This year it will be 42 consecutive years that we have been vacationing at Sunset Lodge in July. It saddens our family greatly that Sunset Lodge will no longer be a family resort. We watched our three sons and a daughter grow up and enjoy Sunset Lodge. Now we are watching our 12 grandchildren do the same. Sunset Lodge has been a very important part of our family lives. We have so many wonderful memories of the times we have spent there and of the Park Rapids area. It truly has been a wonderful experience and now it is coming to an end. There were so many out-of-state people who also vacationed here. We will surely miss our July vacations in the Park Rapids area.
In the late 1960s there were over 4,000 family resorts in Minnesota. As of last year I believe there are under 1,000. Sunset Lodge has 600 feet of shoreline and its real estate tax valuation is $2,166.67 a foot. Family resorts with this kind of burden cannot survive. We admire the family resort owners who are still operating and hope somehow they can continue.
There were over 150 families that spent their summers at Sunset Lodge and enjoyed the Park Rapids area. I am sure that the local businesses will miss the economic loss of those 150 families. We are going to try and return to Park Rapids as often as we can as it is like a second home to us. We really like the Park Rapids area and the people. Thanks for having us and letting us enjoy your beautiful part of Minnesota.
In closing, thanks for the memories, Roger and Darline Wells, Del, Lois, Judy and the rest of the Berghuis family. You have been just great.
Bill and Carol Webb, Lake Crystal
