7.9.2023
As we have seen a few times, a resort owner may have owned more than one resort in Itasca County, although usually not at the same time. Rees and Peggy Williams built and established the Pine Grove Resort on Sand Lake in 1925.
Two decades later, the Williams began receiving guests at Sand Lake Lodge also on Sand Lake. Rees aka “Steamboat Williams” was a professional baseball player. His career in baseball had come to a natural end, and at the relatively young age of thirty-three, Rees wasn’t ready to retire, and owning a resort kept him active.
The lore that passed from one resort owner to another is that Rees actually lost Pine Grove Lodge in a poker game. Leonard Hultman, the lucky card player, took over “on September 5, 1945, exactly 20 years after we had signed the original lease.” [Rees interviewed by Stan Johnson 3-13-1976]
Rees and Peggy Williams ~ late 1940s-1967
In the early 1940s Rees and Peg had the opportunity to purchase land that they had leased from Arthur Nelson, a former mayor of St, Paul. This sixty-eight acre tract of land was on a point about a mile east of Pine Grove Lodge and perfect for hunting duck and deer.
There was nothing more than a few trails, but Rees decided it would be a great location for their new resort. The biggest challenge was constructing a road in. It took two years for Rees, Ludwig Haataja, and a couple other men Rees had come to rely on to clear the land. “We started building the lodge in 1947, and then four cabins. Instead of log, [as at Pine Grove] the buildings were all frame construction.” [3-13-1976 Interview]
Rees and Peg had an established clientele who enjoyed spending time with them as much as they appreciated the fishing experience on Sand Lake. So, it is probable there were “guests” staying with them as soon as the lodge was completed, and Peg could cook for them. Officially though, according to the local paper, the resort opened in the spring of 1951.
Rees Williams Again in Resort Business ~ 5-15-1951 Deer River News
“Rees Williams, who formerly owned Pine Grove Lodge on Sand Lake, was in Deer River the last of the week. Mr. Williams reports that he is in the resort business again after having sold his former resort and that he has the start of a fine new resort on Sand Lake.
His new resort is known as Sand Lake Lodge and he has four cabins in addition to the main lodge, and a full complement of equipment for conducting a comfortable resort.”
There isn’t much information available about the resort in the early years – no brochures or postcards – and this could be because the Williams did have a faithful clientele and were updated with the Christmas holiday postcards they were known to send.
John Perkins, a summer resident down the shore from Sand Lake Lodge, shares some of his recollections. “My grandparents and my uncle first took me up here to their cabin when I was six years old, when it would take three days to drive here from Chicago (with stops at the relatives along the way.)” That was over seventy years ago, and John has only missed a few summers since then. John is, among other things, an accomplished songwriter and musician. “Are We There Yet,” is a song he wrote about coming to the lake as a kid. It can be heard by following this link. https://soundcloud.com/johnfperkins/are-we-there-yet-41722-41722-135-pm?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
“When I was a kid, we’d frequently go to Sand Lake Lodge because my grandfather was friends with a man named Mr. Olson. He was a guest at the resort, whose vacation usually overlapped with ours, as did some of the amenities the Lodge had to offer.” John’s family could store their daily catch in the large freezer Rees had for guests’ fish. “Rees had these banana popsicles in the freezer, and, if you were a good boy during the day, you got to have one when you put your fish in the freezer. Those popsicles were really good!”
For many years, the only way to get to John’s family cabin was by boat. Rees made wooden boats for his resort and others in the area. Although there are probably none of his boats in the annual Sand Lake Boat Parade today, fifty years ago many folks on the lake had one made by Rees.
As family owners passed away, John had an opportunity to call the land his own. After nearly fifty years of vacationing at Sand Lake, John constructed a house that would withstand the Minnesota winters, if he ever has a desire to do so. At this point, John and his wife Sandy are here from early spring until just before the snow falls.
