Call nowAvailability

2019 Ice Out Contest

Charlie is on the ice!

It’s time for the 2019 Ice Out Contest.

Will you be this year’s winner?

This is Charlies 10th Anniversary of sitting out on the lake. To celebrate we thought it appropriate to put him in costume for the initial photo. As our family gathered for Christmas this past year I asked them to brainstorm on ideas for Charlies 10th year on the ice. My niece Sierra came up with the winning idea. She said” Go with the 10th Wedding Anniversary gift of tin.” Thus Charlie the tin man came to be.

I’m waiting to make my way out into the cold.

So much for my warm and cozy chair

 

We’d love to have you be a part of our Ice Out Contest. There are 2 ways you can send us your guess:

Please do not forget to give both DATE and TIME that you think Charlie will fall through the ice. Only guess with date and time will be accepted.

In the 9 previous years ice has gone out 3 times in March, 3 times in April and 3 times in May.

All guesses are due by March 12th. The person whose date and time is the closest will be the winner and get their name on our Ice Out Contest plaque. If Charlie falls through the ice during the night the date will be credited to the next day. Sue and John will be at the Milwaukee Sport Shows March 5-11 and on vacation from March 15-24, but Scott will be keeping an eye on him for us.

We’ll begin posting updates when there are changes to the ice. Have fun everyone! Get your guesses into us soon.

There is plenty of ice and SNOW still on the lake.

2019 Ice Out Contest2019-02-28T23:28:35+00:00

Rock Bass Contest winner announced

Congratulations to Gabe, our 2018 rock bass contest winner. All summer long guests competed to see who could catch the most poundage of rock bass. On Thursdays we had a weigh in to find out the winner. Each week’s winner went into a pool to be drawn on Labor Day. Today, local guide Mike Errington, picked our winner. This week we will be mailing Gabe a brand-new Fenwick crappie rod and reel. Happy fishing Gabe!

Through-out the summer we donated 79 pounds of rock bass to Wild Instincts wildlife hospital to help feed injured animals.

Rock Bass Contest winner announced2019-01-25T21:31:50+00:00

2014 Rock Bass Contest Grand Prize Winner

Last week we had one our local fishing guides, Bob Bertch, draw for the winner of our 2014 Rock Bass Contest. Congratulations to Addison Wojciechowski you will be receiving a brand new Walleye fishing rod and reel. Not only did Addison win the grand prize, but the Wojciechowski family submitted the highest poundage of rock bass  this summer. They submitted 20 pounds of rock bass. Way to go guys!

Thank you to everyone who participated this year. We donated a total of 190 pounds of fish to Wild Instincts. They used the fish to help feed all their injured animals.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Addison with her brothers; Nolan, Aidan and Tristan. Great job fishing!

2014 Rock Bass Contest Grand Prize Winner2014-10-07T13:37:38+00:00

The resort is alive with color

It has been a beautiful fall week in the Northwoods. We took our last pontoon boat ride of the season last night. The guest who joined us were treated to perfect fall weather along with brilliant colors of red, gold and orange!

Pictures from around the resort:

IMG_0951

The trees above Loon.

IMG_0894

The sugar maple next to minnow was vibrant this year.

IMG_0877

The view from Timberwolfe.

IMG_0858

Walking towards the Barn.

IMG_0964

One of our guests enjoying the sunshine and warm temps.

Pictures on White Birch Lake:

IMG_0969 IMG_1002 IMG_1003 IMG_1006

IMG_0965

IMG_0995

Entering White Birch Lake from the channel.

Pictures on Ballard lake:

IMG_0994

Jim and Ed, long time guests of WBV, who come up every fall for musky fishing.

IMG_0984

Final pontoon boat ride of the season turned out to be exceptional weather.

IMG_0970

Partridge bay on Ballard.

IMG_0990 IMG_0979 IMG_0971

The resort is alive with color2014-09-27T15:11:18+00:00

Wedding bells are ringing!

