The countdown is in full swing! Plans to open Aikens Lake Wilderness Lodge on May 6th are in motion. We are keeping our fingers crossed and hoping for warm weather to expedite the melting of a long winter’s ice. Some of you might recall our three day delay last year (knock on wood). With flood waters running rampant in Southern Manitoba, one can only guess as to what Mother Nature has in store for us. We will update you on the status of the ice as soon as more reports from up North come in.

In a perfect setting, here’s the short list of that first day’s events:

• Land in Back Bay
• Walk through assessment of the camp
• Fire up generator, quads and hot water system
• Open cabins and move in
• Set up communications
• Drop in two boats
• Fire up BBQ
• Eat
• Go fishing…
• Shower up
• Dream of the season ahead of us

Meanwhile, the office has been abuzz with Spring activity. Staff members reporting for duty, guests calling in for more Aikens info, various runs to all walks of suppliers… All this with under two weeks to go! 2009 is set to be another banner year for the lodge. Excited fishermen the world over are chomping at the bit, dreaming of their first cast of ‘09 season. We have numerous promotions and new staff members to announce. However, we are pleased to tell you that the bulk of the “Aikens Team” will be returning for this Summer’s operations.

Keep checking the newsletter  regularly as the number of new postings will be increasing once the season is underway.  Léo has been amassing a few Otter flights worth of equipment to upgrade the facilities at the lodge and at Great Gray Owl.  Many of these add-ons will be in place for our first  guests arrival on May 23th. This Spring is set to be a flurry of exciting work that will see the lodge become an even more inviting “Fishing Destination”.

T-minus a fortnight and the 2009 Master Angler count will be awaiting your entry on its highly sought-after pages.

Held at the historic Granite Curling Club, Aikens Lake Wilderness Lodge greeted 30 prominent business members from Winnipeg and offered them an “Aikens-Style” Shorelunch. This third annual Corporate Shorelunch offered its guest a short presentation about the advantages of choosing A.L.W.L. as a venue for their corporate retreats and meetings. Followed-up with a fresh walleye shorelunch and a chance to mingle with one another, this networking endeavour proved to be a success. But that’s not all… At trip for two to Aikens was drawn as a door prize and the lucky winner was Agostino Richichi from the Winnipeg Free Press.

Having hosted countless business groups through the years, Aikens is known for designing experiences perfectly matched to any company’s needs. Whether it be rewarding your top producers on your sales team, thanking long-term clients for their devoted business or organizing a truly unique “Team-Building” experience, a five-star fishing vacation at Aikens Lake Wilderness Lodge is the ideal way to show these important people their value towards your company. In such uncertain economic times as these, it is imperative to nurture business relations with clients, staff and suppliers to ensure a smooth navigation of the next few quarters. What better way to show these people their integral worth than thanking them with an unforgettable trip to one of the most pristine lakes in the Northern Hemisphere?

We’d like to thank all of the attendees for their presence, as well as the members of the Aikens staff who came out to lend a hand.  With plans to eventually expand the “Corporate Shorelunch” to different cities, we hope to have an opportunity to serve you a fresh dose the “Aikens Experience”.

Hi everyone,

The Aikens online newsletter is an ever-growing phenomenon.  Over the years, hundreds of people have bookmarked this webpage and check on it with great regularity… some even use it as a homepage!  It seems that many of our guests, staff, and volunteers truly enjoy checking in to see what is happening in the “Aikens World”.  To this end, we have an exciting new feature to launch!

At the top of this page, you will see this subscribe button:

If you click on this button, you will be given many options as to how you would like to receive your “Aikens News”.   This will save you the step of logging in every day to see if there is a new newsletter item!  If you already subscribe to RSS feeds (Really Simple Syndication), then you can add this newsletter to your list.  If you prefer to receive updates via email, then that option is there too.  Either way, you get immediate updates whenever new items are posted on the site!

The web has become a place where people can read on just about any subject in the world!  The tough part is to find all these sites and look them up on a regular basis.  However, with this new feature our news gets delivered right to your computer!  So sign up today, it’s a great feature!