Solbakken Scene - Solbakken Resort

Solbakken Scene
News From Sunny Hill!
Solbakken Resort On
Superior
Fall 2013
New owners and management!
If you did not visit us
this summer, you may
not be aware of the big
change that occurred
on June 27, 2013. Solbakken Resort changed
ownership and management with a renewed
sense of purpose and
enthusiasm. Dave and
Shawn Howe, the new
owners, from South
Dakota initially came
as guests and fell in
love with Solbakken,
the area and the people
here. They were looking for an opportunity
to leave their profitable
dairy farms and try
their hand at something
new. At the same time,
the previous owners,
the O’Phelans, were
looking to focus more of
their time at their other
businesses. So began the
process of the Howes
purchasing Solbakken
Resort and selling their
dairy operations.
No
small task!
In fact, as of this writing
in November, they are
still tying up loose ends
in South Dakota and getting settled in Cook
County!
Dave and Shawn have 3
children: Nicole who is a
freshman in college this
year, Christopher who is
a junior in high school
and Gregory who is in
8th grade.
The Howes chose former
maintenance worker, Dale
Jackson, as their general
manager and business partner. Many of you know
Dale and Debbie and their
warm hospitality, as they
has been living on site for
over 5 years. Dale, the We really enjoyed getting
Walleye Wrangler, is more to know our guests betthan happy to take you on a ter at our Friday Night
Summer BBQs!
guided fishing trip to one
of the nearby inland lakes
on one of our new pontoons! Debbie is becoming
well know around the resort for her tantalizing hand
dipped chocolate truffles
and chocolate chip cookies,
Fun fall decorations!
which you can now order
ahead of time and have
waiting in your room for
your arrival.
Guests are enjoying the
guided fishing trips!
Pontoon rentals are a
popular new activity!
Solbakken Scene
Page 2
What’s New at Solbakken
With the new management has come a fresh
commitment to do everything possible to
make our guests feel
welcome and comfortable. That is why we
have replaced every
mattress this fall with a
brand new pillow top
mattress. We are now
using a linen service to
provide you consistent
cleanliness and comfort
with our bedding and
towels. New dishes and
kitchen wares are being
phased in also.
Much of our summer
was spent sprucing up
the grounds around the
resort and restoring a
few long lost gardens.
The motel has received
a facelift with new log
siding to match the
lodge, new windows and
doors, as well as new
tables, chairs and TVs.
Remodeling the motel
bathrooms and replacing
the floors is the plan for
the next few months.
Currently we are building a deck on the lake
side of the lodge for
hosting our Friday Night
Summer BBQs and
other events. Finally,
that door in the living
room will actually take
you somewhere!
One of our goals is to
provide our guests opportunities to experience
the North Woods that
we are fortunate enough
to call home. With that
in mind, we have added
activities like our guided
fishing and hiking trips,
pontoon and canoe rentals,
and coming this winter dog
sled rides! For your convenience we will be providing free shuttles to Lutsen ski hill this winter.
To encourage out guests to
visit together and with us,
we began hosting our Friday Night Summer BBQs.
Good food, new friends
and lawn games. We even
had several medallion
hunts with the prize being
a new bike!
New, when you make a
reservation, is the opportunity to reserve home-made
chocolate chip cookies or
hand dipped chocolate truffles to be awaiting your
arrival. In early Dec. we
are offering a breakfast
package. More to come!
What’s
Familiar at
Solbakken
With the many positive
changes, some things
have remained the
same. You will still see
familiar faces of longtime staff, like Scott,
Margie and Dale along
with some friendly new
faces. We strive to
have that friendly, family feel that makes you
feel like you’re home!
Although things are
changing, you will always find that cozy
North Woods charm
that you have come to
love about Solbakken!
NEW!! Solbakken Guest House
Solbakken's Guest
House is a beautiful log
home located a short
drive up the Caribou
Trail from the main
property, on a bluff
overlooking Caribou
Lake. The awesome
views really have to be
Gorgeous log home overseen to be appreciated!
looking Caribou Lake
Filled with details reflecting a real craftsman's touch, this home
is light and airy with
lots of windows, an
upper deck and walkout lower level to enjoy the view. Three
bedrooms and four
bathrooms as well as a
sleeping loft and lower
level with a Murphy
bed means that this
house can accommodate up to 10 people.
Perfect for a family gettogether or wedding!
Call for availability.
This will quickly become a favorite!