We spent the summer creating a new wedding ceremony site. In 2015 we will begin marketing for fall weddings at the resort. And what a better way to give it a test run than having our son, Brian, and his beautiful bride, Missy, get married at the resort. Brian and Missy met on a blind date at White Birch Village in March of 2013. They came full circle by getting married where they met. It was a beautiful fall day, the 80% chance of thunderstorms never materialized. We set up a large tent on the grassy area behind the barn and had a wonderful meal that the groom prepared. Our staff did a tremendous job working the reception. Wonderful memories were made! It was a perfect Northwoods wedding! Enjoy the pictures.

ceremony site3

View of the ceremony site from across the pond.

ceremony site

View from the pergola.

pergola7

With the 6 inches of rain we got the week before the wedding the flowage filled up with water to create a beautiful backdrop for the ceremony.

pergola

We ran power to the pergola so both music and a microphone can be used.

cross2

What would a White Birch Village wedding be without a white birch cross.

ceremony site5

Ceremony site

mom dad and chris

Our son Chris walking my parents down the aisle. all the groomsmen wore hand tied fishing flies as boutonnieres that Brian had made.

john sue and brian

The wind was blowing as Brian walked us down the aisle.

Jackson and Siiri

Missy’s niece and nephew were also part of the wedding party. If you don’t catch by the time you are done looking at pictures fishing was the theme throughout the wedding, which included Jackson carrying a tackle box. For the unity part of the ceremony Brain and Missy tied two cords together using a fishing knot. The fishing knot is a very simple knot that is very strong.

Missay and Dad

Missy walking down the aisle with her dad.

cermony

The bridesmaids.

Blessing

The marriage blessing. Pastor Rod Hank from Good Shepherd Lutheran Church officiated the ceremony. Sue was so happy to have him here as she working with Pastor Rod at Good Shepherd in Madison.

Dad and Sue

Dad and I after the ceremony.

John and mom

John walking grandma Carol down the aisle after the ceremony.

fmaily3

Brian and Missy with us and my parents.

kids

Our three great kids! Proud of all of them.

tent 3

The start of the nature trail was a perfect site for the tent. all the kids in attendance had fun running up the hill into the woods and sliding down. Kept them busy for hours.

tent2

Sam’s Rental in Woodruff was wonderful to work with for the reception tent.

Tent

View of the tent from Timberwolfe.

paddle 2

Instead of a guest book all who attended signed two canoe paddles that Brian and Missy will hang on their wall.

snacks

Making use of the cotton candy and popcorn machine; the kids enjoyed the popcorn and cotton candy that was served

cotton candy 4

The kids couldn’t wait for dessert to have cotton candy and had it for appetizers instead. Then had it again for dessert!

cotton candy2

Adrian made over 70 cotton candies. He probably dreamt of them that night.

grilling

The groomsmen cooked the brats, hamburgers and chicken.

canoe

The beverage station. The wine was a wedding gift from one of Missy’s friends. Many different flavors to choose from including tri-berry and cool mint.

pies

Brian and Missy are pie eaters over cake so Brian helped make 16 apple pies to be served along with the wedding cake. He had to use the ovens in Red Oaks, Musky, Balsam Fir and the lodge to get them all baked. Our polish staff got a kick out of the sign because “pie” in polish means dog.

brian and missy 12

Brian and Missy’s dance.

brian and mom 2

Mother and son dance.

mom and dad dancing

Carol and Dick getting a dance in.

kelly and travis

And to our delight Kelly and Travis are next with an October 2015 wedding!

Wedding bells are ringing!2014-09-27T13:30:51+00:00

Illinois Outdoors Show and Carrie Z’s Podcast from our Resort

In May we hosted a sports writers event at the resort. Don Dziedzina and Roger Wright from Illinois Outdoors, Inc.  were here. The White Birch Village TV Show that was taped while they were here is scheduled to air on Saturday July 19 at 8 AM on Comcast and Insight Cable systems on Channel 138 in all of Chicago, it’s suburbs as far west as the Rock River, the greater Rockford, Peoria, Champaign/Urbana, and Springfield area and NW Indiana and SW Michigan.

Roger's 23 1/2 inch 6 pound small mouth bass was the success story of the weekend.

Roger’s 23 1/2 inch 6 pound small mouth bass was the success story of the weekend.

