Fundraising efforts underway for Open Season Lodge

The Open Season Lodge, located in the former Sheyenne school building, is in need of donations to repair the boiler system and maintain year round operations. The fundraising board of directors has set the fundraising goal is $25,000.

“The school building is a community landmark and we are working diligently to save it,” read a post on the Lodge’s Facebook page June 11.

The City of Sheyenne owns the building, and a volunteer board is responsible for operating the lodging business and maintaining the building through a verbal agreement with the city. Sheyenne area residents Alyson Myhre, Sara Myhre, Laurie Westby and Karen Rieger currently serve on that board.

Two big setbacks

A December 6, 2015 fire destroyed the original school building and caused damage to the 1962 addition where the lodge operates. This was a significant blow for the volunteer-run organization, as clean-up expenses and repairs negatively affected the operation’s cash flow. Then the pair of 10-year old boilers that heat the building failed in the fall of 2017, leaving a $25,000 repair bill. The lodge has been closed for the past two winter seasons as a result. Meanwhile, the board has exhausted all efforts for recourse through both the manufacturer and the installer of the boilers while working to capture as much revenue as possible during the summer season.

“The winter is our busiest time, so it isn’t really feasible to keep going like this,” noted Alyson Myhre. She added that the lodge will not reopen next summer if they are unable to raise the funds necessary to fix the boilers.

Maintaining positive cash flow is important to retaining the lodge, which requires more guests in all seasons. In order to do that the board plans to broaden marketing efforts for the lodge and increase exposure with potential guests.

Looking ahead

As the “Transcript” has reported before, Eddy County needs more lodging infrastructure. While the Steele family is working to expand opportunities in New Rockford, the Open Season Lodge offers the nearby town of Sheyenne the potential to fulfill that need, and most of the basics are covered (with the exception of heat).

Out of state hunters, quilters and relatives of current residents are some of the most frequent guests.Benefits to guests include the kitchen and laundry facilities, which are also quite popular with workers who come to the area temporarily to complete construction projects. The large, open gymnasium is useful for quilting retreats, family reunions and wedding receptions.

Myhre said that ideally they’d like to see the lodge operation grow to a point where it could provide a few jobs for the community.

An account has been set up at Bank Forward in New Rockford, where all funds will be held until Sept. 1. If the goal of $25,000 is not reached by Sept. 1, all money will be returned to those who have donated. Donations can be sent to Open Season Lodge c/o Sara Myhre, 6731 24th St NE, Sheyenne, ND 58374. All donations will be earmarked for the boiler project only.

Elvis Thumb posted a statement on behalf of the Sheyenne City Council regarding the fundraising efforts. “The city owns the building and would be willing to repay some, if not all, of the donated money for the boiler system should the lodge not be able to sustain its business and (the city) end(s) up having to sell the building. We thank you for reading this and for your consideration of helping our community continue to grow.”

If you should choose to donate, please make checks or money orders out to the Open Season Lodge and include “boiler” in the memo.