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Blue Spruce History
The Lithuanian Blue Spruce Summer Home
Joan and Erik opened the property on October 6, 2018 with a vision to restore the Blue Spruce to its glory days of creating a lifetime of memories for families.
The original owner Austin Mugridge opened the resort in the late 1920s and still has family residing in the area. We have been fortunate to meet a few of Austin’s relatives including Ernie Simms his nephew who spent his summers at the Blue Spruce tending the beautiful grounds.
If you grew up visiting Lake Como in the 1960’s you probably spent some time at the Blue Spruce and remember the owners Joe and Theresa; Please enjoy the article below translated for us by a customer Tom V!
July 23, 1960 “Draugas” (The Lithuanian newspaper “Friend”)
Jakas visited the Lake Geneva area and reports:
Lithuanian Blue Spruce Summer Home
Three miles after you cross US 12 from the town of Lake Geneva you come to the wooded town of Como and the lake that has it’s namesake. At the intersection of Lake Shore Drive and Uranius Rd you arrive to the Blue Spruce Resort whose owners are newcomers, Juozas and Terese Sakalauskas. The town of Como is a small town of about 500 permanent inhabitants and it stands by a spring fed pristine lake of 1,123 acres. It has been 3 years since the new Lithuanian owners have been managing the resort. They are experienced farmers who came from the Lithuanian region of “Suvalkija”. When they arrived in Chicago they decided to go into business. They first bought a small grocery store in Brighton Park where they conducted business for 8 years in 2 stores.
They decided to move to a “better climate” where the conditions were more like their homeland in Lithuania. They like the Wisconsin climate best. The couple found what they were looking for in this town because of the location with the beauty of the lake. This is why they bought the resort. According to the Sakalauskas’, the town has warm summers, cool nights, beautiful falls, and acceptable winters. Their resort is encompassed by blue spruces, maples and other tree and bushes. A brook runs by….it’s peaceful…the air is fragrant…and birds are singing. Here you can feel as if you are in the Lithuanian town of “Zarasai”. Right here you have the best beach in the whole town which is safe for children to swim.
Within the last 3 years the family enlarged and beautified the resort. Now there is a large dining room. Summer season is a very busy time. You need to prepare food for the guests, manage the bar, maintain the rooms with housekeeping, and much more. Their son, student Vytautas, last fall got married and moved to Baltimore so the owners have one less helper to run the business. Nowadays on weekends J. Alisauskas comes from Cicero, IL to serve as a bartender. The food in the dinning room is served family style for a very acceptable price. Mrs Sakalauskas’ steaks are considered better tasting than ANY in Lake Geneva’s best restaurants.
Lake Como is very good for fishing. In the May 29th 1960 Sunday Chicago Tribune Sports section, among other Wisconsin Lakes, Lake Como was mentioned as an excellent lake for fishing. The lake contains northern pike, bass, and other fish. Mr and Mrs Sakalauskas rent out boats to those interested in fishing. We met a known fishing and hunting enthusiast, V. Miciulis from Cicero who said he caught 40 northern pikes most of which he had to release because of Wisconsin fishing laws- only allowing fishermen to keep fish 22 inches or longer and only 2 keepers a day are allowed. Other larger fish have a daily limit of up to 5 a day. Smaller, less desirable fish have no set limit.