For our guests who do not live in these areas you can watch the YouTube copy of the show so you can view at your leisure and forward to family or friends if you wish. Here’s the YouTube link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJgPLY9yfEo&feature=youtu.be.

Carrie Zilka was also here who has weekly podcasts. Her podcast was so much fun to listen to.  Check out the latest CarrieZ’s Hunting, Fishing & Outdoor Podcast Episode 66…..featuring White Birch Village of course! Listen to the on demand radio episode here: http://wwocz.net/ep66/

Carrie had fun catching crappies.

Carrie had fun catching crappies.

We hope you enjoy these as much as we did. It was a great group of sports writers to have at the resort and we are thankful for their support of what we have to offer for a vacation experience in the Northwoods of Wisconsin.

Illinois Outdoors Show and Carrie Z’s Podcast from our Resort2014-07-13T12:12:24+00:00

Rock Bass Contest 2014

Our rock bass contest is underway. It’s time to tackle the rock bass population in our lake and have some friendly fishing competition. Every Thursday this year is rock bass day. Guests can catch as many rock bass as they can on Thursdays and then bring them to the musky bell between 3 and 4 PM to have them weighed by John. The person with the highest weight of fish for the day will have their name entered into the “Rock Bass Pool”. At the end of the season we will have a drawing for the grand prize winner. The winner will receive a St. Croix rod and reel. The fish will be donated to the rehab center to feed the eagles. It’s open to all ages so get out and go fishing!

Congratulations to this week's winner, Mason Peterson with a total of 9 1/2 pounds of rock bass.

Congratulations to this week’s winner, Mason Peterson with a total of 9 1/2 pounds of rock bass.

Max and Brenton came in a close second with 8 1/2 pounds.

Max and Brenton came in a close second with 8 1/2 pounds.

Rock Bass Contest 20142014-06-06T20:43:52+00:00

Sports Writers Weekend

We had a fun weekend enjoying several sports writers here at the resort. They arrived on Friday and we had a welcome reception for them and then gave them a tour of the resort. Thanks to the graciousness of Dick and Sue Govier we enjoyed a great dinner Friday night at Aqualand Ale House. Everyone enjoyed the two musky flights of craft beers. A total of 16 different beers were tasted. My personal favorite was the Buffalo Sweat.

On Saturday, thanks to the generousness of four of our fishing guides;  Bob’s Manitowish Guide Service, Erv Keller’s Guide Service, Marty Clauson’s Guide Service and Mike Errington’s Guide Service, the writers enjoyed a day out on the water fishing our chain of lakes. Each guide took a species of fish and the writers did a 1/2 day with each guide. They fished for bass, walleye, crappies and muskies. They were very successful, hundreds of fish were caught and most released. A few walleye were kept for the writers to take home and enjoy eating. Thanks to the efforts and generousness of Jimmy Dean we ended the day with a wonderful meal at The Guides Inn.

Sunday morning a radio show was taped and a little more fishing was done, but the rain decided to change the  fishing plans. The weekend was full of fish stories, comradery, and laughter. Everyone had a great time and we look forward to the stories the writers are going to tell.

 

Carrie Z's

Carrie Zilka loves the outdoors, everything hunting and fishing. She discovered the world of podcasts in 2007 and quickly realized there were not many that pertained to the outdoors. She will be doing a podcasts of her experience here at the resort. We look forward to seeing what she has to say. Carrie was very enthusiastic and fun to have here for the weekend. Carrie is part of AGLOW (Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers).

Carrie had fun catching crappies.

Carrie had fun catching crappies.

 

IL outdoors

Don Dziedzina has been involved with the outdoor industry for over 35 years. He writes for the Chicago Tribune, produces and hosts Illinois Outdoors TV show, co-hosts The fishing and Outdoor radio show, and writes for Midwest Outdoors.  Don is also an AGLOW writer. We enjoyed the depth of knowledge that he brought to the weekend. It was enjoyable having him here. Don taped a radio show while he was here with John and the fishing guides. Don was joined by his cameraman, Roger Wright, for the weekend. It didn’t take long for a friendly fishing competition to ensue. As you will see in the following picture Roger came out on top.

Roger's 23 1/2 inch 6 pound small mouth bass was the success story of the weekend.

