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North Woods lodges abound with rustic charmBy Betty Stark
Modeled after turn-of-the-20th Century Adirondack camps in upstate New York, Stout's Island Lodge is about as "Up North" as they come. Frank Demming Stout, a Chicago businessman and heir to a lumber fortune, built the then 31-room retreat in the early 1900s for his family, moving them and their servants to northern Wisconsin each summer. The island sanctuary he created for $1.5 million is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Still a rustic showplace fashioned with four-inch-thick plank floors, cedar logs imported from Idaho and carved beams all the way from Germany, Stout's elegantly woodsy "summer cottage" continues to catch the eye of companies seeking a unique place to conduct serious corporate business. Cozy guest rooms outfitted with antiques and reproductions accommodate groups of up to 60 people in the historic Main Lodge, Shore Lodge and surrounding cabins. All have private baths and many have fireplaces and/or screen porches. In a nod to present-day demands, full meeting support services are available in each location, including wireless Internet (the guest rooms, however, do not have telephones or TVs). The lodge is open from late May through October and is accessible by private ferry from the resort mainland dock. Fortunately for present-day companies looking for breath-of-fresh-air retreats, northern Wisconsin has proven to be an excellent destination for out-of-the-office meetings without the hassle of air travel. Eighty-five years ago, Standard Oil (the company that is now BP/Amoco) came to that same conclusion when they acquired their corporate retreat, the Red Crown Lodge, on Trout Lake near Arbor Vitae. The private and exclusive property served as a classy summer camp of sorts for the company's top executives from the Chicago headquarters. Weekends at the lodge meant meetings until noon followed by rounds of golf at the Trout Lake Golf Course (also partly owned by Amoco) or fishing on Trout Lake. Standard Oil became Amoco, which in turn was absorbed by British Petroleum a few years ago, and the appeal of a cushy northern Wisconsin retreat was lost on the England-based owners. Today the property, privately owned by a partner in the Hammes Corporation, is outfitted and available for corporate meetings, training sessions and board retreats. At the Red Crown Lodge, thirty-six guest rooms with private baths in four rustic log lodges and conferencing facilities for groups of 18 to 75 people are reserved exclusively for the use of the guest corporation. Each of the four lodges has a great room, bar, fireplace, lakeside patio, and other amenities. Another corporate retreat on a small lake about 35 miles north of Hayward owes its existence to the entrepreneurial spirit of a young University of Minnesota graduate named Curt Carlson and the runaway success of his brainchild, Gold Bond Stamps. Carlson conceived and launched the Gold Bond concept in 1938, building it into a loyalty marketing powerhouse that some say was the forerunner to airline frequent flyer programs. In the early 1960s Carlson built Minnesuing Acres, a rustic and sprawling 40-room complex that served both as a gathering place for the sizeable Carlson family clan and a place to hold rousing Gold Bond sales meetings. Today, the rustic and roomy lodge, still owned by the Carlson mega-corporation that includes Radisson Hotels, restaurants, cruise ships, travel companies and lots more, offers a variety of options for corporations looking for an exclusive meeting facility. Given Carlson's long history in the lodging industry, it's no surprise that Minnesuing Acres offers 40 rustic and well-appointed guest rooms in various configurations including a private home on an island in Lake Minnesuing. Spacious meeting facilities include a large conference room complete with advanced AV systems, high-speed wired and wireless Internet access, and breakout rooms. Minnesuing's on-site meeting planners also encourage holding meetings outdoors, on the large patio or even on a pontoon boat on the lake. Theme dinners, team-building events, and plenty of leisure-time facilities - there's an indoor lap pool and swimming pool, hot tubs, and bowling alley, plus plenty to do outside - all carry the trademark Carlson emphasis on hospitality. Along with fresh air, the heady scent of soaring pines and clear star-studded nights, the history of Up North retreats adds to their allure. At Dillman's Bay Resort on White Sand Lake near Lac du Flambeau, the seventy-five year history carries the Dillman name throughout. Since 1934, when Marvin and Peg Dillman bought the resort from Peg's parents, it has been operated by daughters and their husbands. Sue Robertson (a Dillman daughter) and her husband Dennis currently operate the property along with the Robertsons' daughter Stephanie and her husband. Today the resort offers a wide variety of accommodations including a nine-bedroom guesthouse, condominiums and townhouses, a contemporary motel, a rustic pine-paneled motel built in the 1940s, and chalets. The Robertsons work closely with clients to achieve the ideal mix of rooms and meeting facilities. Though the Konkapot Lodge in the northeast town of Bowler cannot lay claim to the decades of history that distinguish many Up North retreats, most of the owners and staff at the 28-room massive log lodge go way back. They are descendants of Popnewannehah "John" Konkapot, a Mohican Chief who served as a Selectman in General Washington's Army during the American Revolution. Konkapot was built in 1997 of logs salvaged from the Stockbridge-Munsee Reservation from a "blow down," an area created by severe high winds. The handcrafted soaring beamed ceiling and massive stone fireplace of the lodge's great room create an inviting woodsy atmosphere. There's a board room accommodating 12, and after-hours activities include golf, white water rafting and a visit to the North Star Casino located a couple of minutes away. When you're ready to move your meeting away from the home office, consider one of these unique options instead of the standard four-walls-and-a-door. There's nothing like the bracing fresh air of a North Woods hideaway to get corporate creative juices flowing. Betty Stark is a Madison travel industry consultant and business travel writer with 25 years' experience. travelingwriter1@aol.com madison.com ©2009 Capital Newspapers. All rights reserved. |
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