Mazama Lodge

Volunteers at Mazama Lodge

by Julia Williams, Mazama Lodge Vice Chair, and Brook Harris, Mazama Lodge Chair.

My, oh my, have we rolled our sleeves up virtually and in-person to get ready to welcome you back! Over the past year, a whole host of volunteers has worked tirelessly to help reopen Mazama Lodge—and we would like to say a huge THANK YOU!

The Mazama Lodge lives in one of the most extreme environments on the planet. This year our home on the mountain resisted record snowfall, intense wildfires and dense smoke, and several significant wind events. All of that in addition to floods, extended power outages, and so much more. Regardless, a host of vigilant volunteers helped keep it safe, and maintained the building during our long closure. A huge debt of gratitude is owed to William Emerson, Joe Fox, Seeger Fisher, and Julia Williams, who marshalled the lodge through one of its most challenging years—and from one major weather emergency to the next.

This winter, a call went out for volunteers to join a Lodge Task Force, specifically to work on standards and best practices for re-opening the lodge in a way that would be both safe and accommodating to our visitors. They also came together in person to rearrange the lodge according to state safety protocols, which was no small task. Jessica Zahnow, Rebecca Demorest, Tom Miller, Brian Heh, Joe Fox, Bruce Foulke, Julia Williams, Shannon Wages, Harry Frost, Eric Einspruch, and Susan Koch are a big reason why we can all enter the Lodge feeling safe this summer. For their time, patience, and commitment to the lodge, we cannot possibly thank them enough.

Our faithful Lodge Committee has also been an outstanding support as we journey toward reopening. The committee has met monthly to set the course of the Lodge, both short- and long-term. Bob Stayton was extremely generous in donating two cords of wood so we can enjoy our beloved fireplace, and Richard Sandefur has given so much of his time to adding new heaters, and fixing all of our electrical areas of opportunity, that it is odd when he is not around. Thanks to our committee, we are able to look forward to a bright future filled with familiar traditions and new adventures.

Beyond these groups, we have also hosted several work days. During our basement reorganization day, Rex Breunsbach and Alice Brocoum cleaned and organized the tool room and scrubbed, rearranged, sorted, and mapped out our kitchen storage. Jessica and

Julia fully emptied, organized, and threw away half a room full of unneeded and unusable items. Richard Sandefur, in addition to always being next to whomever needed a hand, removed the old electric wires hanging above the approach trail. Many of these wires were tangled in downed trees up and down the trail. Our basement is now organized, clean, and ready for visitors again. This small and mighty team accomplished an overwhelming amount of work that day and our hearts belong to them forever for it.

The next task at hand was fully gutting, sorting through, and cleaning the kitchen. Thankfully we had Crystal Shum, Eric Miller, Sohaib Haider, Jeremiah Biddle, Sheri Dover, and Lee Trautman who showed up like superheroes and worked for many, many hours to get the kitchen ready for Kiki, our new lodge manager, to settle in and feed us all. We would not have been able to open this soon without them, and we are so in awe of the time and elbow grease they put into washing every dish, utensil, appliance, and every square inch of the kitchen—truly amazing!

Most recently we held our annual spring work day, during which we sanitized all beds, organized and stacked two cords of firewood, rebuilt wood racks, and cleaned up the downed and broken signs and snow fencing from all around the lodge. Crystal, Sheri Dover, Brian Arthur, Bob Stayton, Lee Trautman, Mark Hufnail, and Brendan Scanlan, put in a full day and accomplished every item on our list and more.

All along, the Mazama staff has been our partner, with Kelsey Shaw, Claire Nelson, Laura Burger, Mathew Brock, and Brendan Scanlen providing support throughout the year to organize meetings, arrange vendor work, and so much more. An extra special thank you to Sarah Bradham our Acting Executive Director, who has been an amazing partner in every step of this journey from closure in March of 2020 to today.

The last, and perhaps most important person to thank, is our new Lodge Manager, Kiki Sherard. Kiki has only been at the Lodge a few weeks, and has made an incredible impact through the nearly dawn to dusk work she has put in. From setting up the kitchen, feeding volunteers, and coordinating with all of our vendors, Kiki has taken the whole Mazama Lodge business on her shoulders. For that effort, we are truly grateful.

I hope as you read this, you will consider joining the many volunteers who support the Mazama Lodge. You can join our Friends of the Lodge email list to keep up to date, as well as see upcoming and regular volunteer opportunities on the Mazama Lodge page on mazamas.org. In addition to regular work days, we’d love your help with the day-to-day of the Lodge, including hosting our guests, supporting in the kitchen, and any of the many projects that keep the Lodge running.

We are so excited to say “the Mazama Lodge is open”— and we could not have done it without our volunteers, our committees and task forces, the Mazama staff, and of course Kiki, who every day continue to give their time, energy, and passion, to help us open our doors.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Visit mazamas.org/mazamalodge, to make your reservation today. All of us look forward to welcoming you and all of our membership and guests up to the Lodge this summer!

KIKI SHERARD, MAZAMA LODGE MANAGER

Kiki Sherard has a diverse background in Culinary Arts, Product Development, and Natural Foods. Originating from the Midwest, Kiki has lived in Oregon off and on for 17-years. She’s an avid volunteer and has a serious obsession with making pies. Kiki comes to the Mazamas with a wealth of experience that will be put to great use at our mountain lodge. She was a founder of Emergency Communities and organized kitchen volunteers to feed 1,500–2,000 people three meals a day, including procuring food, managing the kitchen budget, meal planning, and working with the local communities to host cultural celebrations. Kiki was the Lodge Manager and Event Chef at Abram’s Creek Lodge and Cabins, where she managed the reservations, maintained the lodge space, and organized/planned/prepared the large group meals. Kiki is knowledgeable and adept about dietary restrictions and meal preparation around those restrictions. Some of Kiki’s favorite pastimes are spinning wool, weaving, knitting, fishing, and crabbing. She also can be found rambling through the woods foraging for wild foods and medicines. In the future she plans to steward farmland with a flock of sheep and other fiber animals.

As the new Mazama Manager, I just wanted to send a full heartfelt thank you to all of the volunteers that showed up for the kitchen cleaning Saturday, June 5, and the Lodge Workday on June 12. It was my first exposure to the Mazama community, and I’m so thankful to have met each and every person that showed up. It’s amazing what a collective of dedicated people can accomplish. Thank you all so much for coming to help not only me, but the greater Mazama community by giving some love to the lodge. I appreciate you all greatly and look forward to seeing you again!

All the best,

Kiki

HISTORICAL COLLECTION PRINTS NOW ON SALE!

Are you looking for new artwork for your walls? Looking for a unique gift for a climbing friend or loved one? Do you want to jump start your holiday shopping?

The Mazama Library and Historical Collection recently launched an online storefront where you can buy reprints of images from our collection. Prints are available in three sizes, are printed on archival paper, and proceeds help support the Mazama Library.

Order today at tinyurl.com/LHCimages