzly Lake – A scenic 6.2 mile hike that begins in Cut Bank and is settled in the basin below Triple Divide Peak.  George Bird Grinell coined the term “Crown of the Continent” from the streams that flow into the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic Oceans that are sourced from Triple Divide Peak. 

Photo by summitpost.org

8.  Dawson Pass – This hike is known to be strenuous, but is one of the most scenic in the park.  This hike begins at Two Medicine Lake and can begin by crossing the lake by boat to the other most western side of the lake.  After crossing the Continental Divide over Dawson Pass, one can continue to Pitamakan Pass, looping back to Two Medicine for a 14.8 mile loop or by retracing their steps back for a 9.4 mile round-trip.

Photo by hikinginglacier.com

7.  Ptarmigan Tunnel – This trailhead begins at the Swiftcurrent Motor Inn and is a 10.7 mile round-trip, passing Ptarmigan Falls and Ptarmigan Lake.  The 240-foot Ptarmigan Tunnel was originally built for horses and early park tours by the Civilian Conservation Corp in the 1930's.

Photo by hikinginglacier.com

6.  Avalanche Lake - This hike is one of the most traveled trails in the park, due to its location that is at the head of the Going-to-the-Sun road and opens before a majority of the other trails do in the park.  The hike passes through the Trail of the Cedars, and is rated as a moderate 4.5 mile round-trip hike. 

 

Photo by Flickr

5.  Siyeh Pass Trail – This strenuous, yet rewarding 8.4 mile trek begins about 2 miles east of Logan’s Pass and gives excellent views of Preston Park, which is a popular location for grizzlies.  The mountain and the pass were named by George Bird Grinnell for a Blackfoot Indian by the name of "Sai-yeh," which in the Blackfeet language means Crazy Dog, or Mad Wolf.

Photo by dennis-ernst-blogs.blogspot.com

4.  Cracker Lake - This 12.6 mile hike begins at Many Glacier Hotel and can be accessed by way of horse or by foot.  Glacial silt gives this lake its unique aqua hue and is surrounded by multi-colored mountain where you can still see an old mining site if you choose to take a side adventure.

www.artflakes.com

3.  Grinnell Glacier – This 7.6 mile trip is a great way for hikers to be up close to a glacier in the park.  The trailhead begins at Many Glacier Hotel, where you can reduce your hike by 3.4 miles by taking a shuttle boat across Swiftcurrent Lake and Lake Josephine before beginning your ascent to the glacier.

Photo by Glacier Park, Inc.

2.  Highline Loop -  The most popular route of this trail, is the 11.6 loop that begins at Logan’s Pass and follows along the bottom of the Garden Wall, through Granite Park, and finally descending to the “The Loop” where hikers can take a shuttle back to their vehicle at Logan’s Pass.

Photo by Glacier Park, Inc.

1.  Iceberg Lake -  This iconic and popular 9.7 mile hike begins at Swiftcurrent Motor Inn and follows the same path towards the Ptarmigan Tunnel.  This lake is surrounded by towering peaks, thus reducing sunlight to the lake allowing for the ice and snow to the edges of the lake shore and cliff walls, resembling icebergs. 

Photo by visitmt.com

The Great Northern/Panama Connection

By:  Cassandra Sunell

John F. Stevens, Explorer of Marias Pass

It may not seem like the connection between the Panama Canal and Glacier National Park would overlap or play a large role, however, the same ingenuity that would be used to create a passageway through the country of Panama was the same used to build a railway through one of the most challenging passes over the Continental Divide—eventually becoming the gateway to Glacier National Park.  John Frank Stevens, an explorer and engineer, was both the chief engineer for one of the Seven Wonders, the Panama Canal and also discovered the passageway through one of the most notably difficult routes through the Rocky Mountains, Marias Pass.

