Stanley's Blog

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

May 19 Covid 19 update

Well we expected this.... The US and Canadian governments have extended the border closure till June 21st. So that means anyone who was scheduled to arrive prior to those dates will have to cancel / re-schedule.
If you were one of those who's dates are now not possible, we do have some openings for later in July / August / September. You can check availability online at anytime, and if you find a spot that you would like to reserve, you can call / email us, or reserve it online right away. Now to do the online booking you do have to put a credit card in, but it does not get charged. This just stops the web bots and spammers. We can transfer over any deposits to the new booking. If you cannot make any other dates this summer, your same cabin / week are guaranteed, and we can mover your entire deposit over to 2021.
Now just a little bit of logistics here. June 21st is a Sunday, so if things open as planned, and we generally find out several days before, the groups schedules to arrive Saturday June 20th, could make the shortened week and arrive on Sunday June 21st. Just a thought.
This has been a bumpy road for all of us, and we are as disappointed of not being able to see our guests as you are for not being able to make your planned dates. Let's hope and pray that this will be the last hurdle to jump before we can start this season.
Take care and stay safe!

posted by Stanley's Resort at 9:06 PM

Monday, May 18, 2020

May 18 Covid 19 update

Happy Victoria Day. Today is a national holiday in Canada, so there was no real new releases today. The big news that we are waiting for is the re-opening of the border. Currently the border restrictions are scheduled to be lifted on May 21st. The last deadline on April 21st they announced a few days prior that the will be extending it. So we are all expecting some king of announcement shortly as to what will happen. There have been wide spread rumors in the media that the US and Canada will announce another 30 day extension, BUT we have not heard anything official as of yet....

Somehow I have a feeling the rumors may turn out to be true, and we may see another push back to the 21st of June......

I will provide and additional update this week as any more news becomes available.

All of these decisions are out of our hands, so we are keeping positive and being thankful for our health and family. An incredible thing did happen yesterday. I was able to go out fishing on opening weekend for the first time in my entire life! We had a great day on the water with Chantal and Ally all catching their personal best walleyes. It was just beautiful weather and topped off a fantastic day.

Attached are some photos for yesterday. The water level going thru the rapids is good, and it is easy navigating. A bear was helping unwrap one of the boats at Walleye lake portage. Some fishing pictures (all were released) and a shot of the Lynx walking out of camp this morning.

Take care and stay safe!











posted by Stanley's Resort at 9:23 PM

Monday, May 11, 2020

May 11 Covid 19 update

Well it has been a bitter cold Monday, with a bone chilling strong north wind blowing all day. I guess it is all fitting with the announcements that Ontario has made today. The Ontario government has extended their Emergency Order till June 2nd. This Emergency Order effectively prevents us from opening, even though the border may re-open earlier than that. So what does that mean for you? Well if you have reservations to arrive before June 2nd, then those will unfortunately have to be canceled.  I can't say we are all surprised here in Ontario. The Premier all along has told us it will be a long and slow process.  If you are one of those early arriving guests prior to June 2nd, we do have many openings now through late spring and into the summer or fall if you we considering pushing your trip to a later date in the season. Check the online availability or contact us anytime.

So where do we go from here....We'll we are on the path to opening in Ontario, but it is slow. Our daily numbers of new cases is dropping, I believe we were under 300 for the entire province of 14.5 million the other day, compared to say Illinois which saw 1600 new cases for a population of 12.7 million. Ontario's has had 20,500 confirmed cases where as Illinois has seen  79,000 cases. We still have zero active cases right here in our district.

So what are my thoughts about what is next? I personally think that the extension of the Emergency Order to June 2nd, may be the last extension that we see. I am hopeful also that the border would open on it's set date as well. It would be one less hurdle that we have to deal with once Ontario decides that our business sector can open. That is my personal assessment, and as always there are tons of scientific & political factors that sway all these decisions. I have been completely caught off guard by some of the decisions, made, I am sure it could happen again.

Well not the news that we were all looking for, but ultimately your health and safety is the most important thing.

Stay safe everyone!

posted by Stanley's Resort at 9:18 PM

Monday, May 4, 2020

May 4 Covid 19 Update

Ontario has been doing very well in it's reduction of new cases of Covid 19. We still have been seeing new cases arise in Southern Ontario, but those numbers are dropping. So just some geography for everyone, Ontario is 1.5X the size of Texas, with a population of just over 14.5 million people. So we are a big province, but turning a corner for the good.

The Ontario Government continued laying out re-opening plans. They are making small calculated steps to ensure that we don't re-enter a second wave. It is slow going and sometimes frustrating for us, as we have no roadmap to follow and plan for. Especially for many of our guest who have set dates that will soon have to decide whether it is a go / no-go situation. Every day a new press release will shine some light on new details that are in the works, but again these are only small indications of what may happen in the near future.  A big issue with Ontario residents is the government is keeping people away from their lake cabins, and has banned all camping right now. The Premier hinted that this may be relaxed in a couple of weeks, but no guarantees.

So again we wait and see. We are on the road to opening,  so I will take that as a good start to May. With the ice going off the lake this weekend, that is another good step in the right direction. The next few weeks will be key to see how many restrictions that are in place will be lifted.

I hope everyone stays safe and healthy and has a beautiful spring. Good think the ice did go out when it did. This week will be cooler the normal, with the nights dipping well below freezing levels!! I am ready for some warmer weather!

posted by Stanley's Resort at 9:40 PM

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