For the first time ever, the golf course opened in March, and to tell you the truth, there were more golfers in the one week of March 2010, than there were the whole month of October 2009.  The weather was crazy amazing, and Minnesotans are so ready to get outside!   Over on the other side of the road, Lisa’s cleaned and painted the pools, 3 weeks before that’s ever been done in the past.  Steve’s got one more little thing on the Big Pelican to fix and then that is going into the lake for the summer.  He went to Ironwood Michigan and bought a 1969 Fire Engine that will get the BP in and out of the lake each year.  I hear rumors that there is some déjà vu going on with my dad, and he’s going to figure out how to give rides this summer, WITH our insurance company’s approval!!!    We were just going to paint the bathrooms in the dining room (Emily Schupp did that in October), but one thing lead to another, and you’ll probably think you’re lost when you use them this summer.  We think they look lovely!  Now we’re working on going green with different lights, and paper towels, and our commercial laundry facility.  There’s always SOMETHING going on here.

Tour de Hoot lives on

If you can catch Channel 11 (Kare 11) out of the Twin Cities on May 11th, the Hootenanny is once again going on Tour!  We’re kicking off the television station’s resort season theme with a mini-hoot on the 10 a.m. show!

Traditions Continue

The Tour de Hoot meant hours in a car with Larry and Caitlin (2350 miles).  We talked about a lot of things, but mostly we started reminiscing about guests from the past and the great memories we shared, and that we wanted to reach out to them again.  It has been a highlight.  I must admit that I felt a bit like a stalker looking at the old brochures, then looking up people on whitepages.com, and Facebook, but it was sure worth it.  It was so exciting to open my email when I’d see an address that was from a guest from the past.  I’d get on the phone with my parents and siblings and we’d recount fun times with the families, and little pieces of trivia about their families and the other guests they used to come with etc…etc..old  Some of them some of you may remember too, so I want to share who we’ve reconnected with:  Our first encounter was actually face to face with the Wildwerdings They were at our hoot in Stillwater and were so helpful when doing the phone number song!!  John and Deb Blower from Winnipeg emailed, we got a nice newsy card the Bob and Shirley Bross, Kris and Lee Duryea (Kruger) Facebooked me  (we played together a lot!!).  Greg Norton has been writing and calling and is doing some watercolors to put in some cabins…Cindy Anonson (Kellin now) and Jim and John Stuhlman—that was so fun reminiscing!  Also my friend Mark Vollbrecht, and his sister Jennifer from Chicago.  It had been at least 30 years?!  And you know those memories just flood back!  The Detroys from Indiana just called out of the blue; again the memories of playing with Betsy were so fun to recall and my mom zipped down to the lobby to find the picture of them with their catch in the memory pages.  I think the vanderAarde’s are trying to round up the family to celebrate Bob’s 85^th this summer!  If we haven’t heard from you in a while, drop an email, we’d love to hear from you.  (You know how “older” people remember things from a long time ago so much easier??  When I would mention a name to Barb and Dave, they would go on for a half hour.  It was special to see the twinkle in their eye when I told them who we’d heard from!)

Fair Hills in the News

We are thrilled with some of the great press we’ve received lately. If you get a minute, please check out these fun articles. Midwest Living Magazine just ran a nice spread on Laid Back Family Resort (http://tinyurl.com/35exnzy – you’ll have to sign in, but it’s free). Also, National Geographic Travelers has listed Fair Hills as one of the Ten North American Family Resorts Made for Reconnecting (http://tinyurl.com/2elv3af).   If you’ve been attempting to persuade friends or relatives that this is a great place, pick up a copy of the June Midwest Living magazine and let the article and pictures do the talking for you.  They are very convincing!

After that good news, we hope you won’t mind if we interrupt our regularly scheduled newsletter with some announcements on our best deals for the year. Please feel free to share this info with family and friends – and as you’ll see we’d be happy to reward you for spreading the word.

Spring and Summer Golf Specials

Stay and play for only $125 per night per person from May 1 to June 26, 2010. Cost includes green fees, golf cart, and lunch at Wildflower Golf Course (http://www.wildflowergolfcourse.com), along with accommodations, breakfast, and dinner at Fair Hills Resort. Wildflower Golf Course is a Championship course that has been voted one of the top 201 places to play by Golf Digest Magazine. Stay and play is also available during the peak summer weeks for $199 (U.S.) per person.

TIP: This can make a great Mother’s or Father’s Day gift!!

New Family Discount

Fair Hills Resort is offering a new family discount of $350 to any family whose stay includes at least two paying adults for a four-night minimum stay on the American Plan between June 26 and August 7, 2010. When you check out, we will deduct $350 off your bill for your immediate family. It’s a vacation you will remember for a lifetime. The $350 is available to either the family that recommends a new family, or for the new family who stays, but unfortunately, not both.  We can split it between both parties.

Wild Weeks at Fair Hills August 7-14 and August 14-21, 2010

We’re got some special treats in store for families who stay these weeks, such as childcare available for the little kids (0-4) most mornings, bonus cocktail hours, added kid activities, some chances at free golf at Wildflower. In short too much to mention in an email, but just check out the list here: http://www.fairhillsresort.com/specials.html

Referral Bonus at Lake Five

You get  $100 for each new family that you send to Five Lakes Resort. Either the new family can book their own and gets the discount, or the referring family can get the $100. The referral can only used toward the referring family’s stay the same year.  In other words, the referring family will not just get a check in the mail if they tell someone but aren’t staying themselves. The stay must be 4 days in length during the dates of May 1-Oct. 1. http://www.fivelakesresort.com/spcials.html

Thanks for sticking in with this long newsletter!  As you can tell, you guests are more than just our business to us.  We hope all is well with you and yours.  Beth and all