There are so many adventures to be had in southern Manitoba, but it isn’t always easy to know where to go or what the possibilities even are. For the last two years, a local company has been making those decisions a little easier.
Starting in 2019, SAYZOONS has been offering outdoor tourism activities and equipment rentals.
“SAYZOONS wants to be your guide and get you going on your next adventure,” says Season Kirkwood, one of the partners behind the business. “Paddle, bike, camp, or register for any of our pop activities along the Crow Wing Trail.”
To the uninitiated, the company’s name may cause you to raise your eyebrow in curiosity. Kirkwood explains the meaning behind the unique name.
“My name is Season, and I run a year-round seasonal company, so I thought it would be fun to use Michif language, as I am Métis. So, SAYZOONS. We capitalized it so it’s like a wild cheer!”
SAYZOONS is based out of St-Pierre-Jolys and operated out of 434 rue Sabourin in the old log cabin building visible along the main strip.
Because Kirkwood has always had a passion for the outdoors, she wanted to make her favourite recreational activities available for everyone. She feels that not everybody has learned to live an outdoor lifestyle, and they often don’t know what fun options are available to us right here in our own backyard.
She considers herself an outdoor lifestyle coach and says that their most popular offerings to date have been all-inclusive events for households where they set up the games and activities and let families enjoy themselves.
Although the pandemic has been a challenge for most businesses, Kirkwood says that it’d actually helped them to expand their business model.
“SAYZOONS started as a business to show people how [to] spend time outdoors, and now people are doing it,” she says. “So we feel the pandemic has created a new client base for us.”
SAYZOONS has many options for your outdoor activities this summer. They offer rentals of kayaks, canoes, leisure bikes, and fat bikes for you to book and use on your own.
They also offer specials, such as their June promo, “Paddle & Pizza Sundays.” Any Sunday afternoon in June, you can book an hour-long paddle on Lake St. Malo, and afterward a locally made pizza will be delivered right to your picnic site.
Kayaks, paddles, and life jackets are all included. As well, all current public health orders are carefully observed.
There’s also an option involving going on a bike ride through the beautiful scenery of St. Malo—and it ends the same way, with a fresh pizza delivered to your campsite.
They also offer Rat River tubing adventures, as well as experiential day camps this summer for children ages six to eight and nine to 12. The camps will run on certain Tuesdays and will feature hands-on fun and educational activities.
Looking ahead to July, Kirkwood says they’ll be offering opportunities for families to join them in a park and play games that promote distancing and COVID-19 sanitation protocols. There are many different activities available in the company’s “rec wagons,” including board games, child-friendly archery equipment, bowling equipment, stilts, and obstacle courses.
“We want participants to find their connection in the world and to each other in every season,” adds Kirkwood.
