BARRY’S BAY – To say Sharon Mahussier keeps busy in her golden years is an understatement.
Preparing for the January Chinese buffet, Mahussier was dealing with food shipments, repairmen, reservations and even employees’ vehicles not starting in the minus 25 degree celcius weather.
But through the chaos, she spared a few minutes to recollect on the past 30 years.
On January 16, Spectacle Lake Lodge officially turns 30 years old.
The Mahussiers purchased the property from Vital Brunet, who operated a seasonal business for around four years. The property had been a seasonal resort since 1943.
Sharon and Maurice were originally from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. They moved to Aurora, Ontario in 1981, where Maurice worked as corporate chef for Nestle Foods and Sharon worked as a real estate agent.
It had always been Maurice’s dream to have his own resort in Northern Saskatchewan. But life brought him to Northern Ontario instead.
“We came up in the weekend of October 1988 and there was a tour bus full of people here having lunch. Maurice and I stood out on that rock over there. I looked at him and he looked at me and I knew we were in. That was it,” Sharon said. “So we approached Mr. Brunet, he discussed it with his family and decided to sell.”
Maurice wanted to own his own business by the time he turned 45 years old. The business was purchased in January and in February of that same year, Maurice turned 45.
“He was a goal setter and if he set a goal, he accomplished it,” Sharon said.
The Mahussiers decided to operate the business year-round, catering to the snowmobilers in the winter time.
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