We have a great group of enthusiastic ranch hands lined up for summer. Check in this month for introductions!

Name: Nell Pollak
Position at DWR: Wrangler
Hometown: Pleasantville, NY
My hobbies include: Traveling, Photography, Riding Horses, Hiking

I am excited about working at DWR this summer because…I am very excited to experience another summer at the ranch full of amazing memories. I am really looking forward to meeting all the new guests/staff and
reuniting with all of the returning ones.

One interesting thing about me is…Following the ranch season,  I am going to Kenya for four months to volunteer.



Name: George Hillman
Position at DWR: Chef
Hometown: I can’t really claim to have a hometown I have lived so many places. I was born In Bangor Maine but never lived there. I grew up mostly in Wilmington Mass. The place I lived the longest was Bar Harbor Maine.

My hobbies include: writing, fly fishing, backpacking

I am excited about working at DWR this summer because…I love to be around people who are enjoying themselves and help to facilitate that enjoyment. 

One interesting thing about me is…My favorite job was a volunteer working for the Maine Appalachian Trail Club as a corridor monitor. The job was to find then walk the boundary of the trail lands looking for incursions such as ATV trail or logging, repainting blazes on trees, find and photograph monuments which are metal tubes planted in the ground with information on the head which mark the boundaries of the trail. The work was difficult as there are no trails out there and it had been 25 years since the area I worked had been surveyed. Also the Maine woods are thick and overgrown with thorns, bushes and what we called “spruce fences” which are stands of spruce no more than six feet high that form a nearly impenetrable wall. I came back to camp exhausted, scratched and bleeding, covered with government issue yellow paint and happy as could be. 


Name: Karen Mehri
Position at DWR: Waitstaff/housekeeping
Hometown: Pontiac, Illinois

My hobbies include: reading,watching movies, dancing,zumba, scuba diving, yoga/meditation, hanging with friends and family

I am excited about working at DWR this summer because…I get to meet and interact with so many different people! Getting to know the guests and my fellow ranch workers will be awesome. I’m also looking forward to being around horses because I haven’t ridden in years. I can’t wait!

One interesting thing about me is…that I recently came home from teaching English in South Korea. I taught at an elementary school for sixth months. Those are my kindergartners in the picture!
 Name: Lucas Garverick
Position at DWR: Dish washer/ Maintenance
Hometown: Mansfield, Ohio

My hobbies include: Rock climbing, Kayaking, Skiing, Disc Golf, Fishing, and Hunting. 

I am excited about working at DWR this summer because…It is a beautiful place, and, it has been my dream to live in Colorado since I was very young. I am also really looking forward to living and working on a dude ranch.

One interesting thing about me is…I just graduated with a degree in Natural Resources Law Enforcement and my dream job is to work in Colorado as a Game Warden.

 Name: Ellen Tholen
Position at DWR: Wrangler
Hometown: Grand Rapids, Minnesota

My hobbies include: Traveling, reading, being outdoors, hanging out with family/friends and horseback riding.

I am excited about working at DWR this summer because…I can work in the great outdoors of Colorado, meet new people from all around the world and re-connect with old friends!

One interesting thing about me is…This past winter I lived on a small tropical island in the Pacific Ocean and had the opportunity to travel Asia.