Our Job

We worked as Campus Hosts for the Schoodic Institute (https://schoodicinstitute.org/), a former Naval Base, on the Schoodic Peninsula, which is part of Acadia National Park. Since we are on an actual campus and provide interface with guests after the Welcome Center closes, we are required to live in one of their 2-bedroom apartments. We worked 4 days on and then had 4 days off, while another couple worked the other 4 days. Our term of “employment” was August 1 until the Welcome Center closed toward the end of October. There were two other couples who worked from mid-May through the end of July. Our particular job requested that only couples apply, but what they are really looking for are units of two people who would share an apartment and work the Welcome Center at the same time. We applied for our job as a couple or unit. I had to write a resume for Tom and Jeanne Lounsbury…that was interesting.

NOTE: We were NOT campground hosts and while we had the rig with us at Schoodic, we did not stay in the rig.

We open the Welcome Center at 10:00 AM and close it at 5:00 PM. But our Welcome Center represents more than just the national park aspect of Schoodic Point, it represents the Schoodic Institute (SI), which is one of 20 Research Learning Centers within the national park system that focus on climate change related to the national park. There is active research centered out of the SI, as well as educational classes and seminars and a variety of other nature-related interests to include art classes, astronomy nights, sea kayaking conferences as well as hosting Acadia NP special visitors.

Daily Duties

As I mentioned previously, we mostly visit with people coming into the Welcome Center and answer their questions. After Tom greets most visitors at the door and gives them an overview of our Welcome Center, they ask…

• Where is the trail head for the Sun Dew Trail? We whip out our photocopy of our campus and get to use a bright yellow highlighter to lead them to the trail heads. Yes, I love the yellow highlighter!
• Did Rockefeller live in this building? What is the story being this building? While we both can cite the history of our building and this area, Tom is particularly enthusiastic and entertaining with this information. Visitors LOVE his stories!
• What are those big red berries on this plant or what is this bird (shows a photo from their cell phone)? – This is my specialty where I either know off the top of my head or I get to start digging through some of our plant/bird identification books or my apps on my phone.
• Where can we get a meal? Where is the best lobster roll? That can be challenging as we are relatively remote and many of our restaurants have odd hours, different days off and keep closing due to staffing issues. So, we made a flyer for the basic hours.
• Can our child participate in the Junior Ranger Program? YES!! I love the Junior Ranger Program as was able to swear in about 50 Junior Rangers.
• Where can we see a moose? Pretty much impossible, but my cousin and her husband did see one as they left the Schoodic Peninsula one morning.
• Where can I see a porcupine? On our campus, especially after it rains or in the evening.
• Can I buy a _________? Yes, we also sell a variety of National Park, Acadia NP and Schoodic Pennisula related items in our mini-bookstore.

We ask our visitors questions as well, mostly, “Where are you from?” and “Is this your first time out to the Peninsula?”. This gets people talking. One of the biggest benefits of being in this more remote area of Acadia National Park is that it is MUCH QUIETER and we don’t get nearly as many visitors as the Mount Desert Island side of Acadia NP. So, we usually have time to really visit with the folks that come in and these folks are usually quite interesting.

Tom tends to take care of the extra campus-based chores such as picking up recycling, setting up additional signage for events, putting out the OPEN flag at the entrance, which requires him to buzz around in the “Gem” and super-sized golf cart, which I think he really likes. He has the opportunity to meet more of the folks who work on campus, which makes us feel a lot more friendly and connected here.

Unexpected Benefits

We get to live in one of the most beautiful places on earth and experience every day. As Tom likes to say, our hardest decision each day we work is deciding which direction to take on our morning walk before we head into the Rockefeller Welcome Center to open it for visitors at 10:00 AM. Right, we head up to Schoodic Point for a 1.3-mile round trip walk or left, we head over to Blueberry Hill for a 1.8-mile round trip walk. There’s always the Sun Dew Trail that is a 1.5 mile walk through our campus and around the tip of Schoodic Peninsula or a 9-mile bike ride on the Schoodic Loop for a full scenic view of all our options of beauty on Schoodic Peninsula.