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MEDORA If people think Kinley Slauter plays at his job all summer and takes the winters off, they are partly right.

As a year-round employee of the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation, Slauter admits that work and play blend together in his job as manager of Medora's Burning Hills Amphitheater. He doesn't mind if people think his job must be fun.

"If people think we have fun working here, then they have fun vacationing here," he said.

Slauter, a native of Berthold, is one of a number of people from the Minot area who work full-time or spend their summers in Medora.

Year-round employees include Stephanie Tinjum, a native of Powers Lake who is personnel director for the foundation, and Jodi Johnson from Donnybrook, who is controller in the accounting office.

While in college in 2003, Tinjum began working seasonally in Medora, including a summer spent as assistant to the operations manager. When she graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., with a degree in English education, the manager asked her to come back as personnel director.

"The good thing about Medora is we try to hire people who enjoy Medora and have some knowledge of the town and have a good global understanding of how things work," she said. "Sometimes just experience and having a good attitude seems to be a good fit."

Tinjum oversees the logistics of hiring between 250 and 260 seasonal workers. She coordinates assignments and training while managing the foundation's labor budget. The foundation has workers from about 12 countries and 20 states this year. The foundation's year-round staff numbers 37.

"It's always interesting. You think you have experienced a lot of different situations, and there's always something new that comes up," Tinjum said. "A lot of things come up that you wouldn't get to experience anywhere but Medora. It's just a lot of fun to work out here."

Johnson, who started full-time in accounting in November 2004, said most people are surprised to learn that the foundation doesn't close up at the end of the summer.

"It is much quieter, much more laid back," she said of the off-season.

Johnson holds an accounting degree from the University of North Dakota. She was looking at getting into tax work when she came to visit the foundation accounting office where she had previously interned. She was offered a job and took it.

She enjoys what Medora has to offer when she's not working.

"I just like everything there is in town. I like the variety," said Johnson, who particularly enjoys golfing Bully Pulpit.

Kinley's first work experience with the foundation was as a high school student working in the laundry, a job that he called "character building." He later worked in maintenance and grounds and for the hotels and eventually for the musical. He held the backstage manager position for about three summers before joining the foundation full-time in 2003.

"Growing up in rural North Dakota, you are not exposed to a lot of professional theater, but after a few summers of doing that, I liked it and started working in that area in the off-season in the winter, traveling with theatrical groups around the country," he said.

In his current job, Slauter manages the retail and concessions businesses as well as overseeing the maintenance and operation of the theater.

"Sometimes I say it's like two different jobs because during the season, we have a show every night and special events often during the day," he said. "In the winter we do most of the planning and coordinating and budgeting and administration."

In 2002, he was involved in the process of rebuilding the musical stage set. The new Medora musical welcome center opened in 2008.

A self-proclaimed history nerd, Slauter also gets plenty on that topic in Medora. He is one of few full-time foundation employees who live in Medora year-round.

Seasonal workers are immersed in Medora, where they live, work and play.

Jaci Bauer of Carpio is in her third summer at Medora. She found her niche in retail and has worked for the past two years at the Stage Barn, where she enjoys the kids who come into the children's store.

"It's like a working vacation," said Bauer, who will be a senior in accounting at the University of Mary in Bismarck this fall. "You learn a lot about customer service."

Cousins Chrissy and Danella Myers of Raub are spending their summer together in Medora. Chrissy Myers will be a freshman at Concordia College this fall, while Danella Myers is studying hospitality and tourism management at North Dakota State University, Fargo.

Chrissy Myers is a housekeeper for the foundation's motels and hotel, rising early to start her job at 7:30 a.m.

"Housekeeping is a lot of hard work, but it is a lot of fun. The people make it so much fun," she said. "Everybody is so friendly. Everybody is excited to be here."

Having visited Medora regularly over the years, she is gaining a new perspective.

"I have a great appreciation for how much work goes into making this a good place to vacation." she said.

Danella Myers works in the call center, handling reservations and answering questions. Call center employees are trained to tackle most questions, although Myers said she can't always help when callers want to know if it's going to rain on their vacations the next day or the next week.

"A lot of people think that it's always cold here," she said of the more far-flung visitors. "So they are surprised when you tell them it's 80 degrees today."

Like her cousin, though, she enjoys the visitors who come to Medora.

"People are on vacation so they are happy. It's fun to be around those people," she said.

Most seasonal employees, in addition to their assigned jobs, put in extra hours at the musical to help with tickets, concessions and other tasks.

Jeremiah Swenson, a Stanley native who graduated from Minot State University with an elementary education degree last December, handles the scheduling of musical workers. He's been house manager for three years, having previously worked in the call center. He'd also pushed sets at the musical and participated as an extra in the San Juan Hill charge scene.

In his current job, he attends the musical every night to oversee workers.

"Essentially my job is to see The Greatest Show in the West every night," he said. "It's a show that's meant to entertain people, and I get entertained every night."

One of his first memories of Medora as a kid was having an employee step in to ensure his mother didn't use the large, shoulder-mounted videocamera she carried into the show. Videotaping is banned. Now it is Swenson's job to watch for any unapproved taping. With smaller cameras and still-photo cameras that also take video, the job is more difficult, and Swenson occasionally checks Internet YouTube postings to make sure nothing slipped through. But audiences are good about abiding by the policy, he said.

Since coming to Medora, Swenson has taken up road biking and photography in the Badlands. His reason for coming back is echoed by many of the college-age workers who bond with their peers during their summers at Medora.

"You are around your friends all day. Even though you are working, you really don't feel as if you are working," Swenson said.

"The friends you make down here are life-long friends," said Sarah Meduna of Plaza, assistant manager at Ticket Junction in Medora. She and her Medora friends plan get-togethers in the off season and look forward to their summer reunions.

Meduna started in housekeeping and was housekeeping supervisor last year. A senior at Minot State University in marketing and management and international business, she said she is getting management experience in Medora that she likely couldn't get elsewhere without a college degree.

"I work 12 to 14 hours a day, but I love it. I wouldn't want to work any less." she said.

When not working, she enjoys hiking in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Life can be secluded working in Medora, she said.

"It's a whole different world out here," she said, noting the lack of television, limited access to Internet and no time for newspapers. "It's like you are shut off to the rest of the world. ... It's kind of nice. You don't miss it. That's part of being out here. You are away from the city and hustle and bustle. It's relaxing."

Kayla Sell of Knox gained a sense of independence in working at Medora for the first time last summer. Coming out of high school at Wolford, she was nervous about leaving her small town for college.

"Medora changed all that," she said.

Sell works on the grounds crew to mow lawn, cut weeds and do other odd jobs. Because her work typically is away from visitors, she works the musical to meet people.

"If you come to Medora just to work and you don't do extra things to try to meet people, it's not as much fun," she said.

She considers grounds keeping to be fun even if it can be dirty and sweaty. Sell keeps her perspective by remembering the hot and muggy job she held in the laundry a year ago.

"Now I don't mind the heat at all because I suffered through that last summer. I think I could handle anything now," she said.