January 2, 2021
It might be safe to say that we needed to put 2020 in our rearview mirror and start to look ahead to better times. When Covid-19 first fell upon us, we certainly could not have foreseen what laid ahead for our country and the world in facing this pandemic. While Covid has been terrible for all of us it has been brutal for the hospitality and travel industry as a whole and will eventually leave many shuttered businesses. For us it started on March 15 when we closed operations for two months, eventually re-opening again in Mid-May. During the first three months of the pandemic, we saw hundreds of cancellations for our upcoming summer season and quite frankly, questioned whether we would be able to survive. With some improvement leading into summer and having pools re-open on June 13, we sensed a bit of hope but continued to be somewhat surprised and overwhelmed by the large number of cancellations, especially amongst our long-time guests. During this down time, we worked very hard at developing our cleaning and sanitizing protocols on the resort in the hope that eventually we would see our guests again begin to return. What did happen was also a surprise, as many, many people did start to call; brand new guests, people we had not seen in years, or those just looking to escape the difficult times in the Twin Cities. It was not a normal summer for us, however, with limited capacity at the pools, mask requirements, the eventual cancellation of our beloved duck race season, and many shorter and last-minute stays. Because of the additional safety needs and cleaning, combined with the many shorter stays, we found ourselves much busier than normal, when we tend to work with many more weeklong stays. We were blessed with an exceptional crew of young people working in housekeeping and on the resort, who showed up every day and did an outstanding job. We could not have pulled off this difficult season without them!!! We also found ourselves with an incredible new group of first-time guests who had the opportunity to enjoy our property and beautiful Sylvan Lake. Many found that the resort vacation was the perfect place to social distance, spend time with the kids, relax, or just enjoy a Minnesota lake vacation. We saw the season carry into the fall, having our October guests take in amazing fall colors here in the Brainerd Lakes Area. Because of so many wonderful new guests and the many regulars who again enjoyed a summer vacation at Kavanaugh’s we indeed did survive the season and look forward to a much better 2021, as we begin a return to normalcy. We are so thankful for every guest who visited this year that it is hard to even express our gratitude. As we wind down this holiday season, we realize that things are different for everyone, but our family wishes for all of you to be safe and joyful in the upcoming year. We want you to know that we are so happy to be able to offer a place where you can come and relax with family and friends and hope you visit us during 2021. We want you to consider us for you summer family vacation or just visit us for a short, quiet getaway. Whenever you visit us next, we look forward to seeing you!