January 2007

Hi Clearlakers!

As I sit writing to you all, we are still awaiting the coming of winter. It has been a couple of months since you were here but the grass is still green, there are ducks just off the beach, the loon was swimming in front of the house, and a pair of bald eagles were sitting in the trees on the far shore. I would like to thank “El Nino” for the version of January we have seen so far.

Everyone here is fine. Our son, Nick, now 28 years old, is still working locally and is upset that the Steelers went from Super Bowl Champions to not making the playoffs. Brianne, at 23, is faring well in Toronto and is still working downtown in the insurance industry. Our 21-year-old daughter, Jillian, is in Waterloo finishing her fourth year at WLU and will graduate in June, an event that Rita’s dad, Tom, at 87 years old, is really looking forward to. Rita is still trying to get her feet back under her after all that happened last summer and I’m almost as good as new after having heart surgery at the end of July. (I had five bypasses and a hole in my heart stitched.) We want to thank all of you for your calls, cards, baskets, and offers of help. I know Jill really appreciated all the support she received from our Clearview family as she very capably ran the resort in our absence, especially the Vale, Wetmore, Smee, Spedler, and Allen families. A very special thank you goes to our neighbors (cottages #22, 23, & 24) who helped us in countless ways as well.

The spring started with a splash! Some thought it was Terry Wilkinson or one of his crew with another big fish in the water down by cottage #4 making all the noise, but it was Rita coming out of the depths. She’s not very big. I’m glad they didn’t throw her back! Victoria Weekend started well, but the weather deteriorated. For the first time ever, the Victoria Horseshoe Tournament was rained and hailed out. The fish didn’t care that it was wet. Tim Smith’s crew had a big fish fry and still everyone took home their count. By Memorial Weekend the weather had straightened out and the fishing was still hot. Paul Peyton’s gang had 31 walleye, a couple over five pounds. June saw the opening of muskie season. It was fun to watch the rivalry between John Rivera Senior and Junior. Junior was so keen to get out on the water he missed the boat, literally! According to John Senior, of the 11 muskies they had on that week they boated eight. The Kroger family were ready to declare the week’s Family Fish Champ until youngest son Mark walked up to the dam and came back with a 36-inch muskie on the final night.

The summer of 2006 was exceptional--great weather and lots of memories. There was so much to do, so much nature to enjoy, and the fresh air just seemed to relax you. The kids had such a hard time trying to decide between ping pong, air hockey, outdoor movies, shuffleboard, horseshoes, swimming, playing on the beach, using the paddleboats or canoes, being on the raft out on the water or on the playground equipment or just playing with new friends. It’s so overwhelming that 8-year-old Austin Seguin was heard to exclaim, “Can I go to bed now?”. Our games and bonfire nights were so capably run by our college students, Danielle and Michelle, that returning guest Connor Steele said, “The first thing I pack are my ‘Bloody Murder’ clothes. I wait all year for that game!” Our ever popular free, twice-weekly ski and tube sessions were mainly handled by my daughter Jill this year in our new ski boat. Everyone was impressed with both the boat and Jill’s prowess. Cody, Trenton, and Riley exclaimed, “We have to sit next to Jill and be her ‘co-pirates’. We like Jill’s boat better than Brian’s; it’s one of those boats without a lid.” It’s great to watch the kids challenge themselves. We had lots of first-time skiers like Jordan and Rob Allems, Christine Cohee, Conner Ritchie, Kristen Sullivan, Lindsay and Josh Steward, and Hanna Ridgewell. Josh Moss was able to ski slalom for the first time and Riley Hines was able to drop a ski. Tubing rides went in intensity from powder puff to suicide. Sam Fleck who went with Gary Browning declared, “I’m going to scream like a girl!”. Some other first timers were Amanda and Josh Hache, Chloe Grondin, Greg Jurisevic, Cathy Moore and Jeff Sprauge, Matt and Justin Sigurdson, Travis McElveny, Glenn and Andrew Stevanus, Karen Ritchie, Tristan and Ayla Royston, Owen and Sharilyn McGowan, Kate and Liam Akitt, Ainsley Harriman, Ryan Sullivan, and Jacob and Ciara Albrecht. Gil Jurchinson, at 50, thought tubing was so much fun he declared to all, “Never had an experience like that. It’s better than sex!” I wonder what his wife thought about that! There were lots of first-time knee boarders like Cassandra Giovinazzo, Zoe Riley, Jamie Laventure, Anne-Marie Hartford, Rachel Lucas, Carter Tate, Jon Henry Venema, Rachel Abela, Lauren and Meagan Lee, Katelyn Steele, Casey Tuck, Kaitlyn and Rosie Harmon, Sierra and Cheyenne Wing and Kelsey Gan.

