The Old Post and Village


November 11, 2009
What a difference a year can make for any family and the Grace’s are no exception.
Jordan is back in school after taking a year off, going to Fanshawe College in a General Arts and Science Program and is planning to move on to Recording Arts Technology.
Joel graduated from High School this spring, and after guiding all summer is enjoying the freedom of going off to University to follow his passion for music and the arts.
Jonathon has taken flight again. He has left to tour Asia for the next three months full of a thirst for adventure and challenge and, as always, wanting to experience first hand the world around him.
And myself, I must say I did struggle with my enthusiasm for politics for about a year but I have caught the fever and passion again and look forward to jumping in with both feet and taking on additional challenges. I’m looking forward to running for Deputy Mayor again in 2010.
I think Wendy, on one hand, is enjoying the “empty nest” but still struggles as far as excess food supplies are concerned. I still catch her buying enough groceries to feed a family of five. I’ve had to stop teasing her about this as she’s obviously in withdrawal with not having all of her boys plus numerous friends to feed. The dog is starving due to lack of those food scraps she had previously found on the floor. Marley also misses the attention that the boys have given her since her arrival in our family 7 years ago.
Plans for 2010 will see a new roof on the store and dining room. But most interesting, will be the Old Post turning green. We have built four huge compost bins for not only the kitchen but customers to use. We are investigating solar panels to be used on selected buildings around camp and hope to purchase an additional generator with significantly lower outputs enabling us to integrate alternative energy sources such as solar and possibly wind. This will lower our dependency on diesel fuel for the larger generators.
Although the economy this year was very challenging, we see glimmers of hope not only for the US economy but also here in Canada. We really need to thank those who were fortunate enough to make the trip north this last summer and hope to see you again for the next fishing season.
Our guide staff is ever changing but we are excited for those, like Big Mike, who have moved on to different adventures, challenges and new careers. We still maintain a consistent group of guides and with the addition last year of Neil and son Joel we are looking forward to another young man, Dan Cooper, injecting some new enthusiasm. These guys are keen as hell. Both Dan and Neil study at Sir Sanford Fleming College in the Fish and Wildlife Program and we’re happy to have them on board.
The 2010 fishing season will bring the guide compliment to 5 competent and experienced staff. Add to this our alternate guide and weather man from Pickle Lake, Roy Hoffman, who has been with us at The Old Post since we started 23 years ago.
Have a look at our website and see if you can find your picture or picture of your group. We would really love to have more pictures we can post on our website of your trip to The Old Post. We’ve started a youtube account attached to our website so we are looking for video footage that we can stream on youtube. This should all be up and running within the next three or four weeks.
Well as I wrap up this fall’s newsletter and reflect on the past fishing season, we definitely haven’t lost the quality of fishing that we have experienced over the years. I think it’s even gotten better. This is primarily due to our conservation efforts; barbless and good fish handling and release practices; advances in equipment technology such as GPS, rods and reels and, of course, our exemplary guide staff. All in all, it was a great year at The Old Post and Village on Lake St. Joseph.
Wendy and I would like to wish our American friends a Happy Thanksgiving.

John