Norpine
The Norpine Trail Association has been a big part
of keeping up our cross
country ski trails. Please
consider joining Norpine
and supporting this important organization!
Norpinetrails.org
Ski and Stay Packages available at
Minnesota’s largest ski area-
Sled Dog Rides are a new
attraction this winter.
Lutsen Mountains! This year Solbakken is providing free shuttles
Solbakken is partnering with
Irish Creek Kennels to provide
to Lutsen.
this family friendly activity.
Call for package pricing.
Book Ski Lutsen and Stay Solbakken
Package Now
www.solbakkenresort.com
Rate per night
for 1-2 people
WINTER 2013—2014
3 BR Cabin
2 BR Cabin
D-Doubles
Q-Queens
1-800-435-3950 or (218) 663-7566
1 BR Cabin
or 1 BR
Fireplace
Suite
Jonas
Lakehome
Solbakken
Guest
House
2 BR
Fireplace
Suite
Motel
Peak Season:
December 26—Jan 4
Jan, Feb, and March
$295
D $165
Q $195
$135
$279
$299
$165
$93
$209
D $145
Q $175
$109
$239
$269
$145
$81
$155
D $115
Q $145
$95
$175
$199
$115
$61
weekends
Value Season:
Midweek Jan 5—March 27
Budget Season:
Daily Dec 1—25
Daily March 30—April 12
Extra people, any units, all seasons: Age 13 thru adult are $10/night each
Children 12 and under are free with adult
Pets: No pets in lakehomes or fireplace suites. Pets in cabins and motel accepted by advance reservation only: $10.00 per night per
pet (2 pets max). Unless kenneled, must not be left unattended in unit; dogs must be leashed on grounds.
Deposit: Deposit of one night’s stay required to reserve room. Cancellation policy: Refund of deposit less $20 cancellation fee available on cancellation made at least 14 days in advance for reservations of 4 nights or less. 30 days advance notice of cancellation required for reservations of 5 nights or
more. Taxes: 7.875% state sales tax; 4% local lodging tax. Payment of balance: Due on arrival. Charges made for full length of reservation or
total package. No refunds for early departures. Minimum stay requirements: Three nights in all units during holiday periods (Christmas, New
Years, MLK, Presidents). Two nights minimum required for all other weekends. Reservations which include a Friday or Saturday night are subject to minimum stay requirements and weekend rates apply. Check in: after 3:00 p.m. Check-out: 11:00 a.m.
Non-smoking: All units are non-smoking.
*15% discount on stays of 7 nights or more. Rates subject to change without prior notice.
Fall 2013
Page 4
Birthday Fun at Solbakken!
One of the big events of
the fall was General Manager Dale Jackson’s 50th
Birthday party.
Also
known as the Walleye
Wrangler, Dale celebrated
his birthday with Dave
and Shawn Howe who all
have birthdays the same
week!
Home-made Chocolate Chip
Cookies or Hand-dipped
Chocolate Truffles to order
for your arrival!
Friends and Solbakken
guests alike all gathered
to enjoy a fabulous
spread, complete with lots
of cake!
Thank you Debbie!!
Winter’s Full Moons
Nothing is more magical
than watching the moon
rise over the lake! Use the
following list to plan your
trip around the moon cycles:
December 17th
February 14th,
also Valentine’s Day. Picture you and your sweetheart at Solbakken under a
full moon!
March 16th
April 15th
January 15th
Work Week May 11-18th 2014!!!
It’s never too early to sign up
for work week. Last year we
enjoyed many new guests as
well as our regulars. We
don’t have a to-do list yet but
we will by spring! Here’s
how it works: You arrive on
Sunday and check in to a free
basic room. On Monday thru
Friday we provide you with a
breakfast at 8am and then by
8:30-9 we begin working on
projects. We break for lunch about
12 noon and we finish up about 3
pm. The rest of the day is yours.
On Friday the lunch is light and we
will typically finish up by 12 noon.
Saturday you are on your own for
meals, but the lodging is free,
checkout is Sunday. Don’t miss
this opportunity to be a part of this
years adventure and a chance at
some new friends. We have limited availability so please make
plans early! Call Dale at 218-6637566 or email us at Solbakken@boreal.org and let us know if
you would like to participate.
While we always appreciate especially skills such as carpentry, electrical and plumbing expertise, we
put EVERYONE to work! Please
note that we must have definite
commitments, or it creates significant issues with completing our
planned projects.