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Grand View Lodge Spa and Golf Resort,
Nisswa
Kim Holm’s family has been visiting Grand View
Lodge Spa and Golf Resort in Nisswa, Minn., for
the last 30 years. Located two hours north of the
Twin Cities, the resort opened in 1916.
The Holms, residents of Eden Prairie, and their
family – including two grown children and five
grandchildren ages 12 to 17 – spend every
holiday weekend at the resort. “We usually go
the week of July 4th, for five days during New
Year’s, and three or four days on other holiday
weekends,” Kim says.
“The kids love the beach, the pool and golf,” she
adds. “The girls always do the spa, and the guys
golf. We love Grand View. When the kids were
younger, they’d rather go to Grand View than to
Disney World. Every year we take a picture of
the kids standing in front of the stairs.”
Kim worked in management with the City of
Minneapolis for 35 years prior to retirement.
Her husband, Terry, retired eight years ago from
an employee benefits consulting practice he
owned.
In addition to swimming and fishing, Grand
View’s non-stop myriad of year-round activities
includes golf lessons, biking, horseback riding,
banana tubing, an indoor water park with
waterslide, zip line, game room, kayaking,
sand volleyball, outdoor hot tub, cross-country
skiing, paddleboard tours, yoga, bonfires and
s’mores, ice skating rinks, tennis, pontoon
cruises, traveling art pub, ice fishing, skiing,
snowmobiling, tubing, horse-drawn rides,
snowshoeing, lawn games, wine and beer
tasting, laser tag and bingo.
Breezy Point Resort on Pelican Lake,
Breezy Point
Linda Anderson’s family has been stalwarts at
Breezy Point Resort for 30 years.
“My parents started having family reunions
there,” says Anderson, who lives in Milaca. “We
had 12 kids. After dad died, mom picked it up
and she gifts it to us as Christmas gifts. Now I’ve
been doing it for my three children and eight
grandchildren as Christmas gifts for the last ten
years. We’ve really enjoyed it.
“My children were little when it started. In the
1980s, we had as many as 97 people at the
reunion. They’re all spread out, so they can’t
all come.” In 2018, 80 family members showed
up for Labor Day weekend, and enjoyed golf,
fishing, cribbage and piñatas, she says.
“We sign up to bring food,” Anderson adds.
“Three couples take each meal. I took over
making the arrangements with Breezy Point.
My sister takes charge of organizing the food.
Another person determines where everybody
Ruttger’s Bay Lake Lodge
stays. The younger ones organize tournaments.
It just works.”
A variety of housing is available to
accommodate the Anderson clan, including
individual homes or cabins with three to 11
bedrooms.
Anderson’s husband, Greg, a retired teacher,
plays the guitar at the reunion. Linda was a
daycare provider for 28 years prior to retiring.
The Anderson clan maintains a photo album
from their reunions. The latest family photo
includes 75 people, with Anderson’s mother in
the middle holding her youngest grandchild.
Breezy Point offers a recreation center with
pool, spa, indoor pool, golf pro shop and
lessons, tennis, three golf courses, canoes,
kayaks, paddle boats, fishing and motor boats
and pontoons, fishing guides, bonfire facilities,
volleyball, horseshoe pits, bocce ball and
croquet, and a Four-Season Trail for walking,
biking, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.
Winter recreation offerings include fish house
rentals, downhill skiing, snowmobiling, lighted
skating rinks, cross-country skiing, and snow
golf. An annual ice fest includes a pond hockey
tournament, ice slide, horse and dog sleigh
rides, snow golf and bonfires.
Ruttger’s Bay Lake Lodge, Deerwood
As the oldest continually owned family resort
in Minnesota, Ruttger’s 120-year-old Bay Lake
Lodge in Deerwood has the clientele to prove
it. One of the regular customers is a woman
who has come to the resort every year for 73
years, since her grandmother first brought her
there, according to Dave McMillan, Ruttger’s
marketing manager.
Joseph Ruttger opened the resort on the
shores of Bay Lake in 1898, and he and his wife,
Josephine, began serving home-cooked meals
to fishermen.
Word spread, and soon people were coming
from far and wide to enjoy Ruttger’s legendary
hospitality, now in its fourth generation of
ownership.
Jeri Groover and her family are among those
loyal customers. The Groover family was living in
Chicago when they visited a family-owned lake
home in Lake Geneva, Wis., every year. After the
family sold the house, Jeri recalls finding a book
titled “100 Family Resorts in North America.”
“It was based on regions, and we were looking
for a place to drive to from Chicago,” Groover
says. “The description of Ruttger’s sounded so
perfect that we decided we needed to check
it out. That summer we drove up there, and we
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