| Nov 25, 2010


Photo: Dave Gervais with Melissa and Kevin and their son Owen, in front of the new building.

From the dining room to the rustic cabins, you can almost feel the bustle of summers in the '30s, '40s and '50s, when dusty cars full of families and parties of men from Pennsylvania and New Jersey would arrive after a long, hot drive, dragging out suitcases and heavy metal coolers and fishing tackle boxes to the cabin they would rent for a week or two every year.

Kevin Phillips and his parents bought the Fernleigh Lodge in 1981, but their connection to the lodge goes back further than that. They were annual patrons of the lodge from 1959 onwards, so Kevin Phillips has connections to the lodge gong back 50 years.

He runs a plumbing and construction business (KP Plumbing and construction) in addition to managing the lodge in partnership with his wife Melissa. Together, they have been considering how to make the lodge a viable business into the future, and their plans have involved making upgrades to older buildings and building some new ones as well.

Four years ago, they built a large shed for winter storage of boats belonging to the lodge, and as a service for boat owners on the lake and in the local region as well. Over the past year or so, new buildings and upgrades to older buildings have been undertaken, and big changes are coming.

“We want to keep the old fishing camp feel with the upgraded comforts people are looking for,” said Melissa.

The marketing of the lodge has changed as well. While it has not shifted completely away from fishing, there has been a new emphasis on the lodge offering a more diverse, family-oriented vacation.

Renovations to some of the existing cabins and the new, modern, open concept, log home-style buildings that are going up are all part of the positioning of the lodge for an expanded market of tourists who want the charm of a lodge with meals, but also the ability to cook for themselves when they want to, and modern comforts such as washers and dryers and big screen TVs.

The new building is the first of nine that are being planned, while some of the cabins will be eliminated and others improved.

“The lake, the landscape, the trails, tennis, catch and release fishing, pontoon boats - they are the reason people keep coming to the lodge, but with the new buildings that are going up, we can attract all sorts of groups for retreats, special events, weekend parties, and more,” said Kevin Phillips.

One thing that has not changed is the makeup of the staff. The chief cook at the lodge, Paul Lyons, has been working summers at the lodge for 32 years. Jeannie Klatt, who works in the kitchen with Paul and takes care of all the cabins, and Ken Stencell, who does plumbing and construction on site, have both been at the Lodge for almost 20 years.

“People come back here year after year because of staff like Paul, Jeannie and Ken ” said Phillips.

Early this summer, Dave Gervais, a recently retired teacher from Sharbot lake High School, came on to supervise work on the construction projects.

Gervais' brother in-law took a job with KP Plumbing in the spring of this year, and when he came to work he was told that a carpenter was needed to oversee the construction of the first new building. He suggested Dave might be interested because he had recently retired.

“When Dave came the first day I could see that he was saying hello to everyone on the construction crew that we had put together. It turned out that he had taught all of them at Sharbot Lake High School.”

For Gervais, who lives in Glenburnie, a good 90 minutes from the lodge, working at the site has tied a lot of his interests together.

“First of all, I was staying at one of the cabins during the weekdays all summer, which was pretty sweet. The construction has been interesting, and I have been able to help some of the kids learn more along the way, which is almost an extension of my career as a teacher,” Gervais said,

By the end of the summer, with the completion of the new log building, Fernleigh Lodge now has two fully winterized buildings, with accommodation for as many as 24 people. The goal is to increase that capacity with the construction of new buildings in the coming years.

The new accommodations have already been used to extend the lodge's season into the fall. The new building, and all of the new ones to come, are heated and suitable for year-round use. So far the Sharbot Lake High School staff and Land O'Lakes Community Services, and groups from farther a-field have been responding to some of the web advertising Fernleigh Lodge has done.

“Today we took a booking for a choir of 40 women who want to come out next year,” said Kevin Phillips.

The upgrades to the Fernleigh Lodge are necessary in order for the business to thrive in the coming market, said Kevin, and although he would be happy to have some funding support from government programs, the Phillips will be carrying out their plans as they can afford them, regardless.

“All of the materials we buy come from Lookout Hardware; the wood comes from Kenny Gould's lumber yard, and the labour is all local. We hope we are writing a local success story here,” he said.

For information about Fernleigh Lodge, call 1-866-459-9099 or go to vrbo.com/317076

 

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