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Meet The Staff!
Dave & Barb Kaldahl
Dave has been around Fair Hills all of his life and has seen thousands of staff members come and go! His grandpa Ed bought Fair Hills in 1926. Chester, Dave's father, ran the resort until Dave took it over. Dave loves music, especially singing. He is the "main guy" for all the Barbershop Quartets at the resort and can sing all four of the parts of all the songs! He can also play any of the saxophone parts in the bad or sometimes the bass drum. He and his wife, Barb Burd Kaldahl, spend their springs, summers and falls at the resort and head south for the winters. They they canoe, sail, play tennis and spend time with their friends. Dave can be seen opening up the lobby everyday at 6am and then cooking eggs for breakfast in the kitchen. You might also see him plumbing, putting chairs together, putting in and taking out docks, remodeling cabins, cutting down trees, repairing anything in sight and sometimes even playing the washtub bass in the Hootenanny! Dave remembers cutting ice out of the lake in the winter to keep the food cold all summer and when the resort had its own ice cream factory and electric generator.
Barb has been at Fair Hills for 55+ years. She, like Dave, is a Concordia Cobber. She has done almost every job at the resort including, recreation but is now famous for the 7:00am walk and "Bobbin' with Barb" water aerobics. She is the best critic of the Hoots (because she has seen so many) and is at almost every talent show cheering everyone on. She likes canoeing, playing tennis, the warm summers in Minnesota and the much warmer winters in Florida.
Dave & Barb are the parents of Steve, Beth, Lisa and Dan.
Beth Kaldahl Schupp
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Beth is the general manager of Fair Hills. She grew up here, and even fell in love and married one of the guests, Dan Schupp. Like her mom and dad, she graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead, then moved to Duluth, Minneapolis, and eventually ended up in Mason City, Iowa, before returning to Fair Hills several years ago. Beth is also big in the "music scene" at Fair Hills. She's a great sport and game for almost anything. You can find her playing trombone, singing in the hootenanny, putting photos up on the Fair Hills websites, and making lattes. She even flops in the bellyflop contest! In the winter her family lives in Detroit Lakes, and in the summer, they are in the famous "Blue House" at the end of the resort.
Beth & Dan Schupp
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Beth and Dan have 6 kids, Emily, Charlie, Margaret, Nan, Carolyn, and Andy, and Willson the dog.
Charlie is married to Anna and they are expecting twins in February 2012!
From left: Anna, Charlie, Carolyn, Dan, Beth, Margaret, Emily, Mariana, & Andrew
Lisa
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Lisa is one of the Fair Hills backbones. Raised at the resort, she knows where almost everything is, and how it is supposed to be, when done correctly. She can do most everything from driving the Bobcat, to taking in the docks and boatlifts each fall. You can find her here every morning driving the walkers on the Big Pelican and checking to make sure that the pools are all working correctly. She is also in charge of the flowers around the resort. Quite an entrepreneur, she owns Coco's, a great gift shop in downtown Vergas! She lives at Five Lakes Resort.
Steve
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Steve is the oldest of the Kaldahl "kids." He started working here (well, if you called it "working") when he was just a wee child doing just about everything from pony rides to cooking (he went to chef school). Several years ago, he decided to "retire" and then decided that retirement didn't suit him so well, so now he's back at Fair Hills and is in charge of the lawn maintenance crew. He lives a few miles from the resort. Steve, who previously was of our "extreme sport" guy, loving skiing and all sorts of other adventures, has now calmed down a little bit and can tell you many stories about Fair Hills life in the 1970's and 1980's.
Garnet
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A long time resident of Detroit Lakes, Garnet joined the Fair Hills team in 1994. Garnet is our "Reservation Lady" and figures out who is in which of our 100 cabins for all of the spring, summer and fall! She loves being part of the social activities in Detroit Lakes during the year. Her husband, Red, works in Michigan. Her daughter, Krista, worked at the resort back in the 1980's. Garnet has 2 children and 3 grandchildren.
Larry
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Larry started at Fair Hills when he was a junior in high school, and has been coming and going ever since. Larry directs the hootenanny, puts together the talent show, does the family campfire program and is in charge of the recreation programs at the resort. He grew up on a farm just 8 miles from the resort, and graduated from Concordia College. Now he lives between Mexico City, Mexico, and Minnesota.
