After vacationing many years at Sunset Lodges on the Basin, I heard it has changed ownership this year. Does anybody know what the property was valued at/sold for? Such a magnificent piece of property with a lot of frontage.
Who are the new Owners?
The answer best comes from a little history.
The Sager family from Trumbull, Connecticut, parents Wes and Betty, and their kids, daughter Beverly, and sons Bob and Rick, began coming to Sunset in 1963. They fell in love with it, and came back every year since.
As the years passed, and Betty and Wes passed away, Bev, Bob and Rick kept coming (as so many children of other Sunset parents have done), except with wives, husbands, and eventualy families. Now Wes and Betty’s grandchildren (and even great-grandchild) rent cabins, next door to other cabins rented by their parents, friends, and newcomers.
Rick moved to Wakefield, New Hampshire from Connecticut, and has lived there with his wife Lorraine and son Weston since 1983. Despite being only 30 minutes from Sunset Lodges, he and his family continued to vacation there every year.
Rick and his ties to the Grace and Charlie Rosell and Sally and her son Chris Fiske remained strong. When Charlie passed away, Rick lead the celebration of life for Charlie. When Grace died, Rick was given the same honor. Upon Sally’s untimely and tragically early death, Chris asked Rick to officiate. All three ceremonies occurred on the beloved volleyball court at Sunset Lodges.
When Sally died, her son Chris was left in charge of the operation. This was nothing he asked to happen. Although he lived at Sunset all his life, it was a mixed blessing for him. Although the property itself guaranteed him financial security for the foreseeable future, that was not what he wanted for himself or his family. He wanted to pursue other things – a landscaping business and raising a family. Admirable goals, for sure.
Chris discussed with Rick various possibilities for selling Sunset. Many options were discussed, such as an outright sale, selling the cabins as condominiums, time shares, etc. Chris wanted to make sure Sunset remained Sunset. He didn’t want to see the fruits of his grandparents and his mother’s labor be bulldozed in favor of a so-called “McMansion.” They decided condominiums was probably the “least worst” option.
About a week or two later, over perhaps a few too many (or perhaps not enough) beers and scotches during Superbowl Weekend 2010, Rick’s nephew Christian Sager (who was visiting Rick and Lorraine with his wife Jennifer) asked him, “Why don’t you buy Sunset Lodges?” After many scenarios, a few more beverages, and no good reason why not to, Rick approached Chris Fiske, and the rest is history.
Rick Sager has spent over a year of his life vacationing at Sunset Lodges, taking into account the various 1 and 2 week vacations he has spent at Sunset since 1963. He had never seriously envisioned actually owning and running Sunset, although he has fantasized owning it, obviously with no more expectation than the below-average kid in school thinking he would take the most popular girl to the senior prom. But I guess if you wait long enough, and have no expectations, miracles can happen.
So, Lorraine and I are the new owners. We plan to make improvements, but we pledge to keep Sunset as it always was for us and hopefully for you – a destination for family, friends and memories.
We want your ideas, no matter how small or how impossible, to make Sunset better. Please e-mail me at rick@sunsetlodges.com with your thoughts. We will read every e-mail with interest. We will try to respond to each e-mail, but we can’t guarantee that.
05-02-2010, 12:09 PM
Sunset Lodges
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