News From The Fulton House - Vol. 19, Winter 2013
Another year has
passed. Recent years have found me writing this newsletter either behind the
wheel of a school bus --big and yellow-- or in our office --carpeted and
comfortable. Both locations offer wonderful views of my immediate world. Today,
I am in the office. The world beyond the window is all winter in both sight and
sound. Wind is gusting, shaking trees out of their stoic nature, and snow is
falling, at moments almost horizontally. The river’s surface is a steel blue
with patches of white where the snow has settled on peninsulas of ice. The
whitish-grey sky is a wall that separates this world from another, maybe not so
far away. Looking out the window, I have the sense that I am in a vigorously
shaken snow-globe. Beautiful stuff!
This week, I
ventured out to the Fulton House to check on things and take some pictures for
this newsletter. Unfortunately, I realized that, as I was attempting to take a
picture of the winter landscape, my new phone does not have a camera. Clearly
it’s not a smart phone and I’m thinking that I might not be that smart either!
Trust me, the scene of the picture that I didn’t take was breathtaking. Of
course, with temperatures in the 20s (below that is) pretty much everything is
breathtaking. It has been a cold week!
We do look
forward to late winter and spring when we hope to begin various projects. The
list never gets shorter, though I do hope that we will accomplish some things
that will be appreciated by all.
Please take a
look at our new website for pictures and rate information. Rate information can
be found on our website www.fulton-house.com. Our rates for 2013 will remain the
same as 2012. We look forward to seeing all of you this summer.
Please let us know by February 10 about your reservations.
Deposits are due by February 15. You can send half of your deposit then and the
other half by March 15, if you prefer. Please let us know if you have any
questions. After February 10 we will be taking new reservations, so please let
us know before then if you want us to hold anything for you.
If you have an
interesting anecdote to share about an experience at the Fulton House, we hope
you will consider posting it on our Facebook page.
Thank you for your
emails, letters, and holiday cards --they mean a lot to us.
Peace be with you in this new year!
Jon
P.S. Please let us know if you would like to participate in a work weekend
this spring.
From Leslie:
Welcome to our first
blog post! If you don’t know us, we have been running the Fulton House since
1995, and, in some ways, not much has changed. Our property is scenic and
simple, a step back in time, for sure, but with some modern creature comforts. Technology,
on the other hand, has changed how we communicate.
In the early years (up
until just a few years ago, actually), we mailed our newsletter to our guests.
It was a two-column-with-a-header type affair on colored paper (very classy),
called “The Chain Mail.” (Fulton Chain – get it?) And we mailed it twice a
year. In it, we thanked our guests for staying with us and noted improvements
we had made -- or were planning to make -- to the property. We also mentioned
our personal milestones: arrival of second daughter (first daughter was one
when we bought the property); arrival of dog (first daughter’s idea – this was supposed
to be in lieu of sister); arrival of cat (second daughter’s idea – but she
would keep her sister, too); graduation of first daughter and launch to college
(every parent’s idea). Somewhere along the way, we switched to email (while
still mailing to some). And now, a new website and a blog to boot (thank
you first daughter)!
Buried in paragraph 3
is the main reason we write a newsletter: to let our guests know any rate
changes and when we will start booking new guests. We have always given
returning guests first priority for the following year. So, here goes: There
are no changes in the rates for 2013 (See? 13 is a lucky number!). We
will start booking new guests in early February, so please let us know if you
would like your same time as last year.
Finally, we would just
like to say how much we have enjoyed our summers on beautiful Fourth Lake with
the wonderful families who have become good friends. We don’t say it often
enough – and now we can say it to the world – we have the nicest guests anyone
could ask for. Thank you for your patronage and friendship. It’s what keeps us
going.
Leslie
From Caitlin:
Hi
all,
This
is Caitlin (first daughter). Many of you remember me when I was the young
mascot of The Fulton House (affectionately known to some as ‘Water Bug’). Well now I'm in college, and just as I've been spending less and less time at the cottages
over the past few summers, now my time at home is waning, as well.
So,
of course, when I grace my family with my wonderful presence over Winter Break, they immediately put me
to work. I've been busy creating this blog and a new, revamped website for the
rustic Fulton House on Fourth Lake. Manager Jon Bailey has been busy managing... we're not sure what. No, I'm just
teasing. He manages my life for me;)
College
is fun, thanks for asking. I'm sure I'll have some stories to share come
summer. Growing up at The Fulton House has really prepared me for a life of independence and hard work. As many of you know, I worked
long, hard hours from the age of five. My parents exploited my picnic table squeegeeing skills and couldn't be
bothered to feed me healthy meals (that's why I'm so short). Seriously, I think
they were trying to poison me with all that green stuff. Thanks to all you
lovely guests who fed me, I survived.
Without you, I never would have made it to college. It takes a cottage colony
on Fourth Lake to raise a child... don't they say that?
Can't
wait to see you all soon. Remember to check out the new website and praise my mother and me for
our hard work. (Unpaid labor! File a report! Abuse!)
Later,
Water
Bug:)
