Park Ranger Wills announces the newest junior ranger.

Learn about what it's like to work as a student park ranger from Park Ranger Wills as he helps visitors and works with junior rangers at the visitor center.

July 9 | July 16 | July 23 | July 30 | August 6 | August 13 | August 20

July 9, 2008. Howdy. My name is Wills, and I am working at Hulls Cove Visitor Center in the Interpretation Division at Acadia. I have lived on the island my whole life and love it here, but a sad thing I realized was that as a kid I had never been up to the actual visitor center! Now that I work here I can help people with hikes that I like, and walks and even drives through Acadia National Park, so I’m excited to be working here now. I had the pleasure of going on one of the guided walks, “At the Summit,” which was a lot of fun and very informative. Look forward to writing again. See ya.

- Wills

July 15, 2008. Hello! This is Wills again, and I’m still working at the visitor center! I’m very excited to be doing this blog and talking about my adventures as a park ranger and high school student, but to be honest I don’t have really any adventures—more encounters then anything. Almost all of the visitors I’ve been talking to and helping lately have been very understanding about the fact that this is my first season. Most of them say they hardly notice my amateur mistakes. I guess that I always knew I was fit for this job; being a local has given me a lot of insight about the island. However, I am still learning new things everyday about the park’s natural and cultural history and about the island itself.

Well, once again, it’s been fun telling you about my encounters. I look forward to talking to you all again.

- Wills

July 23, 2008. Howdy-do. Wills D. again reporting live from Hulls Cove Visitor Center. Today’s news is all about junior rangers and the junior ranger program itself.

The junior ranger program is awesome. First, it’s a great way to see and learn about the park. Second, it’s fun for the whole family. Third, it’s fun for the actual ranger. If you were to bring your child to the visitor center with a completed junior ranger book, I can say with a 99.9% certainty that I would be the one to swear them in, give them their badges, and announce their name over the loudspeaker. I love talking with the kids and learning about their adventures. The great part is, the families are all thinking, “Oh, man, this is so cool; we get to talk to a ranger about what we saw, not to mention those sweet badges at the end of the program.” Actually it’s a two-way street (unlike part of the Park Loop Road)—it’s almost more fun for me to listen to all of their stories and adventures they had while in good ol’ Acadia.

Well, once again it’s been a lot of fun reporting from the field. This has been Wills D. on junior rangers.

- Wills

July 30, 2008. Hi, folks. This is Wills reporting from the visitor center again. This week just seems to be flying by, but I slowed down enough to write a blog entry. This week has been hectic. On Tuesday, my first day back, I was almost late and had to ride my bike. Wednesday it was really rainy, and about a billion people came to see what there was to do inside. Thursday we had a major power outage. Friday wasn’t too bad except for the rain. Today it’s not that bad—not too crowded, mixed with a lot of sunlight, equals a pretty nice day.

Although the weather seemed mostly dreary all week, I was very excited to know that on Wednesday I was to be going on a rove, not all by myself, but with John (volunteer for the visitor center). We had fun going up to the Frenchman Bay overlook to help people. I have been swearing in plenty of junior rangers, too.

This has been Wills D. from the visitor center.

August 6, 2008. Howdy, It’s Wills D. I’m going to talk about some interesting questions that I get at the visitor center desk. Earlier this week, I got a question that really stumped me. It takes a lot to stump a park ranger! We are the people you come to when you need help, answers to questions, and information about the park. If we get a question that’s tough, we just check the park’s information book/info exchange book.

A lady came in with her mother and said, “I think I have a question that will wrack your brain.” Me being a local, I’m thinking, “We’ll just see about that; I know this island like the back of my hand.” She asked me, “I want to get married. Where should I go to get married in the park?” I stopped for a minute and thought about it. I went to another coworker and asked him. He had no idea where to find the answer to that question. I suggested going to headquarters to ask them, but remembered that they weren’t open. So, my co-worker and I pondered over this question and then gave her a lot of different locations she could check out, and she was on her way. (You can also check out the wedding information on this website.)

Well, that's all for now. It’s been nice reporting in on my encounters with visitors.

- Wills

August 13, 2008. Howdy. Last week I went to a program called “Acadia’s Rocks.” It was really cool to check out all the different types of rocks that are out in Acadia National Park. I know what you’re thinking: “But Wills, isn’t that a children’s program?” It is a children’s program, but it’s fun for all ages. I helped Ranger Mike arrange all the different types of rocks. I had a good time watching all the kids have fun and look at the rocks through a magnifying glass. Like I mentioned in a previous blog entry about Junior Rangers, it was just as much fun for me as it was for them! I learned how old the rocks are, where most of them come from, and how they got to where they are now.

Children’s programs are great for all the kids in your family, and they will get you closer and closer to earning one of those sweet Junior Ranger patches.

Well, it’s been fun talking to you again. I hope you will come and visit me at the visitor center. I’m off do a Junior Ranger ceremony!

- Wills