One Log at a Time: The Lazy Bear Lodge, Churchill, Manitoba By Doreen Pendgracs
(story originaly appeared in the Q4, 2004 issue of My Winnipeg Business magazine)
The Pioneer Quest couples don't have a thing on Wally Daudrich. He's built the Lazy Bear Lodge and Cafe in Churchill one log at a time, overcoming challenges that would make even those enduring 1870's settlers of the popular television mini-series shudder.
You see, Daudrich's dream was to build a log cafe and inn in a place where there are no trees. A place that is inaccessible by road. A place where 50 below with the windchill is not uncommon. A place where polar bears roam wild and free. Why, would anyone want to take on all those challenges in addition to the uncertainty of any new business venture?
"I moved to Churchill in 1981 at the age of 17 and fell in love with the place," says Daudrich. "Since that time, I've worked for Calm Air, I've driven trap machines, I've driven the tundra machines and I've worked for Parks Canada. I saw the tourism industry grow to the point where the services in Churchill were being quite taxed. I saw the potential and need for a new establishment, and wanted mine to be different."
Different it is. The Lazy Bear is the only place in Churchill that is an authentic log structure, welcoming you warmly as you drive into town from the airport. Proudly, Daudrich says there were no live trees used in the construction of his cafe or lodge. "We used 100 per cent dead trees, so not one live tree was cut down for our project. This is very important to our eco-tourism clients."
As Churchill is situated just north of the boreal forest tree-line, Daudrich was able to find ample deadwood about 35 miles from town. "'íd say I hauled about 1000 logs out of that bush. We started in 1995 -- when Dawn and I got married -- with just a small cabin that we used as the cafe. Over the next three years, I hauled enough white spruce, black spruce, and eastern larch (also know as tamarack) out to build the lodge."
Daudrich lived in a prospector's tent in northern Manitoba's Twin Lakes area for three months while collecting the wood with the help of some friends. "We used an old-fashioned log skid, which we pulled behind snowmobiles to get the wood out of the bush. We then had to load it onto a 24-foot flatbed trailer which I pulled behind my pickup, and haul it back into town."
During Daudrich's time in the bush, he had a few memorable moments. "One time I came out to find a three-year-old polar bear standing on my snowmobile! I was lucky. He hadn't begun chewing on it yet, so I started shouting at him and he took off after just taking one bite out of my snowmobile seat." Lucky indeed for Daudrich that it was his snowmobile seat -- and not his own backside that received a chomp from the world's largest land-roving carnivore.
The cold climate of the north proved to be a benefit to Daudrich when retrieving his wood. "Because of the cold climate up here, the bark will fall right off the trees, so that saved us some work. And it takes a long time for the wood to rot, so we were able to find ample good quality deadwood. You know what they say, one man's firewood is another man's building wood." Most of the wood gathering was done during the winter when the ground was frozen, as access to the boggy tundra around Churchill becomes pretty much restricted to air travel by small float planes and helicopters once the ground has softened.
In 1998, Daudrich began preparing the Kelsey Boulevard site and construction of the lodge began in January of 1999. "We had to do our construction during the winter months as we're busy with the tourism season until late November. But as luck would have it, El Nino brought in some unseasonably warm weather to Churchill that year. I remember working outside in March with short sleeves and it was 15 degrees Celsius (about 60 degrees Fahrenheit!) That sure made it easier than working during the minus 30 or minus 40 degree temperatures we were used to."
The first floor of the lodge was completed in time for polar bear season in October, 1999. The second floor was completed by the following October. The lodge now has 33 guest rooms and a cozy restaurant, all done with a Southwestern influence in decor due to Dawn's American heritage. "We met at a bible camp down in Arizona and have been happy ever since," says Daudrich.
His expertise in log building isn't a fluke. "I took a three-month log building course at the B. Allan Mackie School of Log Building near Prince George, B.C. back in 1983, and thatís what got me started," says Daudrich. "The first project I completed was a pine log cabin at Belair Beach in 1985. It took me three years to complete, but gave me a great sense of satisfaction."
What's next for the happy couple? "We have plans to invite our guests onto the bridge of the good ship, Enterprise," jokes Daudrich, who has purchased an old wooden boat christened the Enterprise by its original owners. The boat was built in the 1700's and used during the 1700's and 1800's to haul supplies for the Hudson Bay Company to the Prince of Wales Fort, a Churchill landmark.
"We have plans to move the boat onto our site once we've hauled away the gravel and boulders from in front of the lodge. I'd like to sink the boat's hull into the ground, so that we can incorporate it into additional seating space in our restaurant. It will take a lot of hand carpentry to see this project through to completion, but it should be exciting," says Daudrich.
What you need to know about visiting Churchill:
March and April are the best times to visit for the aurora borealis. Although the northern lights are visible from the Churchill skies nearly 300 days of the year, they are brightest during early spring.
The Churchill and Seal Rivers become home to thousands of beluga whales who come to the cold fresh waters to bare their young each June. The best time to view the belugas is July and August. This is also the best time to visit the historic Prince of Wales Fort.
Churchill is known as the Polar Bear Capital of the World for having such a high concentration of the great white bears in proximity to the small community. Anyone wanting to see the polar bears should visit in October or November, as this is the period when the bears congregate along the shores of Hudson Bay waiting for the ice to freeze.
The town of Churchill has an excellent Web site at: http://www.townofchurchill.ca/ for information about sights and services in town.
You can reach Wally and Dawn Daudrich at the Lazy Bear Cafe and Lodge by calling: 1-866-687-2327 toll free if calling from within North America or 1-204-663-9377 if calling from outside of North America. Visit them on the Web at: http://www.lazybearlodge.com where you can watch a video to show you the sights - in and around the lodge.