6 minute read
Breezy Point Resort centennial
One of the first entrances to Breezy Point Lodge, founded by Captain Billy Fawcett, in the early 1920s.
Breezy Point Resort celebrating 100th anniversary
Spizzos mark 40 years of ownership
BY NANCY VOGT
Breezy Point Resort on Pelican Lake celebrates not one but two milestones this year - its 100th anniversary as a resort and the 40th year of ownership by the Bob and Kay Spizzo family.
“The amazing thing is when I look at the size of the big pine trees in the parking lot. I planted them,” Bob Spizzo said while reminiscing in the resort’s coffee shop.
Those 4-foot tall trees he planted now soar 40 feet into the sky. And that coffee shop is just one of countless amenities that weren’t even ideas when Spizzo first came to Breezy Point Resort.
He arrived from Colorado in 1977, saying he’d stay for three years to turn around Whitebirch Inc, the parent company of Breezy Point Resort. “And here it’s 40 years later and I’m still here,” he said with a smile.
Spizzo started with several partners who over sold their shares to his family.
A scene from the early days at Breezy Point.
Like most other area resorts, Breezy Point Resort the years.” was once a seasonal resort that closed for the winter. Besides adding golf courses, restaurants, a recreation facility, the coffee shop and a spa, Spizzo said a big change came when the resort got into hockey.
“It’s the only resort I know of with a hockey arena,” he said, noting that amenity helps fill up the resort’s housing units in the winter.
During the summer, the resort is hopping with tourists, weddings, conventions and those who enjoy the resort’s three golf courses and Pelican Lake.
Despite the resort’s success and growth over the years, Spizzo remains most proud of his staff’s hospitality.
“We now have the third generation of employees whose grandparents worked for us,” he said. “That is a warm feeling when I see kids who are here now and their grandmother or grandfather worked for us.”
Staff members are friendly and make people feel welcome.
“We hire people that have a great attitude,” Spizzo said. “We can train them, but they have to have the right personality.”
A row of “cottages” at Breezy Point Lodge on Big Pelican Lake.
Breezy Point Resort also has managers who have been employed there for more than 30 years, including Dave Gravdahl, who started as a golf caddy more than 60 years ago and has been general manager for 40 years; and Joyce Bzoskie, president of Whitebirch Inc., the resort’s parent company that was formed to market and develop land around the resort, for 35 years.
And the resort has long employed Spizzo’s successor - his son, David, who started working at the resort marina years ago and is now assistant general manager as well as vice president of Whitebirch Inc.
“I couldn’t have found a better person,” Bob Spizzo proudly said. “He’s been with me since we picked up cans Sunday mornings after the parties.”
Bob and Kay have three children, and all worked at the resort while growing up, doing such work as cleaning fireplaces, grills and dishes.
“They learned the work ethic that we’re so proud of,” Bob Spizzo said.
RESORT HISTORY
The resort’s biggest asset is likely name recognition, Spizzo said. The resort was named Breezy Point Lodge when Wilford Hamilton Fawcett - much better known as Captain Billy Fawcett - founded it in 1921. The city’s name changed from the Village of Pelican Lakes to the city of Breezy Point in 1970.
\Fun on Pelican Lake during the early days of Breezy Point Lodge.
The Breezy Pointer, an annual resort publication, says Fawcett “lived a colorful and flamboyant lifestyle while building a publishing empire on a single magazine, Capt. Billy’s Whiz Bang.” That magazine made him rich.
Fawcett became a captain in the U.S. Army during World War I, where he gained the nickname “Captain Billy.” “Whiz bang” was the name Allied forces gave to German artillery shells in the war, according to the Breezy Pointer.
In 1921, Fawcett bought land on Big Pelican Lake and built Breezy Point Lodge.
“Friends, politicians and Hollywood celebrities visited Breezy Point to hunt and drink illegal liquor,” the Breezy Pointer says. “Among Fawcett’s guests at the resort were movie stars Carole Lombard and Clark Gable, writer Sinclair Lewis and Minnesota Governor Floyd B. Olson.”
A view of Dockside restaurant and bar on Pelican Lake at Breezy Point Resort.
Professional golfer Walter Hagen, known as the “father of professional golf” and a major figure in golf in the first half of the 20th century, is another famous person who stayed at the resort.
Fawcett died in 1940 and the resort went through different ownerships, closing for a time during World War II before it was resurrected and grew. Fawcett’s memory lives on at Breezy Point Resort through the Fawcett House - a mansion he built for himself and that today offers vacationers 11 bedrooms and nine bathrooms - as well as the Whiz Bang deck at the Dockside bar and restaurant.
The Fawcett House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
100TH ANNIVERSARY
The iconic Breezy Point Resort gates at County Roads 11 and 4 sport a 100th anniversary logo.
The resort will celebrate its 100th anniversary all year. Guests and locals can take in a museum display at the front desk, sign banners noted as the “Wall of Fame” at the front desk and at Dockside, and have their photo taken in a Roaring ‘20s cutout.
The Traditional Golf Course will feature tributes to professional golfers Hagen and Patty Berg, a founding member and first president of the Ladies Professional Golf Association.
There is gift shop memorabilia featuring 100- year mementos and speakeasy drink specials featuring 1921 cocktails with commemorative glasses. There’s also a display of old menus by the Marina II dining room and a display of entertainment through the years at Dockside.
Visit the resort’s Facebook and Instagram pages for yesterday vs. today memories.
An employee reunion was planned for May. Spizzo said he’s proud the resort can offer kids a job where they can work during the summer to earn money for college. The resort planned Memorial Day weekend fireworks, with another fireworks display planned Saturday, July 3. On Labor Day weekend, the resort will revive the 10,000 Lakes Golf Tournament on the Traditional Course using the front eight holes, just like the beginning.
THE FUTURE
The water tower at Breezy Point Resort.
“We see ourselves getting deeper involved in hockey and golf and health,” Spizzo said. “We want people to come here and not only relax, but learn to eat healthy.”
Spizzo traveled a lot, including to Europe and other parts of the world, to glean ideas and make them better in building up Breezy Point Resort. That included a business plan that expanded to many profit centers, instead of relying solely on one.
In addition to a hockey arena, he said Whitebirch Inc. was the first to offer campsite ownership, timeshares and condominiums. Whitebirch is now delving into a townhouse development called Whitebirch Village, featuring 52 two- and three-bedroom townhouses geared to active adults being built on the Whitebirch Golf Course.
The resort will continue along the entrepreneur path, including advancements no one has yet established.
“Who knows what people will come up with,” Spizzo said, referencing ideas that took hold over the years but that no one had thought of back when he first came to Breezy Point Resort.
“I think Captain Billy would turn over in his grave if he saw all the changes over the years,” Spizzo said.
NANCY VOGT is editor of the Pineandlakes Echo Journal weekly newspaper in Pequot Lakes/Pine River. She may be reached at 218-855-5877 or nancy.vogt@pineandlakes.com.
One of the first entrances to Breezy Point Lodge, founded by Captain Billy Fawcett, in the early 1920s.
