For the Love of The Tyler Place

By Elizabeth Grove

Many lives have been changed forever by a visit to The Tyler Place Family Resort. Since 1933, the Tyler family has been welcoming guests to their home in Highgate Springs, Vermont. Nestled along the banks of Lake Champlain, this family camp offers fun through lake and land activities for all ages. It's a place where friendship, adventure, and even love happen naturally. The Tyler Place history can be found on these pages as you read the unique stories of just some of the lives who've been forever changed by their Tyler Place experience.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: May 19, 2022
• ISBN: 9781667832043

Book preview

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For the Love of The Tyler Place

©2021 Elizabeth Grove

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

print ISBN: 978-1-66783-203-6

ebook ISBN: 978-1-66783-204-3

Thin Places is a Celtic Christian term used to describe those rare spots where the distance between Heaven and Earth seems to collapse and we are able to see glimpses into the divine.

Acknowledgements

I would like to offer many thanks to all who helped me put these stories together. Members of the Tyler Family who so patiently shared stories with me, sifted through old records and pictures, and corresponded through emails and phone calls these last few years are at the top of my list– Ted and Cathy Tyler, Pixley Tyler Hill, Hector Hill, Chad and Patsy Tyler, and Gige Hill-Gaskill.

The couples who vulnerably shared their love stories with me, thank you– Elizabeth and Ed Gatewood, Pam and Bob Winton, Betsy and Billy Cate, Danielle and Michael Costello, Nancy and Bob Ascuitto, Kim and Tyler Winton, Jaymie Bettel and Brett Lutterbein, Sydney Hamilton and Ben Hall, and Julia and Jim Howe.

To all who shared their thoughts and memories from the Tyler place with me, thank you– Liz and Andy Tyber, Maggie Hane, Claire McMorris, Ted Kissane, Christel Aprigliano, Amanda Lefel, Jeff Groves, and Karen Schulze.

My friends and family who gave me honest feedback and allowed me to take advantage of their editing talents– Betsy and Billy Cate, Nilla Cate Hesley, Maggie Hane, Jennifer Barker, Elise Hagstette, Elizabeth Wolfe, and Stannie Brewer, thank you, thank you!!

And, last but not least, to my family– John, Walker, and Pendleton Grove, Betsy and Billy Cate, and to all of my Tyler Place friends through the years who have been a part of my TP story – thank you for the love, laughter, and memories that I will cherish forever.

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Contents

Dedication

Prologue

The Tyler Place and the Tyler Family

The History

Love Stories of the Tyler Place

Life After the Tyler Place

Shaping Our Lives

Tyler Place Adventures, Old and New

Something for Everyone

Staff, Guests, and Being Youthful

What’s the Secret?

Epilogue

Dedication

What a pleasure it’s been to gather these stories in honor of the Tyler family and the Tyler Place Family Resort. This family-style camp is a place where many people have found or rekindled happiness, friendship, and even love. It is with humble gratitude that I share these tales from the last eighty-nine years of fun. The Tyler family, along with the people who’ve shared their stories with me, offer us glimpses into life throughout the years in Highgate Springs, Vermont. It’s a place where couples can relax and find romance or visit with other guests while their children play freely with friends, making memories that last a lifetime. The Tyler Place is timeless, and the people that it attracts year after year seem wonderfully the same.

The families whose stories you’ll hear on these pages have been forever changed by the love and laughter shared at this special place. Thank you to all who participated in this adventure with me. This book is intended to be a work of nonfiction, but please keep in mind that these stories are told as they were remembered, and many of these memories go way back. Some facts may be inadvertently misstated, and I hope you will accept my sincere apology for any mistakes. My goal is to share the Tyler Place history through the lens of friendship, romance, and family. It seems impossible to tell these tales without including the lasting effect the Tyler Place has had on me and my family. I may digress in some places and perhaps share too many personal stories, but I couldn’t help myself, as they seemed to add to the overall vibe of the Tyler Place. My hope is that the stories bring a smile to your face, joy to your heart, and for all the former guests reading this, a swell of nostalgia for the Tyler Place and the people who’ve kept it going all these years. Now it’s time to point your Adirondack chair toward the setting sun, pour yourself a maple martini (or a Rusty Squirrel), and enjoy these tales from years gone by.

Prologue

Fighting over who got to wear my mom’s Stowe Slalom Ring was a pastime my sister and I shared when we were young, for not only did it look cool, we knew it symbolized the summer when Mom and Dad fell in love at the Tyler Place Family Resort. It was the tradition in the 1960s for Tyler Place staff to purchase these rings from a silversmith named Skinger in Stowe, Vermont. A rite of passage to wear the slalom ring, Ted Kissane (former staffer and guest) explained, showing that you were part of a unique group; you were a member of the Tyler Place staff.

Sadly, we didn’t visit the Tyler Place when I was growing up. In fact, my parents didn’t return until their fortieth wedding anniversary in 2006. We dreamed of going, but life was busy and Vermont was a long way from where we lived in Eastover, South Carolina. My siblings and I passed around the ring and asked questions about this fun family camp. The movie Dirty Dancing was popular when