Egg Harbor Lodge News

This weekend begins the 9 day deer hunt all over Wisconsin.  Now before anyone gets all bent out about killing innocent deer, let me tell you that my family alone has hit 6, yes 6 deer with cars.  Luckily no one was hurt.  I myself hit a ten point buck and I had my elderly aunt in the front seat. I totaled my mini van.  The DNR regulates the hunt to pare the deer herd down to a manageable number each year.  I wasn’t a big fan of guns so when our oldest son Josh was 12, I decided I had better take the Hunters Safety Class with him.  The class is a requirement for all hunters.  Now everyone in our family (except Em) hunts.  We have “Deer Camp” in our barn each night where all the local hunters stop and tell their deer stories.  We eat out in the barn each night and the boys even sleep out there.  We have a TV, music, frig, food (there is a stove) and refreshments all in our barn. 

Here we are at Deer Camp 2007… Joe, Nellie, Me, Josh, Emilie and Mark

Deer hunting is a really nice bonding experience for families.  Our family is all about safety first.  There are of course the few hunters that give other hunters a bad name… namely the ones who drink alcohol and hunt.  In Door County, we have not encountered this.  Everyone we know is extremely careful.  By the way we live in the town of Egg Harbor, which is on the outskirts of the village.  There isn’t hunting permitted in the village.  This is true with all of Door County… hunting is only allowed in rural areas.  There is also no hunting allowed in the state parks. So ladies, please come visit Door County this weekend for your Christmas shopping.  Other than at the gas stations, you won’t even know we hunters are around!

So this weekend when all the other wives are shopping, I will be in my tree stand reading a book and looking forward to lunch (I have made homemade Chicken Dumpling Soup).  At night, we will celebrate with stories and more food… I can’t think of anything better than to hang with my family… other than maybe bagging a big buck!

Today our Green Bay Packers are playing the Chicago Bears. Our gardener Jerry was picked to do the Crunch Time Catch before the game. The competition gives two players a chance to try and catch a 30 yard punt and if they catch that then a 60 yard punt with a chance to win prizes along with two free tickets to the game. Jerry gets a once in a lifetime chance to be on Lambeau Field AND be on the Jumbotron!  No word on if Jerry caught her punts or not… we hope so!

Here is my recipe for Packer Game Bloody Marys…

 Clamato juice

decent vodka-2 to 3 shots (depending on glass size)

a teaspoon of horseradish

a squeeze of lemon

a couple splashes of Worcestershire

a couple shakes of Tabasco

Use a lemon to moisten the top of a large glass.  Rim the glass with celery salt add the other ingredients garnish with a pickle or pickled asparugus and voila’ a perfect Bloody Mary.

By the way, we bought two more kayaks so our guests at Egg Harbor Lodge with be able to borrow any of our three kayaks. Two of the kayaks are two person.  We are going to leave a truck at Egg Harbor Lodge and we can either drop guests off at the beach or they can take the truck.  The village of Egg Harbor bought an adjoining piece of property next to the beach so guests can park and pull the kayak in on the boat launch.  It is really easy and a ton of fun.  I am also purchasing a new tennis ball machine so guests can hit against the machine which is also a lot of fun.

Yesterday, Sevastopol High School’s FFA sponsored a blood drive.  Our Joe is in FFA and low and behold when I arrived to give blood, who was there in the process- Joe!  It was his first time donating and apparently his blood is so good they took double… not sure why. 

I just missed Joe’s cousin Kimberly Sawyer- Miss Door County.  Her platform is Give Blood, Save a Life.  Blood transfusions saved the life of our oldest Josh when he had leukemia when he was little.  So needless to say donating blood is a good deed near and dear to our hearts.  I was pretty proud of Joe and all of his friends who gave blood yesterday.  Nice job kids!

Today we celebrate Veteran’s Day- (the 11th day of the 11th month by the way) and I know I speak for most Americans when I say how thankful we are for our veterans.  A big thank you to all of our vets… if you see a veteran today, make sure to tell him or her how much we appreciate their sacrifice for our country. So from all of us at Egg Harbor Lodge THANK YOU!

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We took our staff out to dinner Saturday night to celebrate the end of another great season at Egg Harbor Lodge.  All of our kids (Josh and his wife Carissa, Nellie, Emilie and Joe) were able to be there which was really nice.  We usually have our party at the Mill Supper Club and this year was no different… not only do they have really good food, Shelly and Don Petersilka are close friends of ours.  We ordered off the menu and everybody had a really nice meal.  I think I have said this before but Don makes the best old-fashioneds in Door County!

Mary Haen, Jeanne Henkel, Linda Shealey (in front), Mary Junion, Me and our gardener Jerry Schimmelpfennig

Patty Bley, Charlene Bader and Emily Bley (Patty’s daughter) with Nellie… they helped out in the fall when we got a bit short of help.  Once the high school kids go back to school all the businesses in Door County struggle for help.  We lucked out!  We could never run a successful business without the hard work and dedication of our staff.  They treat  EHL as if it were there own which is just amazing.  They also have a lot of fun while they work and we hear a  lot of laughing which is just great.  Everyone seems to get along and Mark and I are really thankful for such a great staff who we consider friends.

Shelly, Allison and Don Petersilka behind the bar at the Mill Supper Club.  People wonder what a “Supper Club” is.  It usually means a restaurant with a full bar that is only open in the evenings. They usually have a full menu of American style food…Prime Rib, steaks, chicken, seafood and of course the Friday night Fish Fry which is said to have originated in Wisconsin.  Many times this type of restaurant is large enough to hold weddings and parties. We have been to many fun weddings at The Mill. 

Our main housekeepers will work this morning to get everything ready for the final closing.  We hope to finish at noon and then we will head to John Henry’s in Egg Harbor for lunch.  John Henry’sis really casual and he makes excellent homemade soup.  I’ll give you the lowdown tomorrow.

We will start to spring clean in April.  I think everyone will enjoy their well-deserved break!  This winter I will keep busy working on improvements and marketing for the lodge.  I will take reservations from home and get ready for the 2009.  I will continue blogging about Door County happenings… there is still a lot going on even though some places close for the winter.