I worked at the Island Lodge in 1976 and 1977. I only worked part time in 1976. But in 1977 I worked full time along with my buddy Duncan Bell. And one of the benefits of working full time was that we stayed in a sleep cabin at the Lodge. We got paid $10.00 a day plus room and board. Our fellow staff members included Laurie and Coralie Cook, Nancy Lunham and Karen O’Reilly from the bay. Plus, George and Dave, who were cooks. There was also a guy named Patch who was the dock boy. There were also some older folks that worked there as well.
Duncan and I were on call as needed. So, if guests came in at 10 at night, we would get in the Lodge boat and go to Whitefish Falls to pick them up. We would get them to the island, put their luggage in a wheelbarrow, and take the guests to their cabins. We would chat with them and get them settled in. Sometimes we even got tips! Other duties at the Lodge for Duncan and I included digging worms from the giant worm pit under the lodge, filling boat gas tanks and bailing cedar boats.
We spent our nights and our pay drinking cold duck, baby duck and apple wine with our fellow staff members. Mornings would come way too early, and Bob Phillips would often have to come down to wake us up. He would say in a British accent “wakee wakee, rise and shine…get your little ass out of bed! Because if you don’t you will get a long, tall Sally up your ass!” We would groggily go into the staff dining room, eat breakfast, and commence with digging worms.
The staff got the hours of 2-4pm off every day as the guests were usually out fishing. One nice sunny day in mid-August I thought it would be a great idea to take my fellow staff members up to Mussel Beach. So, we gassed up the Lodge boats, filled coolers with ice and headed to the beach. We had a glorious time! When we returned, I climbed up onto the ladder and resumed painting the front of the Lodge, which was my chore for that day. Bob and Kris had gone to Sudbury that day to buy supplies for the Lodge. When they got back, I told Bob what a great time we had at the beach, and I wish they had been there. He replied, “that’s nice” and off he went. But some of the older staff members ratted me out and told him what a terrible thing it was that I had done. So Bob called me into his office and said since I had organized the “Staff Frolic” he had no choice but to fire me. So that was the end of my career at the Island Lodge.
Submitted by Bobby Dobbins
Bay Of Islands Community Association