Sand Lake is one of the more aggressively stocked lakes for walleye in the state of Minnesota. Lakewood Lodge, the MN DNR and the Sand Lake Assoc work closely to continue to improve Sand Lake as a Great fishery. This clip shows the DNR stocking Sand Lake via the boat launch at Lakewood Lodge. This is one of 4 drops performed. At this one drop there were approximately 10,600 walleye fingerlings stocked. In all, Sand Lake received about 40,000 fingerlings this Fall.

Walleye Stocking of Sand Lake Fall on 2009!

We are receiving a lot of e-mails from customers asking us to send them pictures of the resort and lake covered in snow. Here are a few photos of what the winter looks like at Lakewood Lodge!

Snowmobiling at Lakewood Lodge!	Entering Lakewood Lodge for winter fun!
Sand Lake froze and covered in snow still offers lots of winter fun!	Our winterized cabins offer all the amenities and warmth from the cold
Lakewood Lodge from Sand Lake.	Lakewood Lodge from Sand Lake.
Lakewood Lodge from Sand Lake.

2009 Christmas Letter

We had another good year at Lakewood Lodge and it was great to see and meet all of our guests despite the cool and rainy weather we had most of the summer. We enjoy each and every week we spend with you.

We are not planning on any major building projects to Lakewood Lodge this fall and winter. We will do the normal maintenance and make some improvements. Like I said last year, I was bound and determined to get the grass growing around the resort. So last spring we broke down and had “black dirt” hauled in along with grass seed and now we have grass!!! We do have a few definite things that have happened or will be happening and quite a few things we would like to do. Be assured, we will always have our hands in some sort of improvement.

Some of the definite projects are that we have added campfire rings to cabins 2, 3, 7 and 8. We have replaced the tub and shower in cabin 3, which ended up being a major remodel project. We painted cabin 2. We have also decided to remove the outdoor trash cans by all the cabins. We are going to have large dumpsters at each end of the resort for the garbage. Removing the trash cans sure does make the outside look a lot cleaner and will keep the unwanted visitors away from the cabins. We have also added large trash cans to the beach area which was a suggestion left on a comment card. After reading through all the comment cards there was one suggestion made numerous times, a volleyball court and a place for teenagers to hang out. We are looking at bringing in more sand for the playground area and extending it so we can put a net up for volleyball, badminton, etc. We are trying to come up with other outdoor games we could put into this area and make it a recreation area and a place for the kids to hang out. If anyone has any ideas please let us know, we would appreciate the help. We will also be adding new sand to the beach. We thank you for filling out your comment card and want to let you know that we take all comments and suggestions into consideration. Comments like beach chairs, fish rulers in boats, a bench on the end of docks, baby swings, larger beach area, paved basketball court, larger TV’s and more cooking items supplied in kitchens have been recorded. We understand each suggestion and have looked into all these things. Some things can not be done right now but are in our list of to do’s. I am sure other suggestions will be addressed after this letter goes out and before the season begins.

We have to say that one comment that is continually left is our check in and check out time. The check in and check out time will remain the same for this season: check-in not before 3 PM and check out by 8:30 AM. We know that you are excited to get your vacation started and we want you to have a great time but we also want your cabin, the grounds and boats to be properly cleaned and maintained. We take great pride in the cleanliness of our resort. Early arrivals only slow us down and we can not let you in to your cabin and you can not be on the grounds until you have registered at the lodge per insurance. The time we have to take away from our work to get you signed in counts against the next group being able to get into their cabin on time. So please remember after 3 PM. We feel these times are inline with the resort industry and are the bare minimum for us to properly prepare the resort. Please remember NO EARLY ARRIVALS!

Remember to keep an eye on our website for updates, things happening at the resort, rates and videos plus what is happening at the resort at www.lakewoodlodge.com and to sign up for e-mail specials (you never know you could be chosen as the winner on our e-mail specials drawing). If you have not been on our website in awhile there are a couple of new features. First, we have added a blog where we will post interesting happenings and you can comment on them if you like. Second, you will see the addition of several videos. The first release of videos contains minnow race clips, tubing, stocking the lake, guides tips and others.

We appreciate all the comments and suggestions left on the comment cards. The winner of the comment card and $100 off 2010’s vacation is Eric and Karissa Funk. The winner of our fourth annual Lakewood Lodge Fishing Contest and the $100 off gift certificate is Tina Zelinka. The drawing for $50 off gift certificate out of all that entered in the fishing contest is Dave Morris. Our top 3 entries for each species of fish entered in the contest will be receiving their $25 gift certificate in the mail. The winner of the trolling motor from attending our fishing seminars, donated by Tom Neustrom is Rich and Char Mathies. In 2010 Tom will be giving away an on-board charging system. Congratulations to all.

We will continue our activities during the prime season. The fish fry pot luck is a huge success on Mondays along with the minnow races and the Baggo tournament. We will keep brain storming through the winter and maybe more activities will be added. Again, we would appreciate any suggestions you may have.

Here’s another little reminder. If you are interested in having a fishing guide during your stay with us they need to be booked in advance. We can try to get you a guide on a short notice but the chances are slim as they do book up quickly. We highly recommend MN Fishing Pros at www.mnfishingpros.com and Tom Neustrom at www.mnfishingconnections.com. If you do book a guide we would like to know so we know who is coming in and on which day they will be here.

Something new we are doing this year is the Minneapolis Sports Show March 24 - 28 in booth 740. If anyone is at the show stop by a say hi! We would love to see you there.

We would like to remind you that we are open year round. If you are looking at getting away and enjoying the Northwoods winter beauty, ice fishing, snowmobiling, skiing or just want to get away to relax please give us a call. Remember if you stay with us twice in the same calendar year you will get $50 off your second week stay.

We would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and we also want thank you for your business and for being our guests and friends at Lakewood Lodge. We hope to see each and every one of you again for many years to come.

Your Hosts,
Steve, Danielle, Stevie and Cole Casselman

PS For all of our guests that dealt with the bear issues at the resort this last season. Good news, we caught him and he has been relocated. We have pictures and a video of the process at the resort and on our website under the activities page on the bottom of the page.