Well May Day is just around the corner, and that means that Smile Again
Ministry’s birthday is too!

May 4 marks the second birthday of SAM. It seems hard to believe that it’s
already been two years since SAM moved from and idea to a reality. The past
two years seem like a blur sometimes. But what progress we’ve made.

We’ve gone from not knowing where we would build our retreat center to
purchasing 15 acres of incredible land near Crosslake, MN. Every day that
we are here on Pickerel Lake we realize how blessed we are. For two years
Judy and I have basically been filling out legal forms, sending out letters and
emails, and raising money for the land and retreat center. We’ve spoken on
the radio, done newspaper interviews, and held intimate fund raising events.

Today we are anticipating the beginning of our remodel of White Tail Lodge
later in May. The remodel will give us two bedroom suites, a living room and
kitchen and enclosed play area for children. Judy and I are incredibly excited
for this next phase of SAM. If everything goes well White Tail Lodge could
actually be open in August of this year. That means we’ll have a flurry of
activity around here as volunteers come in to help with the carpentry, plumbing,
electrical and heating issues. By the way, if you are a plumber, electrician or
heating specialist we’d love to talk with you. We need expertise in each of these
areas to keep the cost of remodeling down. If you are licensed in any of these
areas please contact us at 320-310-8877.

We’ll keep everyone posted on the schedule of the remodel and how you can
help in more specific ways. For now, we want to thank each and every one of you
who has helped make SAM a reality. We couldn’t even be close to remodeling if
it wasn’t for our faithful monthly donors and friends who have helped in so many
ways.

We love you guys. Pat & Judy

Well the ice is finally out on Lake Pickerel! It is SO nice
to see waves instead of ice. Our Loons have returned too, and
now sing their mournful song for us. I’ve seen our resident
beavers running around on the island across from our
waterfront too. I love Spring!

We are also excited about starting the remodeling on White
Tail Lodge. We hope to begin in earnest at the end of May.
We’ll keep you posted about work days. Much of the remodeling
will be done by volunteer laborers to keep the costs down.

You can help us now. If you know of people who are electricians,
plumbers or heating people, we need help from them. Because
these are specialized areas, we need to find people who would
be willing to help us with installation in each of these areas. If
you, or someone you know, is skilled in these areas give us a call
at 320-310-8877.

Gotta run. God bless - and remember, we love you guys! Pat & Judy

Well good old Mother Nature pulled a fast one on us April 1. But this was no
April Fool’s Day joke. It was the real thing! Judy and I woke up to 8 inches
of fresh snow. The trees looked like flocked Christmas trees. As you’ll see
in the photos below, it was absolutely beautiful. Judy and I got up around
6:30 am and took a walk down to the waterfront. Ican’t remember a time
in my life when things looked so beautiful. Unfortunately, we’re still digging
out of the snow, and can’t wait for a warm-up to melt it all away. We’re
getting mighty anxious for Spring here.

We’re also moving along in the White Tail Lodge fund raising. We only need
another $3,000 to begin the remodeling project. We can’t wait. We are
having more and more people contacting us, and asking us when the lodge
will be open. We’ll let you know more when we know.

God bless and enjoy the pictures below. We love you guys - Pat & Judy

Looks like the Peace Garden won’t be coming up any time soon!

Needless to say, anyone coming into our driveway on April 1 was in for a DEEP surprise!

This Birch tree was looking for an extra blanket of bark!