Guy Quenneville
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, November 21, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - Ragnar Wesstrom, founder and operator of Enodah Wilderness Travel and Trout Rock Lodge, was recognized as the Operator of the Year at NWT Tourism's annual awards ceremony celebrating pioneers in the tourism sector.

Yvonne Quick - a former pilot instrumental in the organization of the bi-annual Midnight Sun Float Plane Fly In - accepts the Mike Stillwell Lifetime Achievement Award at NWT Tourism's annual awards ceremony celebrating pillars of Northern tourism. - photo courtesy of Samantha Stuart

Wesstrom was unable to attend the ceremony in Norman Wells on Nov. 9, held in conjunction with the organization's conference and annual general meeting.

But he registered nary a flicker of surprise upon hearing the news via email while away on business in Edmonton.

"I win the award every year," said Wesstrom. "They only made it official this year. We've worked hard for 20 years and we've been improving and getting better at it all the time."

Wesstrom, an avid fisherman who was born in Stockholm, Sweden started the business on the island of Enodah (meaning "lots of links") on the North Arm of Great Slave Lake after a visit in the late 1980s. A new friend from the island - his soon-to-be wife and business partner, Doreen - gave him a tour of the island's trails and fishing spots, and Wesstrom's mind was immediately made up.

"I fell in love with Yellowknife as soon as I came into town," said Wesstrom. "It was like a paradise in the middle of nowhere."

What started as a summer fishing getaway spot has turned into a four-season operation - a key factor in Wesstrom's winning the award, said John Bass, spokesman for NWT Tourism.

"He's just shown the way in being able to diversify his fishing camp into a winter product so that he's no longer just a three-month- or four-months-of-the-year operation," said Bass.

"He's not just sitting around waiting for things to work for him. He's out there actively participating in product development. He certainly could be looked at by other operators as a model of how to persevere and then see some results."

Wesstrom is especially thankful to friends Jonas Noel and the late Frank Drygeese, both native to Enodah, for helping him start the business and teaching him about the area.

"They were the keys to my success," he said.

Also honoured at the recent awards ceremony was Yvonne Quick, one of the first female bush pilots in the NWT. Quick was awarded the Mike Stillwell Lifetime Achievement award for her many years of service to the tourism sector.

A Yellowknife resident for the past 40 years, Quick is known for helping organize the biannual Midnight Sun Float Plane Fly In.

She has also served as secretary on the board of directors for the Northern Frontier Visitors Association for seven years, and has given her time to the city's heritage committee and the NWT Mining Heritage Society.

Quick said the award was special to her because of who Mike Stillwell was and how he influenced her.

"Mike Stillwell was in the tourism industry, and it was Mike that got me involved with the Northern Frontiers Visitors' Association," she said.