Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, November 21, 2007

RANKIN INLET - It's a long way from the small Newfoundland community of Bay Bulls to Rankin Inlet, but new Turaarvik Inns North hotel manager Miranda Maddox is glad she made the trip.

Kissarvik Coop general manager Walter Morey welcomes Miranda Maddox as the new Turaarvik Inns North hotel manager in Rankin Inlet as Coop assistant manager Glenn Woodford looks on. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo

Maddox, 23, was working as a Youth Ventures co-ordinator in Newfoundland, helping youth in her region to start up and run a summer business, when she came across the Rankin position while perusing a job-search website on the Internet.

She said the job appealed to her because she would be able to put her education to use and gain some real experience in the hospitality industry.

Maddox holds a diploma in hospitality-tourism management from the College of the North Atlantic and her bachelor of business administration from Memorial University in Newfoundland.

"I arrived here about two months ago and I find Rankin to be a really nice community with a lot of very friendly people," said Maddox.

"Rankin reminds me a lot of home, just colder."

So far, Maddox has been content to familiarize herself with the community and the Inns North operation.

But she plans to begin adding more choices to the restaurant menu in the not-too-distant future.

"The hotel has been pretty much full for most of my time here and restaurant sales have been up as well, so I'm quite pleased about that.

"I have an excellent staff at the hotel and that's one of the main reasons so many people come back to stay with us, because they're all so friendly and do a great job."

Maddox has enjoyed her time in Rankin so much, she envisions the community being home to her for a good many years.

She said while she hasn't become a local hockey fan yet, she has started making a quilt with friends she's made in Rankin.

"I am hoping, and I'm not just saying this, that once I get more comfortable in my position I will be able to start taking in some of the hockey games.

"I hear hockey talk a lot at the restaurant.

"The people here have supported me 110 per cent, and I can't get over how many people from the East Coast live in Rankin.

"I hear more Newfoundland dialects in the run of a day at the restaurant than I would at home."