Stevenson Lodge
1840 Lower Craigmont Rd K0J 1L0 Combermere, ON, Canada

The Stevenson family would like to wish our American friends and guests a very happy 4th of July!! Circumstances this year have kept you from joining us in Combermere for some vacation time!! We definitely miss you all. If you have a favourite memory you’d like to share please do so. I’ll pass them along to Brian and Ralph (post written by Bev Brewer Stevenson). Take care and stay safe everyone!!

Stevenson Lodge is excited to announce that the Provincial government has given the go ahead for businesses like ours to reopen effective June 5th. We are looking forward to meeting up again with our extended Stevenson Family and to welcoming some new guests into the mix. However, as with most things these days, we have to make some changes to ensure that we are following restrictions still in place and taking the necessary measures to ensure the safety and comfort of our g...uests, our staff and of our own family. This year we will NOT be providing bedding/pillows. Please make sure you bring your own sheets, blankets/sleeping bags and pillows. We will still provide tablecloths, tea towels and dish cloths. In order to ensure our cleaning staff have enough time to thoroughly clean and disinfect each cabin, we ask that all guests be out of their cabins by 10:00am and not check in until 4:00pm. Before checking out of your cabin please ensure that all food/beverages are out of the fridge and cupboards. Our beautiful beach is available to guests; however provincial restrictions are still in place with respect to social distancing. We have also made the difficult decision to not open the Lodge guest rooms this summer. The main house of the Lodge is also our family home and due to personal health considerations we are keeping the main Lodge building/office closed this year. Brian, Ralph and Bev are always around somewhere!! We are asking that if you can’t find one of us and need to speak with us, simply knock on the outside Lodge door or phone us. We are also encouraging guests to pay by e-transfer; however cheques and cash are still accepted. We look forward to seeing everyone over the next few months!! If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact Brian at 613-756-3505.

Well it’s the May Long Weekend and it’s very quiet around here!! Usually the cabins would be full and there would be lots of activities on the go. Today (Sunday) we would be busy down at the beach getting the fireworks set up for the evening show. For over 30 years the Fry family and their extended family spent the May long weekend here and were the ones who started the fireworks tradition. They would take 14 of the 15 cabins - all BUT cabin #4. Cabin 4 has been reserved for ...Dorothy Bruce who has been coming up every May long weekend, a week in July and Thanksgiving weekend for the past 65+ years - has never missed in all those years. So even though it’s different this year, our guests have provided us with many laughs and memories to cherish and reminisce over. I’m including a photo of a picture that hangs in a place of honour in our kitchen. Evan drew this for me and it’s the fireworks on our beach on the Sunday of the May long weekend. Thanks Evan - this is a wonderful reminder of what is to come. Stay safe everyone! See more

This year, as we approach the May long weekend, things are much quieter at Stevensons. However, we are keeping busy doing the outside work and the Spring cabin cleaning. We continue to monitor what is happening around the world and within our community as COVID-19 impacts our lives and businesses. Most importantly we hope that everyone is staying safe at home. For those who are essential workers or have family members that are, our deepest and heartfelt THANKS go out to you...! We don’t know when we will be open for business yet but as soon as the government and health authorities decide we are able to open, we will be ready to welcome back our guests to experience hopefully a better version of cabin fever. There are still some vacancies in July and August so if you know of anyone who would like to get away please pass this along. Until we can see each other again, please stay home, stay safe and remember to be kind. Brian, Bev and Ralph Stevenson (Note: these pictures were taken this morning - May8th - hopefully the beach will be minus the white stuff!!)

HAPPY 80TH STEVENSON LODGE! What an incredible milestone. Harry Stevenson dedicated his book, "Harry's History" to "all those who have been with us, making it possible for us to stay here where we like to be." That still holds true today as Brian and Ralph enter into their 31st year running the business after taking over from their dad Harry and Uncle Ernie. When Harry was working in the Hollinger Mines back in the 1930's he was buying Irish Sweepstake Tickets for $2.50 (earn...ed $2.40-$5.20/day) for a grand prize of $140,000. When asked by co-workers what he would do with the money if he won he said he would go hunting and fishing until he was so sick of it that he would be glad to go back underground. But he knew that would be a long, long time. His co-workers said to him, "Why don't you start a fishing camp?" Seven words. That was how Harry's dream of Stevenson Lodge was born. This was his sweepstake. Harry left Timmins in 1939, picked up his brother Ernie who was eight years younger, borrowed their brother Norman's car loaded with a canoe they had built and headed for Calabogie. The game warden there suggested they move further up the Madawaska to Combermere. After looking at different spots (what is now Pine Cliff, Madonna House and Kelly's Point) they ended up purchasing 12.5 acres, 2,200 feet of waterfront from Ira Mayhew and signed the papers on a Saturday afternoon. The rest is history - a very vibrant history full of stories from families from all over the world (evident in the rocks sent from these guests that were incorporated into the fireplace in the main Lodge), from the multi-generations of families that still stay with us each year (Bruce's 64 years), our many guests from the States and our rich art history including members of the Group of Seven (A.Y. Jackson and A.J. Casson) who stayed and painted here. As summer approaches, it is like having family and friends visit us for four months each year. We are privileged to be able to share the magic of Stevenson Lodge with our guests and to watch families grow. It is even more poignant when we get phone calls from those who were here as kids and now want to share this place with their own children. Thank you Harry and Tenny, Ernie and Joyce for your vision, dream and hard work back in the early days to get Stevenson Lodge built and established. Thank you to all the staff who have worked here over the past 80 years. Thank you to all our guests we have had the privilege to meet over all these years. See more