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A Century of Fun at Purity Spring Resort

Published Monday Aug 22, 2011

Purity Spring Resort in Madison has been in the care of the Hoyt family for 100 years-a milestone few family-owned businesses ever achieve. Edward E. Hoyt Sr. used the land for farming and a mill, and began the Hoyt Natural Mineral Spring Water Company, bottling water and selling it to nearby markets in Boston and New York City. Loving the land and wanting to share it, Edward Jr. began focusing full-time on hospitality in 1911. For the past 100 years, the Hoyt children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren have strived to keep the business in the family, says Ted Hoyt, treasurer of Purity Spring Resort and a fourth-generation owner.

My grandfather was devoted to keeping his land and passed on valuable lessons to my father, E. Milton Hoyt, Ted Hoyt says. People often offered my grandfather a lot of money for the lakefront property, but he refused, even though he could have used it. It was tough, but granddad always impressed upon [us] the importance of not selling off the land, of preserving it, and keeping it intact. He wanted Purity Lake to remain one of the last undeveloped lakes in New Hampshire.

Keeping a business in a family is no easy task, but the Hoyt family has bucked the odds. We don't have a lot of conflict, Hoyt says of his family and its longevity in the business. We have a common goal. That goal is to preserve and share the now historical resort and its amenities. Comprised of 1,000 acres, the resort offers a beautiful natural setting for year-round activities. It has hiking trails, mountain-bike paths, an indoor pool, climbing wall and tennis courts, as well as a private lake with beaches for swimming, kayaking, fishing, canoeing, water-skiing and sailing. The winter brings Alpine skiing, snowboarding, snowtubing, ice skating, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and sleigh rides, as the Hoyt family also owns and operates King Pine, a ski area that will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year. The Hoyts also own Camp Tohkomeupog, a boys camp, and separate campground sites. The Purity Spring Resort itself has multiple lodging options and has restaurants and a tavern onsite. If they wish, guests can park their car all week, stay at the resort and keep totally occupied, Ted Hoyt says.  Many guests come every year for family reunions-one family has come every summer for 65 years. The resort also keeps up with the times, offering environmentally friendly weddings.  In addition, the resort also offers theme weekends for scrapbooking and quilting enthusiasts, as well as other special interest groups. It's little wonder the resort averages 10,000 room nights annually.

Ted Hoyt notes that the lodging business experienced a reasonable downturn in the current economy, but because the family business is diversified, things tend to work out.  People still want to vacation, so the campground business is up. Each year, one part of the business stands out to offset another and make it through, he says.

In honor of its centennial, the resort featured a flag-raising in early June, vintage photo opportunities, and a centennial luncheon. The summer-long celebration continues with story telling, specialty games-including a scavenger hunt featuring historical areas-and weekly lobster and clam bakes. (The lobster bake is another tradition that takes place every summer since the late 1950s.) For more information, visit www.purityspring.com.

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