It’s pretty sweet that the hospital has wireless internet, so I’m to update this right from Julie’s bedside! I am sure that alot of you were wondering if we had forgotten to tell you about the new baby, seeing as how the due date was a week ago (Dec 22nd)! We didn’t forget, we just didn’t have any news to tell you yet! However, after a full holiday season of being antisocial our new baby boy finally decided to make an appearance this morning!

Julie did wonderfully once again. The labour started at 3:00 AM, and by the time we decided to come to the hospital it was 8:00 AM. The baby was not far off at that point, and less than two hours later (with only 30 minutes of pushing and drug free for the 2nd time in row), the baby boy appeared! He was a bruising 8lbs, 5 oz. I presume he will make a fantastic logger by 2020!

Julie and the baby are both now rested, bathed, and ready to take on the world! Annika is very excited to be a big sister, as she has her very own “bebe” now. I however will need some recovery time, a nap, and a nice meal to get me back on track.

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Last night, Pit and Julie were the proud hosts of a tradition that has gone on for nearly 20 years… the Aikens staff and volunteer Christmas party! Because of the massive construction efforts last season, we certainly had a lot more people than in the past! All told, over 60 people came to enjoy a night filled with song, laughter, and camaraderie! The evening started off with an exquisite prime rib dinner prepared with love by Chef Jimmy (now the proud owner of his own business… Upp Creations!).

The dinner was followed up with a gift exchange. We were lucky enough to have Santa Claus drop by and help with the gift exchange game. Aikens threw in some bonus gifts mixed in with the rest of the gifts, and Megan (our chef from 2002-2004) and Turbo were lucky enough to each open up two bonus gifts apiece!!! The door prize of a portable DVD/TV combo went to Tamara, one of our cherished opening-week volunteers!

We had a couple of special guests join us. One of them was our partner Rick from the Aviary Group, who flew in from Arizona just for the festivities! He was in Winnipeg less than 24 hours, but returned home with a whole lot of memories! During the speeches, he thanked all of our staff for helping turn our vision into reality. The other special guest was our guide Trevor… he drove over 7 hours from Ontario just to get to the party! He also had a thankyou speech, but this one was to thank his mom for giving him the gas money to make it all the way to Winnipeg!

OTours, who does a fantastic job every summer of transporting our guests from the Winnipeg airport to the float base, generously donated a van and driver to ensure that everyone got home safely. Another successful Christmas party… and a great way to celebrate an excellent year at Aikens Lake.  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone who had a part in making 2006 such a success at Aikens Lake! By the end of the evening, everyone was already talking about how 2007 would prove to be even better one for Aikens, its staff, and its guests… and you got the sense that they weren’t just saying that to be nice!

If you were reading the newsletter back in August, you will surely remember the article about Julie catching her “holy grail”, a trophy pike. Well, things have certainly steamrolled since that time! We submitted Julie’s picture to Travel Manitoba, along with about 15 more pictures from this year, for consideration for the cover of the 2007 Fishing and Hunting Guide. This is the publication that lists all of the Master Anglers every year! Julie’s picture was selected out of hundreds to be on the cover. The Fishing and Hunting guide will be out soon (you can request your own at www.travelmanitoba.com), but Travel Manitoba decided that they just had to use this picture in more places… and who can blame them! Julie and her big pike are now full page ads in the latest In-Fisherman and North American Fisherman magazines! Despite what the cellphone says on the ad (”First time fishing and I catch a trophy… Unbelievable!), it was not Julie’s first time fishing… but it sure was one heck of a trophy!

Original, with logos —————– vs. —————– Travel Manitoba’s ad

Travel Manitoba also used one of our submissions for the cover of their “Free Standing Insert (FSI)” which will be distributed by direct mail and in major newspapers across the US (Mpls, Denver, Salt Lake, etc). In all, they figure to distribute about 350,000 of these inserts. Featured on the cover is one of our clients, Scott Leppa! Congratulations Scott!

Every year, Aikens Lake Wilderness Lodge donates many trips to various charities.  This past summer, we donated a trip to the Winnipeg Goldeyes Baseball Club once again. They raffle off the trip at their games and have been able to raise over $5,000 for their charity called the “Field of Dreams Foundation” which helps children’s charities right here in Winnipeg. An interesting slant on their trip, from the point of view of Western Canada Aviation and Aerospace Magazine, is featured here. Enjoy the read! (ps - Paul Edmonds, the voice of the Goldeyes, caught a 28 inch walleye… not a 28 pounder!)

During our PWT Shootout event, we were lucky enough to have two contributors to the Fish’n Line magazine in attendance.  Marc Golke and Don Lamont both submitted stories to the fast-growing Fish’n Line Magazine.  These stories appear in the latest edition of the magazine.  The Fish’n Line is a regional magazine available in Manitoba and NW Ontario.  You can visit their website here.

Click here to read the articles by Marc and Don.

Sorry about the short notice, but the PWT Aikens Lake Celebrity Shootout is will air tonight on “The Outdoor Channel” at 8:00 PM eastern… with replay tomorrow and Wednesday.  Watch to see the top 10 walleye anglers from the 2006 PWT season compete in a celebrity pro-am tournament at Aikens Lake to benefit the Boomer Esiason Foundation for Cystic Fibrosis.  In all, over $100,000 was raised for the charity through this event!  Celebrities include actor Rick Schroder, Survivorman Les Stroud, Seahawks QB Dave Krieg, NHL’ers Kris King and Mike Gartner, pro poker players Robert Williamson III and Hoyt Corkins, the “Human Calculator” Scott Flansberg, and more!  You can read all about the event that happened from Sept 17-22, 2006 in the new issue of the Walleye In-Sider and in the Fish’n Line Magazine.  Look for links to these stories in our newsletter soon! The Outdoor Channel - Upcoming Episodes (Eastern Time):

For those of you who won’t be able to view this show, we are going to be including a copy of the DVD in our annual mailout later this month.  It should be in your mailbox before Christmas!  If you have never received materials in the mail from Aikens Lake, but would like to be included in this year’s mailout, please don’t hesitate to send us your address and phone number! 

Although November is our “time off”, we have been hard at work lining up our 2007 season! One of the things we have also done is set out our Sportshow Schedule for 2007. Here are the cities and dates. We hope to see you there! If you would like complimentary tickets to any one of these shows, please don’t hesitate to give us a call and we’ll set that up for you!

1. Kansas City Sportshow – Kansas City, MO

Gerry and Denis

Show Dates: Jan. 9-14, 2007 (Tuesday to Sunday)

Location: H. Roe Bartle Hall

         2. Denver International Sportsman’s Expo – Denver, CO

        Pit & Denis

Show Dates: Jan. 25-28, 2007 (Thursday to Sunday)

Location: Colorado Convention Center

3. Toronto Sportsman’s Expo - Toronto, ON

Pit & Julie

Show Dates: March 14-18, 2007 (Wednesday to Sunday)

Location: National Trade Centre, Exhibition Place Booth #908

4. Northwest Sportshow – Minneapolis, MN

Pit, Julie, Gerry and Denis

Show Dates: March 27 – April 1, 2007 (Tuesday to Sunday)

Location: Minneapolis Convention Centre