SANDY DICKSON.

• Author: Faye, Donna
• Position: Businesswomen - Brief Article

Entrepreneur - Atikokan

Imagine a place where there is no traffic, there are no cellphones and no pavement on the ground. The only sounds are the occasional call of a loon, the splash of a northern pike and the gentle rustling of leaves in the wind.

This is Quetico Park, 4,800 square kilometres of untouched wilderness in northwestern Ontario. Motorized oats, firearms, hunting roads and development are all prohibited.

If it sounds like a place you could get used to, just ask Sandy Dickson.

Dickson, originally from North Dakota, has been operating Canoe Canada Outfitters in Atikokan with her husband Bud since 1973.

"I love the fact that there are no distractions," Dickson says. When we go (canoeing), it's usually just me, m children and husband. It's family time. It's very spiritual. You don't get many chances like that in life."

Dickson discovered the joy of canoeing in 1970 when she married her husband, who grew up in Atikokan and dreamed of opening a canoe business.

Three years late , they started the business and aggressively marketed in the United States, making the rounds at sports shows south of the border. "Toronto is a small market for us," Dickson says. "It's easier to get here from the Midwest US."

Within 10 years, they had a successful business. Today, Dickson says 95 per cent of their guests are Americans.

"(The Americans) don't have a lot of parks like Quetico," she says. You can drink right out of the lake. There's no motorized travel or designated camping area. It's a truly primitive area - no logging or hunting. There are even pictographs."

Adventurers have come from as far away as New Zealand, Australia, Japan and Germany for the wilderness experience Quetico affords.

Canoe Canada Outfitters supply gear, food, maps and assistance with planning canoe trips from five days to three weeks. Dickson estimates about 4,000 guests visit between the second week in May and the end of October.

In addition to her business success, Dickson's commitment to the community of Atikokan has earned her the distinction of Influential Woman of Northern Ontario from Northern Ontario Business.

From the start, Dickson and her husband wanted their business to contribute to the economic life of Atikokan. Instead of locating their business on the shores of a lake outside of Atikokan, they set up shop in the down town area, to give the community exposure to a wider range of tourists.

"(Tourists) come into Atikokan to use hotels, buy groceries and...