The Ripple: A Tradition That Still Travels
Long before emails, social media, and instant booking confirmations, communication at the lodge looked very different.
Handwritten letters and typewriters were the primary tools of the trade, and the local post office was the lifeline that kept everything connected. Reservations came through the mail. Updates traveled slowly but meaningfully. Even the early days of telephone service were unreliable and rarely used.
Inside the lodge’s outdoor privies, the walls told their own story — lined with postcards from across Canada, the United States, and around the world. Guests, friends, and family stayed connected the only way they could: by writing.
The People Behind the Words
Ken and Ellen Hanson were at the heart of it all.
Both were well-read and thoughtful communicators. Ellen, the first teacher at Nestor Falls Public School, had beautiful penmanship and a meticulous attention to detail. Ken was a natural storyteller — someone who had a way of bringing people into his experiences, whether through conversation or the written word.
Together, they didn’t just run a lodge — they built relationships.
The Birth of “The Ripple”
Out of that connection came something special: The Ripple.
Originally created as a year-in-review letter, it shared everything happening at the lodge — family updates, weather highlights, new equipment, and of course, stories from the hunting and fishing seasons.
Ken proudly took on the role of editor, often referring to himself simply as “The Ed.”
The name itself carried meaning.
Like a small stone dropped into the water, the lodge may have seemed modest from the outside — but the impact spread far beyond its shores. The experiences guests had didn’t end when they left. They carried them home, shared them, and passed them on.
The ripple traveled.
From 200 Letters to Thousands
In the early days, The Ripple was simple.
A single black-and-white, letter-sized page printed by the Fort Frances Times. Each copy was folded, placed into an envelope, hand-addressed by Ellen, stamped, and mailed out just before Christmas.
At first, only a few hundred copies were sent — somewhere between 200 and 400.
But as the years went on, so did the reach.
The format evolved:
Seasonal colours replaced plain black and white
Printing improved
Photos were added
One page became two
Glossy finishes replaced basic paper
Still, much of the work remained hands-on. Ellen — and later Merla — continued addressing envelopes by hand. The kids helped stuff them, stamp them, and prepare each issue for mailing.
Eventually, the mailing list grew to over 1,000… then 2,000… and at its peak, nearly 3,000 copies were sent out each year.
The End of an Era… For a While
Like many traditions, The Ripple was eventually overtaken by change.
As the internet and social media became the primary ways people connected, the time, cost, and effort required to produce and mail the newsletter became harder to justify. Reader habits shifted. The world moved faster.
And quietly, The Ripple faded.
Bringing The Ripple Back
But the idea behind it never disappeared.
Because at its core, The Ripple was never just a newsletter — it was a way to stay connected.
A way to share stories.
A way to keep relationships alive.
A way to extend the experience beyond the lodge itself.
By bringing The Ripple back in a new form, we’re continuing what Ken and Ellen started — connecting with guests, friends, and family, wherever they are.
The medium may have changed.
But the ripple still travels.