There is a consistent stream of people exiting and entering Wilson Café, but the one constant amongst all the hubbub is Elliot Gowen’s cheerful presence. Wilson is a sort of safe haven; a place where the weary can come to wind down after a grueling day of work.
Gowen, a Middlebury native, has worked on and off for the College for 12 years. He has had numerous different jobs in the area, in- cluding managing a coffee shop in Brandon, cooking for Steve’s Park Diner, working at various orchards and bartending. But, he is especially fond of working in Wilson Café.
“It’s a nice environment to work in, and I
really like making coffee drinks,” Gowen said. “The atmosphere is a lot better because you can talk to customers as they walk in.”
Gowen usually arrives at the café at 2:30 p.m., when he and Lee, the daytime shift man- ager, have a half hour to touch base and make sure everything is stocked. Once things get going, though, Gowen said, “It’s pretty much making sure things are running smoothly, making sure things are stocked up, and that [students] are happy when [they] come in. That’s the important thing.”
After he closes Wilson, Gowen has further duties to fulfill.
“I’m usually done at around 10:45, and then I go to McCardell Bicentennial Hall and close up the kiosk for them, and then after that I drive over to the Grille,” he said. “It’s nice to be able to walk in to another situation and be helpful, and try to make everyone else’s job easier.”
Business in McCardell Bicentennial Hall was initially slow. But according to Gowen, “It’s been picking up there too, which is nice. I think people are starting to use that space more and realize that they can study there and still be able to get something to drink.”
One of his main focuses since taking on his managerial position has been finding dif- ferent ways to improve Wilson and better suit it to students’ needs.
“I’ve been working on redoing some of our recipes and making them easier for new student workers, and also working on some of the menu things,” Gowen said. “We’re trying to make it a better place every day, and I think we’re doing a pretty good job with that. We’ve added a lot of things and we’ve expanded the menu a lot.”
The café’s menu, which I had found confusing in the past, is now a very nicely organized electronic board that is updated seasonally, as well as when new specials are introduced.
“One of the things I like to do on my down time is just experiment, and just make differ- ent drinks and see what we might want to do for new drink lines or new specials,” Gowen said. “It’s a good way to be creative, and you get to sample everything too, which is always an added benefit!”
After perusing the menu, I noted that it was surprisingly extensive, and that there were a multitude of drink possibilities, made up of different combinations of flavors, that the board could never hope to encompass.
“I usually have something different every day,” he said. “Right now, my favorite one is probably mint matcha with a shot of espresso and a scoop of chocolate added to it, and it’s pretty tasty actually. I haven’t figured out what I want to name that yet, but it’ll be a drink special coming up.”
A lot of Gowen’s job, too, is involved with training and supervising student workers.
“I like the student workers, we have a good crew of people in here,” he said. “To have a relationship where you actually get to know somebody more than just working [with them] is really nice. And this is, I think, one of the better environments for that as far as working with students on campus. You’re right there and showing them hands-on things.”
Gowen is extremely committed to mak- ing students’ experiences in Wilson the best they can be, even syncing his schedule to fit the long hours of work that accompany finals week.
“During midterms and finals, we’ll try to stay open later if we can. For the fall semes- ter, we were open until midnight, and spring semester last year I came in at 6 p.m. and worked until 6 a.m., and then we worked from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. — [pulling two 12-hour shifts.] It’s nice to be able to give back like that.”
Perhaps most representative of Gowen’s passion for his work is the ways in which he interacts with his regular customers.
“It’s fun just making peoples’ days,” he said. “When I see someone walking down the hill, and I know what they’re going to get, I start making their drink. To just having them walk in and being able to hand it to them, it’s just nice. I like making people happy.”
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