ATKINSON RESORT & COUNTRY CLUB CELEBRATES 10 TH ANNIVERSARY

( ATKINSON, NH, May 26, 2006) – What a difference a decade makes! Ten years ago, the Atkinson Golf Club opened with a nine-hole golf course and modest clubhouse. Today, the Atkinson Resort & Country Club offers an 18-hole championship golf course with state-of-the-art practice facility, GPS-guided carts and pro shop, as well as an expansive clubhouse featuring three restaurants, 15,000 sq. ft. of conference and banquet facility space and 16 guestrooms. Always open to the public year-round, it has become one of the most sought-after destinations for golf, dining, weddings, meetings and other special events in New Hampshire as well as Massachusetts.

As part of its 10 th anniversary celebration, the Atkinson Resort & Country Club held a Customer Appreciation Day on Friday, May 26, that included golf equipment demonstrations and giveaways, reduced greens fees, “beat the pro” contests, free refreshments and an open house reception for customers and guests. In addition to showcasing the entire Resort, the focus of the day was on the Resort's expanded golf program that features a more extensive golf education program, including junior clinics, and the addition of well-known Class A PGA member Marc Spencer, who joined as assistant golf pro in January 2006. Plans also include unveiling the redesigned 15 th and 16 th holes scheduled for August 2006.

According to Christine Lewis Morse, general manager, the Atkinson Resort & Country Club's mission is to meet the needs and preferences of the guests it serves. For example, to accommodate its growing wedding business the Resort is building a new $100,000 outdoor function facility for ceremonies (for completion in May 2007). Plans are also being considered for a residential community for adults 55 and older. When completed, enhancements to the 400-acre property could bring more than $1.2 million in annual tax revenue to the town of Atkinson and significantly increase the number of jobs provided by the Lewis family of companies (Atkinson Resort & Country Club, East Coast Lumber, Lewis Builders Development and Hampstead Area Water Company), which currently stands at 400.

As it begins its second decade of service, the Atkinson Resort & C ountry Club also continues to support business, civic and educational organizations through a number of charitable and in-kind donations. Some of these charitable activities include:

• Providing the Timberlane School District's Golf Team with access to the course for practice for the past nine seasons and ongoing
• First annual “Birdie-a-thon” in May where the golf pros raised $7,000 for Children's Hospital in Boston
• Host of Caritas Holy Family Hospital's “Dine with the Docs” event and “Frosty's Dash for a Cure” show shoe race for Cystic Fibrosis
• Sponsorship of the “Atkinson Bulldogs” youth baseball team's trip to Cooperstown, NY, this summer

The Resort is also the site of what has become an annual holiday tradition: the “Light the Tree Celebration” co-sponsored with the Town of Atkinson in partnership with numerous volunteers and community groups. Now in its fifth year, this event held throughout the entire Resort is free of charge and features a food and Toys for Tots drive, hayrides through the Resort property, caroling, arts & crafts, face painting, live music, ice carving demonstrations, refreshments and an appearance by Santa who arrives by fire truck to light a 45+ foot evergreen tree and greets kids. Attracting more than 3,000 children and adults from Atkinson and surrounding communities, “Light the Tree” at the Atkinson Resort & Country Club has become one of the area's largest community building events.

Some Fun Facts about the Atkinson Resort & Country Club in 2005 :

• 30,000 rounds of golf were played–that's double the number that were played when the course opened in 1996
• 4 stars have been given to Atkinson Country Club by readers of Golf Digest magazine
• Among the top 2% of public courses in New England is where N.E. Golf Guide ranks Atkinson Country Club
• 35,000 people dined at the Stagecoach Grille restaurant, Merrill's Tavern or Cartside Café
• 2,000 people spent a restful night at the Fieldstone Suites
• 110 couples were married at the Atkinson Resort & Country Club
• 3,053 young people attended 7 proms at the Atkinson Resort & Country Club