Lorna Marquardt, Special to the Leader
Kayakers paddle on Shawano Lake near Cecil on Thursday afternoon. Shawano Lake is generally considered the area’s biggest tourist attraction, offering plenty of opportunities for boating, swimming, camping and more.
Leader Photo by Greg Mellis Visiting from Sheboygan Falls for a day of fishing, Michelle Douglas and her son, Ryan Van Zeeland, 10, are led through Friday morning’s fog by local resident Eugene Hanke. “Five seconds” is the time it took Ryan to catch a bass off the south shore of Shawano Lake. The summer solstice, more commonly known as the first day of summer, will arrive at 5:51 a.m. Saturday.
The sun is shining, the water is warming and the tourists are arriving.
It’s summer in Shawano Country.
Although myriad outdoor recreation opportunities make Shawano and Menominee counties four-season tourist destinations, summer can be a make-or-break time of year for some businesses.
The good news is that, if room and cottage reservations are a barometer of the summer tourism potential, 2014 is shaping up nicely.
“I always want to rent out better every year. They are super good this year,” said Mike Schuster, owner of Schuster’s Shawano Lake Resort. “I have been doing this five years and this is the best one so far.”
Summer tourism accounts for 90 percent of his business, said Schuster, who noted that most of his customers come from Milwaukee, Chicago and the Fox Valley.
“People come to Shawano for the lake,” he said. Once here, they go do other things, like visit the flea market, eat at restaurants and fish in the area.
“With the lake in close proximity, it brings boaters and fishermen and women,” agreed Sharon Zentkowski, owner of Cecil Fireside Inn. “And then you have the golf courses, and people are always looking for places to eat.”
She said people coming to town for weddings and family reunions bolsters her summer business. The inn offers outside activities for guests — grills, fire pit, horse shoes, volleyball — but also has amenities to keep visitors occupied in bad weather: indoor pool, whirlpool and sauna.
“For my particular hotel it looks like it is going to be a good summer,” she said.
The summer outlook is more difficult to predict for businesses not reliant on reservations.
Many of them rely on the whims of Mother Nature.
“For my type of business, weather is the biggest factor,” said Tim Conradt, owner of Mountain Bay Outfitters in Shawano. “I think if the weather cooperates we will have a good year.”
The business, located on the Mountain Bay Trail, which stretches from Green Bay to Wausau, includes a full-service bike shop. It also offers canoe, kayak and paddleboard rentals and sales, trips on the Wolf River and a weekly farmers market.
Conradt said summer accounts for 50 to 75 percent of his revenue.
For the record, Farmers’ Almanac is predicting an “oppressively humid, wet and thundery” summer for the Great Lakes region and Northeast.
“We are in the rafting business, so the warmer the better,” said Brian Peters, co-owner of Shotgun Eddy Rafting, which offers Wolf River rafting trips. “But we also need rain, because if we don’t have enough the river gets low and the rafts can get hung up.
“So we are like farmers in that respect. We need rain, but we still need good weather, too.”
Good weather also is good for business at American Marine & Motorsports, which sells boats, wave runners, ATVs and more, and has rental packages available throughout the summer.
“(Summer tourism) brings a lot of people to the area, which helps our business,” said Greg Seymour, general operations manager. “It gets a lot of people out on the water, including locals.”
Local residents enjoying summer, as well as visitors looking for something to do, account for much of the business at Shawano Sports Park, which features miniature golf, go-karts and batting cages.
“We got a very short season from Memorial Day to Labor Day,” owner Mark Klister said. “About 80 percent of our revenue comes from the summer months.”
The larger racetrack at USAir Motorsports Raceway also needs good weather for its customers.
“I do get a lot of people from elsewhere, so (tourism) is very important,” said Ann Polk, manager of USAir Motorsports Raceway, which includes go-karts and an amusement park, as well as competitive racing events. “We got a late start this year due to the cold weather in the spring.”
Polk said the economy, specifically gas prices, is another uncontrollable variable affecting tourism.
“It depends on the economy, because right now it is not very good,” she said. “Gas prices are high everywhere.”
AAA expects gas prices to remain relatively high during the summer driving season. AAA predicts the national average price of gas this summer likely will vary from $3.55-$3.70 per gallon. Gas prices averaged $3.60 in June 2013, $3.50 in June 2012 and $3.68 in June 2011.
Schuster said he is looking for a rebound year after a difficult 2013.
“I would hope we do better than last year,” he said. “We try to keep our expenses in line, and our prices have remained the same the last eight years. You don’t get that at the grocery store.”
Other owners also are guardedly optimistic.
“From what I can tell it seems to be better than last year,” Peters said. “Last year we got off to such a cold start, but we have had nice weather so far.”
“I think it is going to be an average summer,” Seymour said. “Everything was pushed back because of the bad winter.”