Campfire Story

The Huinink's

Ever since I can remember I have been vacationing at Lake Nipissing. As a little girl, I would prepare for this holiday months in advance, as the trip was always the highlight of my year!! When I was older I introduced my fiance to our traditional family vacation which was always centered around fishing. He was hooked! (no pun intended) Fast forward 24 yrs and we are still going to Lake Nipissing with our family.

- Theresa Huinink

Ever since I can remember I have been vacationing at Lake Nipissing. As a little girl, I would prepare for this holiday months in advance, as the trip was always the highlight of my year!!

When I was older I introduced my fiance to our traditional family vacation which was always centered around fishing. He was hooked! (no pun intended)

Fast forward 24 yrs and we are still going to Lake Nipissing with our family. We started going to Promised Land Camp after following the former owners of a cottage resort we vacationed at for years, Larry and Vivian Fricker, purchased the gorgeous property we now enjoy.

We vacation with our extended family and our 3 boys have so many incredible memories from so many years, its hard to sum them all up. Our boys have a countdown starting the moment school is over and number one priority when putting in their vacation days at work. It’s always fun to watch everyone come to the dock when a crew comes back from fishing. We all gather around the boat listening to stories and looking for the “big catch”. Linda and Henning come with the camera and the moment is captured to enjoy for many years to come. Another great memory is the camp fires by the point, where we meet everyone from the camp. One year I met a girl who knew who I was, as I had worked with her sister for over 10 yrs! It’s a small world, and the friends we meet, the laughs we share, last a lifetime. The kids always enjoyed tubing with Jim! He would take all the kids (and big kids) tubing for an entire afternoon and enjoy every minute of trying to get them all dumped in the lake. SO much fun!

After loosing our father in 2012, we started a tradition of “the biggest pickerel” every year. This will be the 5th year running, and we love that we can remember and honour our Father and Grandfather in such a special way. We have a trophy passed from winner to winner every year and the name of the winner and pickerel size is engraved, along with the year, and mounted on the base of the trophy. The winner takes the trophy home to enjoy for the year, then the trophy is brought back for cottage week and up for grabs!

When asking our kids which vacation they love the most, it is ALWAYS the cottage! We will continue this for as long as we are able, and I think I speak for our family as well, when I say it’s the best week spent building the best memories of our lives! Promised Land Camp is the ONLY place we can completely let go and fully enjoy our family, nature, and the blessing of fellowship! From fishing, swimming, man hunt, wine by the campfire, and our annual fish fry, its life at its very best.