Newsletter

The Willow Beach New's Vol. 12 No. 1, January 1, 2008

Keeping You Connected To Your Home Away From Home

Hope We'll See You Again in 2008!

The Gage family, once again, hopes that you and yours have had a wonderful holiday season and that the coming year brings you much joy & happiness. 2007 has, overall been a good year for the Gages with the exception of the death of our beloved cat, Keesha. Keesha was an unfortunate victim of the Menu Foods pet food poisoning scandal. She is dearly missed. The arrival of Lisa’s new puppy, Tux(edo) has taken the edge off the loss of the cat. He’s a cute and cuddly little guy and lots of fun to be around. Lisa moved to Peterborough after accepting a job with Kinark Family Services, so now she’s closer to home and can visit and bring the “grand-puppy” with her.

Winter Vacation Anyone??
Winter has arrived early this year – Don & Marie came back from their late November vacation to a foot and a half of snow!! Thanks to Gord and Lynn who spent much time shovelling while we were gone. We’ve never seen this much snow at the beginning of December in the 12 winters we have spent here...and it just seems to keep on coming. We got another foot on December 16th!!

So.. Come on up and spend some time falling in love with winter. We can set you up with a cross country ski or dogsledding package .... Or perhaps you just want to kick back and relax in front of the fire and take walks outdoors and make snow angels? Whatever your choice give us a call and we’ll help you arrange the details.

Carefree Cottaging
Are you one of those people who would love to own your own cottage but, either can’t afford it or just don’t have the time or the inclination to keep up with the maintenance and repair? Then our Carefree Cottaging option is made just for you. Carefree Cottaging is a package of days or weeks, or combination of days and weeks, at Willow Beach Cottages, in a private cottage you can call your "own". It is an alternative to cottage ownership or fractional ownership that saves you money and gives you more options! Check out our website for more details: www.willowbeach.com and click on the carefree cottaging page.


Don’t worry, the availability of this option will not in any way affect the services to those of you who do not choose this option....it is simply an alternative for those who wish to be frequent visitors to Willow Beach Cottages or the Haliburton region

What’s New???
We once again had a very busy spring season. The following upgrades have been completed in the past year:
Cottage #1 got a new couch, new curtains and had kitchen floor repaired
Cottage #2 got new laminate flooring in the kitchen and new patio door drapes
Cottage #3 got the double bedroom redecorated, a new kitchen counter top and new living room chairs
Cottage #4 got a new laminate kitchen floor, new kitchen counter top, & redecorating in kitchen and bedrooms including new carpet in bedrooms. In the fall it was also levelled and a brand new patio door added!
Cottage #5 got a new side chair
Cottage #6 got a new side chair in living room
Cottage #7 got a new pull out couch and decorating of the double bedroom
Cottage #8 got new living room chairs and a wardrobe for one bedroom
Cottage #9 got new carpet throughout and new verticals in living room
Cottage #10 got new single beds and a new wardrobe in double bedroom
Cottage #11 got new single beds and a new wardrobe for one bedroom
Cottage #12 got a new bathroom floor
New roof on shed near Rec Hall
Many cottages got new fireplace screens
Two BBQs were replaced

Possible Changes for 2008
We’re just starting to think about renovations and additions for the 2008 year .... So, now would be the time to let us know what you’d like to see in “your” cottage.

The insurance company is making some “noise” about having a CSA approved playground. We are looking into this but, it is a very expensive endeavour! Not sure what the outcome will be so stay tuned.

Summer Bookings
If you pre-booked a cottage for the summer of 2008 we have already mailed this newsletter and the confirmation request to you, with the deposit being due February 1st, 2008. If you have not received this please let us know immediately. If you know before this date that you will not be confirming the booking we would appreciate a call or email to cancel the reservation – we have many people waiting to hear if there is space and your early notification would be appreciated by them.

Midweek Senior’s Discount
Seniors (over 55) now qualify for a 10% rate reduction on midweek reservations occurring in Winter, Spring or Fall seasons – so, tell all your mature friends to come and see us midweek and save!!

Launching of a New Look for Our Website
Our website was created 10 years ago and needed an updated look in order to be functional in today’s market place. So, we engaged the services of Techwyse to develop the new look .... At the time of writing of the newsletter we are in the final stages of development and hope it will be there by the time you receive this ... check it out at www.willowbeach.com and let us know what you think. We now have a better set up for our resort blog and would love to have you send us submissions .... All about the fun time your family had while here, including pictures. Help out our marketing efforts by choosing to bookmark the site using one of the social networking programs (you’ll find the links on the blog).

New Spa
The Wind in the Willows Day Spa has undergone both a transformation and a relocation during the past year. It is now located a bit further down the road but, is much larger and capable of providing a bigger variety of services. Check out our website to see a picture of the new couples massage room!! Wow ..... What a great place to relax and reconnect with a loved one www.willowbeach.com/spaservices.html