Nearly a century since the completion of the canal and after my ancestors worked for the Panama Canal building the foundation for my family’s homestead in Panama City, I now work marketing the fruits of John Steven’s work as a social media and marketing coordinator for Glacier Park Inc.  I have lived nearly my entire life in the Flathead Valley, but not until my recent Red Bus Tour did I find out that John Stevens was both the engineer for the Great Northern Railway and the Panama Canal

Enjoying the views of Glacier Park

John Stevens was born in Maine in 1853, and after he finished schooling he spent 15 years working his way from City Engineer’s Office, to surveying and building railroads, and gaining experience as a self-taught engineer.  Stevens became a principal assistant engineer for the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway in 1886 and was then hired on by James J. Hill as a locating engineer for the Great Northern Railway, and was placed in charge of the Rocky Mountain reconnaissance in 1889 where he discovered Marias Pass. 

The history of discovering Marias Pass had stretched over decades before Mr. Stevens would be able to find this unsearchable passageway across the Continental Divide.  After the territory of Washington was created, a railway survey crew was sent to explore the Northern zone, connecting the headwaters of the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean.  A team led by Major Isaac Stevens to find the best route to the Pacific through the mountains in 1853, ended one year later after funds for the project were discontinued and Marias Pass would be placed on hold for the next thirty years.  That would be until John Frank Stevens would almost single-handedly discover the elusive Marias Pass in the winter of 1889. 

Stevens set out to the summit with a team of mules, snow-shoes, and a local Flathead Native Indian guide.  In the midst of the exploration, Stevens was forced to abandon the mules and eventually his local guide in camps in order to proceed to the summit.  On December 11, 1889, Stevens made a reconnaissance through Marias Pass.  This night Stevens was forced to tramp through the deep snow all night in order to survive the 40-degree below temperature. 

In the first annual report to Great Northern stockholders in the summer of 1890, Hill announced that “An extremely favorable pass over the main range of the Rocky Mountains has been found for this line, permitting a maximum grade, on the eastern approach, of 52.8 feet per mile, no tunnel being necessary.  In 1891, completion of the Great Northern Railway allowed for people to settle near Marias Pass, and on January 6^th 1893, the Transcontinental line laid its final spike finally connecting to the Pacific Ocean.  In 1910, President William Taft signed the bill creating Glacier National Park and two years later in 1912, construction began on hotels and chalets in and around Glacier Park, connecting travelers by way of train into the heart of Glacier Park.   

During this time, Stevens would be appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt as the chief engineer for the Panama Canal from 1905-1907, where he would argue for the necessity of a dam system with locks to raise and lower ships from one ocean to the other, he aided in the rebuilding of the canal’s worker infrastructure better facilitating the ease of recruitment of workers from the U.S., and the rebuilding of the Panama Railway.  Stevens’ experience with Great Northern Railway, prepared him for the rebuilding and upgrading of the new Panama Railroad that would serve primarily as a massive earth-moving project, but to also transport workers, supplies, equipment, and commercial freight and passengers to and from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.  Stevens resigned in 1907 when work changed primarily to canal and lock construction.

Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal

John Stevens’ resourcefulness linked the world by way of the Panama Canal, allowing for the ease in transportation and travel by connecting the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, avoiding the long and arduous trip around the southern tip of South America.  Also, he linked the northern-most parallel of North American continent by creating a passageway through the dangerous Rocky Mountains, which would also serve as the channel that would unite tourists to the “Crown of the Continent” – Glacier National Park.  Millions of people around the world have benefited or been affected from these great engineering feats, and as tribute to his works, when crossing the Continental Divide by the Northern Railway, a traveler will now pass by the bronze statue of John F. Stevens at the very location he discovered Marias Pass.

Commemorative bronze statue of John Stevens at Marias Pass

Find Your Favorite Glacier Park Photos on Flickr!