Another Rees story comes from Willy and Marilyn Fredricks who were friends with Anne Haataja. Her parents, Ludwig and Gladys, were friends with Rees and Peggy during the years they had the Sand Lake Lodge. According to Anne, her father cut Rees’ hair and her mother did housework for Peggy. She also did Peg’s ironing, including her underwear! “Peg was a very prim and proper lady who had a real fear of dying in wrinkled clothes.” [Willy Fredrick https://link2ourpast.com/Williams%5D
It is believed the Williams sold the resort in 1967 when they were in their seventies. Peg died in 1972 and Rees in 1975. They are buried at the Olivet Cemetery in Deer River.
As sometimes happens with resorts with a long history, there is often little information on the owners during the in-between years. It is not known who owned the resort between 1967-1980, but during that time, another cabin, with three bedrooms was built.
Tom and Carol Pfeifer ~ 1980-1997
Tom and Carol both loved to fish and decided a fishing resort would be a good place to raise their three younger children. After considerable research about good fishing lakes and available resorts in northern Minnesota, the Pfeifers decided to purchase Sand Lake Lodge. They didn’t have experience running a resort, but learned as they went, as did their children Randy, Carolyn, and Cheryl. It was truly a family fishing resort run by an enthusiastic family. The Pfeifers lived in the lodge at the resort year around, and the kids attended school in Deer River.
Tom and Carol loved to greet their guests with coffee and a homemade roll or cookie, and to catch up with those who reserved the same cabin for the same week year after year. They shared where the fish were biting and where berries were ripe. Most of all, they encouraged their guests to enjoy the woods and the lakes during their visit.
Gerlitz Family ~ 1997-current
Sand Lake Lodge is now owned by the second generation of Gerlitzs, Brent and Jennette. “My folks and my brothers an sisters and I had been coming up to the Pine Grove Lodge, here on Sand Lake from the Twin Cities for years,” Brent explained. “About the time I graduated from high school they learned Sand Lake Lodge was for sale. It was a big career change for them, but one they didn’t regret.”
Wayne and Shelly Gerlitz relished their role as resort owners. They liked the fact that it was relatively small and that four of the cabins were ones built by Rees Williams. The resort also had a well-established clientele, and many of the guests still come from the Twin Cities, southern Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana. As it has been since the Williams built it, the resort is seasonal – fishing opener through bird hunting in the fall.
The Gerlitz family updated and remodeled the cabins as needed but wanted to keep the original tongue and groove paneling and the wide board ceilings. The work that Rees and carpenter Ludwig Haatala had done, was left untouched. The floors, of course, got the most wear and some of them have been covered with linoleum or paint.
Brent, a musician, moved to New York City, where he lived for fifteen years. In 2013 he married native New Yorker Jennette Rivera. After the birth of their daughter Violette they relocated to Steamboat Springs, CO where both worked in entertainment and hospitality.
When Wayne and Shelly were edging up on the twenty-year mark as resort owners, they began considering their options for retirement. About the same time, Brent and Jennette began tossing around the idea of moving to Minnesota to raise their family. After their second daughter, Ondine was born, they made the move they haven’t regretted.
2023 marks the third summer that Brent and Jennette have owned Sand Lake Lodge. “Our girls love it here,” Jennette said. “When families return with children their age it’s almost like they have cousins to play with and there are plenty of families.” Some that have made it a tradition to come for three and four generations.
A favorite spot of the Gerlitzes and resort guests is Listening Point. There is a handmade sign, bench, swing, and, of course, a view of the lake. Listening Point is for solitude, but the screen porch is a gathering place. It is unique in that the table and chairs are handmade, and the walls adorned are with memories.
As time permits, minor updates continue to be made but nothing to change the ambience. “There’s something special about the small family resorts, like this one, and I don’t want them to go away,” Brent said. “I’m going to fight tooth and nail to keep our resort the way it has been as much as we can. The small resorts are different than the big ones.”
Jennette nodded. “You can hear a screen door bang and the laughter of kids from anywhere in the resort.”
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