Roger’s 23 1/2 inch 6 pound small mouth bass was the success story of the weekend.

 

Wbay

 

Pat Mayo from WBAY Sports came up from Green Bay with his teenage son Ian. It was truly an inter-generational weekend. Pat and Ian had so much fun meeting the guides and learning more about fishing. Ian was a trooper spending the weekend with all the adults. It was a pleasure having them join us. Pat took video footage while here and interviewed John and will be putting together a segment for their newscast. Pat and Ian caught fish, but no one shared the pictures with me so I can’t post them.

The writer from Midwest Outdoors had to cancel at the last minute, which meant there would be a guide without someone to fish with. John had the hard job of filling in. He spent Saturday morning with Bob, the afternoon with Erv and Sunday morning with Mike. He had a great time. Below are the photos of the fish he and Bob caught. I have to say I really enjoyed my walleye supper Sunday night. 🙂

0531140908a 0531140919 DSCN0045

Sports Writers Weekend2014-06-05T13:19:13+00:00

A busy day at the Village

It’s been a busy day at the village. We started our day at 5:30 this morning getting ready for the 18th Journey’s Marathon. The starting line for this Boston Marathon Qualifier begins at the resort. There were 102 full marathon runners this year. It’s fun talking with everyone in the morning and seeing the excitement build as the race is about to start. They begin with reading the  Irish blessing  and singing America the Beautiful. It was a beautiful morning today with the sun shining and the temp around 46 degrees.

Warming up in the rec building.

Warming up in the rec building.

More stretching going on in the fitness center.

More stretching going on in the fitness center.

Getting ready to line up for the start of the race.

Getting ready to line up for the start of the race.

The wheelers are the first to start.

The wheelers are the first to start.

And they are off.

And they are off.

Beautiful day for a race.

Beautiful day for a race.

Later in the morning we found this huge log under the bridge at the beach. Should be interesting removing it. Our dock day crew has an added bonus waiting for them on Tuesday; getting the log unstuck from under the bridge.

In the late 1800's  there used to be a railroad bridge that went across the lake during the lumber years. There are still a few pilings on the bottom of the lake. Well there is one less as of today. One somehow made it's way under the bridge.

In the late 1800’s there used to be a railroad bridge that went across the lake during the lumber years. There are still a few pilings on the bottom of the lake. Well there is one less as of today. One somehow made it’s way under the bridge.

It's about 8 feet long. Should be interesting getting it out after a hundred years under water.

It’s about 8 feet long. Should be interesting getting it out after a hundred years under water.

 

To round out the day the Friesema’s who are staying with us this weekend decided after participating in the 5K of the Journeys Marathon they also needed to be the first to swim in the lake!

Randy, Kelly and Katie Friesema  our first guests of the season also decided to be the first guest to swim in the lake. Water temps are around 40 degrees since the ice just went out this week.

Randy, Kelly and Katie Friesema our first guests of the season also decided to be the first guest to swim in the lake. Water temps are around 40 degrees since the ice just went out this week.

Brave!

Brave!

Thankfully the sun was shining and not much breeze.

Thankfully the sun was shining and not much breeze.

A busy day at the Village2014-05-10T17:48:30+00:00

Fabulous Women’s Retreat

The village is a great setting for a women’s retreat! We hosted the 5th annual women’s retreat at the resort on February 8th and 9th. 18 women enjoyed being spiritually refreshed, spending time snowshoeing, great fellowship, laughter and good food. Our theme this year was Cafe Chocolat (by Group publishing) focusing on God’s Extravagant Grace. Needless to say chocolate found it’s way into the activities as well as each meal.

Snowshoeing the nature trail.

Snowshoeing the nature trail.

Service product - making shawls for shut-ins

Service product – making shawls for shut-ins

Reading the directions and choosing what stitches to use.

Reading the directions and choosing what stitches to use.

Showing off the final product.

Showing off the final product.

Great fellowship at meal time.

Great fellowship at meal time.

Dark Chocolate Linguine for dessert. Yum, yum!

Dark Chocolate Linguine for dessert. Yum, yum!

 

Fabulous Women’s Retreat2014-02-20T18:04:03+00:00
Go to Top