During the rest of the year he has his own company called Noel International. Larry does training programs for companies in the area of team building, and doing programs in schools as an "Artist in Residence" with music and cultural diversity programs. He has released 3 CDs of kids music (of course, you can find them in the Fair Hills Store). He also does a bit of motivational speaking, too. Anyone ready for the Wide Mouth Frog or Willie Hitt?
Cheryl
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Cheryl is the Queen of the Fair Hills Kitchen. She started here as a teenager in 1975 as a cook and never left. Her teacher was the famous Loretta Warren, who hired her at Fair Hills, and who trained her to serve us all the delicious, not-so-low calorie Fair Hills food! When she is not at Fair Hills, she and her family run a farm. They raise the best strawberries in the area, as well as many other fruits and vegetables that they sell at a stand on the highway and at the Farmer's Market in Detroit Lakes. Cheryl and Larry have 5 children and 4 grandchildren. She loves Karaoke, and has a few favorite songs that she sings in the Ogema area in her spare time.
Lez
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Lez is our Fair Hills Dining Room Hostess with the Mostest! She started at Fair Hills in the 1980's and has been coming back every summer since. If you are up early enough, you might catch this "Motorcycle Mama" riding to work on her motorcycle. In the winter she lives in Crested Butte, Colorado, working at the ski resorts. In the summer she is here at Fair Hills making sure everyone is happy in the dining room. Lez is very active in her church group. She and her husband, Jeff, have one son named Jace.
Patty
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Patty is our head housekeeper. She works with a crew of "ladies" who have been around here for years, and lots of our new younger staff, too, showing them how to clean your cabins, make the beds, wash the windows...everything you have to do at home, but what you DON'T have to do at Fair Hills. (Yes, she is part of the reason that Fair Hills is a vacation for everyone in the family!) Patty started working here in the 1980's with some of the famous housekeepers of Fair Hills, including Lilian Eidenschink and Hilda Erickson, where she learned from the best! Patty has actually improved their methods of housekeeping here at Fair Hills. Some evenings, Patty helps out in the steam line in the kitchen, making sure that the food is served fast and hot for the guests. Her husband, Randy, even worked as a dishwasher up in the kitchen for a few years. Between the two of them, they have 17 children, two of whom have worked at Fair Hills.
Suzy "Ya Ya Baker"
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Her real last name is Pavlish, but when Suzy started working here in the 1970's, she worked in the bakery department of the resort, so we called her Suzy Baker. And the name stuck! And when Cheryl Hoban's real maiden name was Baker, we just continue to call them sisters! Suzy is from Bejou, Minnesota, and spends winters with her family in Arizona. She was also one of Loretta Warren's students, and has brought her cooking skills to the resort for many, many years. She is always smiling, and saying, "Ya Ya," since she agrees to do everything. She often wakes up about 3 in the morning and heads over to the kitchen to start cooking, just to make sure that "everything is done."
Caitlin
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Caitlin is a lifer at Fair Hills. She stared working here as a store girl in 2004 but has been a guest since 1986. Caitlin has many job titles including human resources, ambassador of foreign affairs, front office and social media manager. Originally from Mt. Prospect, IL, she graduated from The Ohio State University with a degree in Finance. Caitlin lives at Fair Hills in the summer and in her house in Detroit Lakes in the winter.
Justin
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Justin spends most of his time at Wildflower Golf Course as the general manager. Justin helps to bring in the groups to the golf course and runs the pro shop. Originally from Buffalo, North Dakota, he graduated from North Dakota State University in Mass Communication. He and his wife, Megan, live in Fargo. In his spare time, he likes to play golf, hunt, watch movies and spend time with friends.
Cole
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Cole is our Wildflower Golf Pro. This is his 3rd year at Wildflower. He's from Fargo, ND and has always enjoyed sports and the outdoors. He was a member of the 2002 Fargo South State Championship Golf Team and played one year for Concordia College. He graduated from Ferris State University in Michigan with a Professional Golf Management/Marketing degree. He has a passion for instruction and passed the Faldo Golf Institute teaching certification along with graduating from GolfTEC University.
Chris
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Chris is the golf course superintendent at Wildflower. This is his 3rd year at the course. He started as the assistant superintendent in 2009 and was promoted in 2010. Chris is originally from New York Mills, MN and graduated from the University of Rutgers in New Jersey. Chis like to go by the nickname Keski (his last name is Keskitalo) and when he isn't on the golf course he likes to hunt.
