FRANKENMUTH -- When you think of the Bavarian Inn, the Glockenspiel comes to mind but if you're a Frankenmuth regular you know Dorothy Zehnder is what keeps the Bavarian Inn ticking.

"I go to every department and check to see if there is something they need," said Dorothy.

From sun up to sun down, 87-year old Dorothy can be found working every station of the kitchen, from slicing vegetables to making desserts.

"She's always running around. She runs circles around me," said Food Supervisor Bonnie Vanauken.

"Some people think it's an advertising ploy but she really is in the kitchen six days a week," said General Mangager and granddaughter Amy Zehnder-Grossi.

Dorothy was just 16-years old when she first started as a waitress at the hotel, back then it was the Fisher Hotel. A few years later Dorothy's husband bought the building and opened the Bavarian Inn and that's when Dorothy found her niche.

"Maybe I'll take the kitchen. I took it and that was sixty years ago and I'm still in there and I love it," said Dorothy.

Her staff says they can't get enough of her prescence...

"I love it. I've learned so much. How to thicken gravy, she's amazing," said Lisa Sheppard, Food Supervisor.

Despite working six days a week, Dorothy has managed to publish a book and she even has a second one on the way.

"I don't know if I could go somewhere and play bingo all afternoon. I don't think I would like that. I'd rather be here with people, " said Dorothy. "I go through the dining room I meet customers. It's very satisfying."

"She's a small person but her heart is huge and and just puts everything into her work and family. She's our family jewel."

Dorothy tried to retire ten years ago but that did not last very long.

Dorothy turns 88-years young on December 1st.