HEIDI WARREN
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Dianna Foster holds many titles: loan officer, mother, farmer, server and now first-year Chautauquan. On opening day of the 2026 Summer Season, the grandmother of eight began waiting tables at the Heirloom Restaurant.
“You could not pick a more beautiful place to work,” said Foster — who runs a cattle farm with her husband, Clifford, in nearby Clymer, New York — gesturing toward the lake from the Athenaeum Hotel porch. “Look at this view!”
It was immediately after competing in a novelty game on Christmas Day that two of her grandchildren — Chautauqua seasonal employees — persuaded her to work for the Institution.
“We had just gotten all our aggression out while playing the holiday Saran Wrap game,” granddaughter Liberty Maring said.
The entire family stood around a table with only a few seconds each to put on oven mitts and try to peel open a 2-foot sphere of money and prizes encased in layers of plastic food wrap.
“Afterwards, we told her what was going to happen. Grammy didn’t really have a choice,” Liberty said. The rising senior at Westfield High School is in her third summer as a service attendant at the Heirloom Restaurant, meaning she primarily cleans and resets tables — never her grandmother’s, though, as Foster always beats her to it.
Grandson and co-conspirator Mason Maring was more pragmatic. “Well,” Mason said, “She did say she was looking for something else.” Mason is a second-year assistant manager at the Brick Walk Cafe. This is his fourth year working, having started at the hotel. He is studying at Daemen University in Amherst, New York, to become a physician assistant.
On June 5, Foster retired from weekend serving duties at Peek’n Peak Resort after 15 years. She still has a full-time job at a credit union.
This is a family that works together and plays together. Foster and her husband of 46 years own the same farm she grew up on, where she learned to drive the stick shift tractor at age 8. The couple’s three adult children, Tabitha Maring, Brandon Foster and Andrew Foster, help run the year-round operation, along with their eight grandchildren, all of whom have a different nickname for their grandmother.
The only true discussion at the holiday game table was which Chautauqua job Foster should apply for; Mason wanted her help to manage Brick Walk Cafe.
“I’m sure they (fellow employees) would hate me at the Brick Walk, as I would always have them cleaning!” Foster said, with a grin. “No standing around near me.”
Mason’s younger sister, ice cream scooper Ella Maring, said Foster would not have been happy standing in one place all day.
“Grandma needs to be always moving,” Ella said. “I like that I see more of her while working, plus she gives me rides.”
It was decided that the hotel was the best option. In addition to Liberty, daughter-in-law Karen Foster, grandson Timathy White and his girlfriend also work at the grand Victorian building. And Ella occasionally picks up extra shifts busing tables. Not to be left out, granddaughter Aurora Maring delivers newspapers for the Institution.
This is Foster’s first “in-season” exposure to Chautauqua, although years ago, she helped her mother, Laura Cochran, with pre-and-post-season openings and closings for a few houses on the grounds. Cochran no longer cleans homes, but she does laundry for a few former clients, Foster said. Cochran was treated so well by her Chautauqua clients that they became friends.
“They took Mom to her first ballet and opera,” Foster said. “The Institution has always been a special place for her, but I’d never been here during the season.”
Milking cows in her early life hard-wired Foster for 4 a.m. wake-up calls. She is always up early and enjoys arriving before dawn to work the breakfast shift, which allows her to view many gorgeous sunrises.
“I love watching the sun come up on the lake,” Foster said. “Never knew what I was missing.”
The relaxed pace of dining at the hotel is a lovely change, says Foster. She said the restaurant is well-run and patrons are pleasant.
Foster strides with purpose across the Heirloom dining room. She stops only to snag a plate off a table, offer warm smiles or chat with patrons.
Mason described his grandmother as “hardworking, passionate, smart and loving.”
Getting bonus time near her family is an extra reward.
“It’s no different than working on the farm; we all do our own jobs,” Foster said. “But we watch over each other.”
Foster hopes to be back next season. She has an incentive to reprise her role, as Foster is saving her tip money for a familial surprise … but no spoilers. To find out, you’ll have to visit Foster on the weekends for breakfast or lunch at the Heirloom.
Trust her, Foster says, the food is very good.
Heidi Greene Warren is a long-time Chautauquan who in a former life was a writer for The Virginian-Pilot, based in Norfolk, Virginia. Send suggestions of interesting Chautauquans to feature in a story to: HeyHeidiGW@gmail.com.