Dan Mohn
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Dan is perhaps the only silent type here at the resort! You can see him playing snare drum in the Fair Hills marching band but most of the time he is behind the scenes. Some of his tasks might include making new bathrooms, decks and fixing whatever might need fixing in your cabins and around the resort. He started at Fair Hills doing part time work and then became the full time Fair Hills carpenter and contractor around 1989. Dan grew up in the Detroit Lakes area. He now lives in Rochert, MN with his wife Rhonda. They started their family with two sons and after a trip to Romania, they adopted two lovely daughters (ask him the story if you happen to see him.) He is an avid deer hunter.
Glady
Glady is our resident piano teacher and accompanist. She works at many places on the resort, including the lobby and dining room. You can find her always smiling and playing piano for any and all musical performers for the talent show. Her son, Nick, was our water ski instructor and her daughter previously worked at the resort for many summers. Glady teaches music at Pelican Rapids High School during the year and lives by Wildflower Golf Course. She is in charge of the summer music scheduling at Cormorant Lutheran Church, just down the road from Fair Hills.
Jim
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Jim is our do-it-all maintenance guy. Jim has quickly learned that in the resort business, you have to do everything and that is what he does. Jim can build a wall or repair a toilet; he hasn't failed a task yet! Jim is retired from teaching and enjoys spending his winters off in Minnesota.
Debbie
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Debbie lives near Middle Cormorant Lake, just a few miles from the resort. After she retired at an early age, her husband Gary suggested she get a part time job to support her love for SHOPPING! So Debbie joined the office and lobby staff here at the resort. Her mother-in-law, Irene Globstad, worked here as a housekeeper for many years, along with her sisters-in-law. During the winter, Debbie and her husband travel to Arizona to spend the winter. They have 5 children and 10 grandchildren.
Jim & Hebe
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Hebe & Jim have found their summer niche. They live east of Pelican Rapids on Lake Lida. They have a 22 year old son, Jacob. Along with Hebe's extended family, there were guests for 18 years! After retiring from a 30 year career of teaching French, Hebe feels right at home at Fair Hills and enjoys spending the beautiful Minnesota summers with our great guests. Her passion is learning about and photographing Minnesota birds. She even has been known to wake up in the wee hours of the morning to go see the drumming prairie chickens. Jim was a real estate broker in Fargo and the lakes area. He loves to read and travel and has special interests in history and politics. In the winter he has been subbing whenever Pelican Rapids schools need a good and willing teacher and in the spring and fall he works at Wildflower.
Kris
Kris is fresh face at the resort in 2011. You may not see much of her because she is located in the lower level of the resort but she is always anxious to meet new people and chat a bit. Kris grew up in Vergas and relocated to the Twin Cities for several years, but her heart brought her back to the lakes area and has just recently built a home on Loon Lake with her husband Ardell. Together they have two sons, Tony and Aaron, and a daughter, Aly who all still reside in the cities but love their time at the lakes as well. Kris enjoys boating and motorcycling so you just may catch a glimpse of her rolling into work on her bike.
Shannon
Shannon will be luring in all sorts of fun groups to play with us at Fair Hills, Five Lakes Resort and Wildflower Golf Course as our new Group Events Coordinator. Originally from St. Cloud, MN, she graduated from Tech High School there and also get her bachelor's degree from St. Cloud State University. She has a master's degree from Savannah College of Art and Design in Historic Preservation. Shannon lives with her husband, three daughters and a small ensemble of farm animals on a farm near Osage where the family likes to ride horses and play outdoors. They also own a concession stand that cooks up a menu of beer-braised meat specialties at a handful of events in the summertime.
Pete the Pelican and Friends
Even though the lake is called Pelican Lake, nowadays there aren't too many pelicans that show up. On occasions there are some that fly through. The only resident pelicans we have are Pete the Pelican and his friends Penelope, Percy, Pepe and Pierre. They can be seen at the ice cream social, in the hootenanny, and on occasions, in the dining room. Most often you will see them in the Fair Hills parade with their friend, the dancing elephant. Pete is usually surrounded by a flock of hugging children who are trying to see which staff member might really be inside. (News to you kids: Pete is a REAL pelican and NO staff member is inside!!!)
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