The fall brought more great weather and lots of memories; the golf and fellowship of the O’Sullivan crew, the Georgetown Raiders hockey team swimming and playing in the paddle boats at 7 pm at the end of September, all the colours of the trees and the warm temperatures of Thanksgiving weekend enjoyed by the Oakville Rangers hockey team.

The results are in for our Annual Fishing Contest and the largest WALLEYE for the year was caught by DICK DOWNIE of Lakefield, ON, with an 8.5 pound monster on opening weekend. Mark Conrad, Mark Currie, Tom Saxton, and Roger Germain all had fish over five pounds and Mike Beiter’s was over four pounds. The largest BASS for the year was 4.8 pounds caught by RON SMITH of Scarborough, ON. Jeff Dixon, Luke Smith, Butch Berry, Tim Smith, and Brian Mannino had only slightly smaller fish. JOHN KUPECKI of Hamilton, ON, caught the largest MUSKIE for the year at 45.5 inches. He narrowly edged out Nick Rivera and Connor Ritchie. It was only a half an inch longer than the one KRISTEN DELPHI of Newburgh Heights, OH, caught to win the LADIES trophy. Honourable mention goes to Sara Coleman, Trina Philip, Linda Coleman, and Mariah Mammoletti. The largest KIDS (ten years old and under) fish for the year was caught by seven year-old ERIN KENNY of Thorold, ON, with a 2.2 pound bass that was caught off our gas dock. Honourable mention goes to Cassie Tuck, Corey Fuerth, Johnathan Estok, Shawn Wyse and Chris Kenny.

It is with sadness that we say a final good-bye to some of our dear members of the Clearview family, Jack and Judy Kellar, John Scott, Bill “Buttermaker” Smith, Ron Hutcheon, Len Barnes and Terry Patterson’s Mom. They will be greatly missed. On a happier note, we would like to welcome newcomers to the family, Emily Nicole Longlade, Samantha Sawyer and Aiden Rendek. We would also like to congratulate Phil and Trish Zan, Nick and Erin Forro, Kevin and Lisa Rodmell and Ed and Lisa Rendek on their marriages.

A brief paragraph for all those who are not familiar with our establishment. All our cottages have full bathrooms and full kitchens with all the equipment. However, kitchen and bath linens and paper products are not provided. There is a double bed in each bedroom complete with bedding, an automatic propane furnace and a double sofa bed in the living room. Every cottage has a screened porch, picnic table and full-size gas barbecue.

A brief paragraph for all those who are not familiar with our establishment. All our cottages have full bathrooms and full kitchens with all the equipment. However, kitchen and bath linens and paper products are not provided. There is a double bed in each bedroom complete with bedding, an automatic propane furnace and a double sofa bed in the living room. Every cottage has a screened porch, picnic table and full-size gas barbecue. High speed wireless internet is now available at our store for those who wish to bring their laptops.

As a reminder, our deadline for confirming the bookings you held last year is MARCH 1 for ALL cottage bookings. PLEASE NOTIFY US NO LATER THAN MARCH 1 BY PHONE OR MAIL. IF YOUR LETTER ARRIVES AFTER THE DEADLINE, YOUR COTTAGE MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE FOR YOU. In planning your summer reservations, be advised that our summer season starts with the opening of bass season, traditionally the last Saturday in June, which is June 30th this year. If your week was the third week of the summer last year, you would have arrived July 8, 2006, which corresponds with July 14, 2007. This being said, Labour Day has moved back a day, so there is one less week this summer. We would appreciate everyone’s flexibility.

Twenty-five years ago this February Rita and I quit our jobs in industry, got married and took over the reins at Clearview. We feel very fortunate to be able to have raised our family together in an environment with so many nice people around. Thank you all for making Clearview home. Thank you also for the endorsement that you forward to your friends and family that allows us to continue the high occupancy that we have historically enjoyed. All the best in 2007!

Regards,

THE HARRINGTON FAMILY

Brian, Rita, Nick, Brianne, & Jillian