By popular demand, we have created albums on Flickr to accommodate the downloading of some of your favorite pictures including, Facebook Cover Images, Desktop Wall Images, and Historic Photos of Lodges in Glacier Park.  Follow us on Flickr to easily find and download some of your favorite photos from Glacier Park: http://www.flickr.com/photos/98272794@N05/sets/

July 2013 Calendar and Desktop Wallpapers

To download the desktop wallpaper calendar, just follow these simple steps to get this wallpaper on your computer:

Click on whatever aspect ratio your monitor uses (16x9 or 4x3) and the picture will enlarge.
Right click (or ctrl click on a mac) and select the option "Save image as..." This will allow you to save it to your desktop or where ever is handy.
Locate the image you just saved on your computer, open it and right click on the image. Select "Set as desktop background" and you're finished!

If you need a different size to fit your desktop properly, please leave a note in the comments and we'll add that size to the options.

Food and Beverage Manager at Grouse Mountain

FOOD & BEVERAGE MANAGER (GROUSE LODGE, WHITEFISH)

Overview:

Maintains high quality standards in food & beverage services, safety and sanitation.  Strives to increase revenues and decrease costs. Gives personal best in service while demonstrating commitment to guest satisfaction and positive employee and company relations. 

Responsibilities:

1. Provides direction and flow of dining room service, bar service and all banquet functions
2. Manages (plans, directs, schedules, supervises, evaluates, rewards and disciplines) all work done by a staff of 15-30 throughout the dining room, bar and banquet department
3. Provides ongoing training for employees, including operations, computer system and responsible beverage service
4. Takes fast and appropriate action to solve problems and handles all guest and employee concerns in a professional courteous and tactful manner.
5. Is able to assist or take the place of any staff member when necessary
6. Provides solid examples of appearance, guest service and integrity
7. Ensures standards of appearance and sanitation are maintained on a daily basis
8. Ensures that all service & banquet areas are clean and well maintained
9. Holds daily pre-shift meeting and weekly department manager meetings
10. Enforces all company policies and regulations to ensure good safety practices of employees and guests throughout department
11. Responsible for following federal and state policies and regulation for serving alcoholic beverages in a responsible manner
12. Ensures dining room, bar and banquet goals are being met by maintaining effective cost and portion control
13. Responsible for the ordering, receipt and storage of all Dining Room equipment including (but not limited to) china, sliver, paper, banquet items, uniforms, menus, etc. to ensure a minimum loss from waste or theft
14. Responsible for ordering, receipt and storage of all alcohol inventories and bar equipment.
15. Maintains time cards daily, records overtime, and is responsible for monthly profit and loss statements.  Completes nightly reports.  Reviews food and beverage sales daily. Adjusts scheduling according to labor and sales figures.
16. Maintains line of communication between dining room, kitchen and other departments. 
17. Responsible for designing and implementing sales goals and incentive programs
18. Collects currency and keeps accurate account for control.  Give receipt with every transaction.
19. Ensures that all daily reports are sent to Corporate Food and Beverage offices, i.e. labor, sanitation, void reports.
20. Participates in monthly inventory for all Dining Room and Bar items
21. Handles all employee issues in a professional, courteous and tactful manner
22. Complies with all policies and procedures set forth by Glacier Park Inc.

Qualifications:

·         2-4 years of college, hospitality management or related experience required

·         2-4 years management experience preferably in a hotel, restaurant, banquet setting required

·         Must have in depth, functional experience of service and standards

·         Restaurant serving, bartending/cocktail experience required 

·         Hospitality/POS system experience preferred

·         Must have working knowledge of kitchen functions and time management

·         Must have knowledge of food, liquor and labor cost controls

·         Must be pleasant, helpful, friendly, outgoing, enthusiastic and courteous in dealing with guests and co-workers

·         Must exhibit strong interpersonal, leadership, verbal and written communication skills. 

·         Must be able to work varied shifts including holidays

·         Must be 18 years of age or older

Work Environment:

·         Hotel Dining & Banquet atmosphere

·         Non smoking environment

To apply:

https://external-glacierpark-viad.icims.com/jobs/2855/food-%26-beverage-manager-%28grouse-lodge%2c-whitefish%29/login