In 1960, the Richmond Ski Club was growing.
Meeting places were getting crowded. Bill Bird’s
basement, that once seemed big, was packed at the
club meetings. Bill Bird was elected the club’s third
president and served two terms, 1960-1962. Bill was
a real skiing enthusiast having been raised in
Washington state and having learned to ski on Mt.
Rainier. When World War II was over, Bill settled in
Richmond, met and married a young lady named Mary
and started a family. Bill was tired of having to drive
to the DC area to buy ski equipment, so he started
the first ski shop in Richmond. Thus was born The Ski
Shop, located first in Tom Brown’s Hardware in Ridge
Shopping Center in the West End. It then moved to
Rowletts at Staples Mill and Broad, where it continued
for a couple of years, then it was sold to Pinnell’s and
located on West Broad Street. During the 1960’s
another RSC member George Smith and his wife
Gloria opened the first all ski shop, “Sea and Ski,” and
advertised themselves as “Richmond’s only pro ski
shop.”
Bing Poon, who lived in Northern Virginia and was a
member of the National Ski Patrol, joined the
Richmond Ski Club and he and Bill Bird started the
first Virginia Ski Patrol. Over the coming years, Bill
would be instrumental in the Ski Patrol at Bryce
Mountain (Bryce would open in 1966.) Bill’s son
David and a young lady named Bonnie Black were the
first two Junior Ski Patrol members.
With the club’s membership growing and mailing fees
for meeting notices increasing, the dues were raised
slightly to $4.00 for a family and $2.50 for a single
person per year.
In 1962-1963, Tom Howard became the club’s
president and the membership passed the 100-
member mark. With the growing membership, the
club moved its meeting place to the Branch House.
Now there were four ski locations the club members
could enjoy. Two were in Virginia – The Homestead
at Hot Springs, and Shawneeland, just west of
Winchester. The other two were in Davis, West
Virginia – Weiss Knob and Cabin Mountain.
In 1963-1964, Edwin A. (Red) Jarrett became the
club’s president and the membership continued to
grow until the club outgrew the Branch House and
moved to the Esso Building at Broad and Hamilton.
In 1964-1965, Bob Houser became president and
the membership grew to 200 members and the
meeting place, once again, moved to the Holiday Inn
at West Broad.
The years were 1965-1966. Carroll Hughes was
elected president of RSC and snow skiing was on the
rise. Bryce Mountain opened and now the club had a
local destination that was only a couple of hours
away. Bill Bird, along with Bing Poon and several
other RSC members, formed “The Bryce Mountain Ski
Patrol.” This was the first organized ski patrol in
Virginia and promoted skiing safety. Some other
members of the group were Reb McCowen and Bill
Carneal. Think about it for a minute and you will
realize that there was ulterior motive to being on the
ski patrol. Patrollers got their lift tickets free. RSC ski
members, Ed Wright, Bill Bird, Reb McCowen and Bill
Carneal, to name a few, worked two different jobs as
ski patrollers as well as ski instructors for Sepp Kober
at The Homestead. Bill McCracken planned the club’s
first sponsored weeklong ski trip to Mt. Snow,
Vermont. The club’s membership was growing and a
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“happy hour” became an added feature of the club’s
meetings during these years.
In 1966-1967, Harry Cohn was president and with
the growth of now two locations, Bryce and The
Homestead, the club’s membership had grown to 250
and they were almost all skiers. Now that is not to
say there were all experts, but they were all avid,
excited and adventurous. The Holiday Inn at Robin
Hood Road became the meeting place. Bill Bird took
over the ski patrol as head patroller from Bing Poon.
The Club was now 13 years old and we needed some
type of insignia. Lou Carrington designed the club’s
first patch. The patch was dark blue with gold
stitching with the words “Ski Club Richmond Va.” The
center was a gold circle around a skier in a red jacket.
Has anyone seen one of these patches?
1967-1968 - Harry Cohn remained president and
the club’s membership grew even more with members
from Miami, Greensboro, Raleigh, Washington,
Tidewater, Massachusetts and Vermont. The club
moved its meeting place again, this time to the
American Legion Hall. Bill Bird stepped down and
Carol Hughes took over as ski patrol leader with ten
registered National Ski Patrolmen.
1968-1969 - Reb McCowen became president and
the membership now was over 300 and had to move
its meeting place again. This time it was off to the
Hotel Jefferson. RSC, with its growing membership,
began to venture out with the sponsoring of more
trips. The Mt. Snow bus trip was becoming the club’s
annual trip, but a trip to Aspen was added, along with
trips to Camelback, Big Boulder and Stowe. Reb tells
the story that there was a weekend bus trip planned
for Blue Knob and it rained all the way up to
Pennsylvania. Since it looked like the weekend would
be a washout, the hotel where the club was staying
was convinced to help sponsor a party that lasted into
the wee hours. The next day it was still raining so
everyone got on the bus. A vote was taken to go to
Seven Springs only to find that it was raining there,
also. Another vote was taken and the bus headed to
Wisp. You guessed it, it was a washout there, too, so
the bus became a party bus and they headed back to
Richmond. This was a ski trip to three locations and
no one put skis on.
1969-1970 - Reb McCowen remained president.
The Hotel Jefferson continued to be the club’s
meeting place. The club’s trips became ever more
adventurous and a trip to Europe was added. The
club was off to Davos, Switzerland. Other trips that
year were to Mt. Snow, Vermont, Blue Knot, Elk
Mountain, Sugar Mountain, N.C., and of course, Bryce
Mountain. RSC skiers were beginning to get the urge
to compete in racing and that year the club
participated in NASTAR and Interclub races for the
first time. Dave Maxwell became the patrol leader
and now had a 17-member ski patrol at Bryce. The years were 1970-1971. Under the direction of
Sam Perry, RSC was growing and was beginning to
become very active. RSC was running more and more
ski trips, as well as participating in sanctioned trips
with the Crescent Ski Council and the Blue Ridge
Council. RSC had reached its all time high of 460
voting members, attaining the status of a major
Eastern U.S. ski club.
The Richmond Ski Club newsletter had grown from a
couple of pages to a full 12-page publication and was
sent out monthly.
September 1970 marked the first
issue of the expanded publication. This was the
beginning of the club’s ongoing newsletter, thanks to
Barbara Perry. Ski trips were run to Vail, Mt. Snow,
Switzerland/Italy, as well as Quebec, Camelback, Elk
Mt. And Seven Springs. Racing was beginning to
become a big part of the club. The club’s first racing
team was formed and they won second place in the
Crescent Council races at Sugar Mt., N.C. RSC held its
own championship races in February, 1971, at the
Homestead and trophies for top male and female
racers went to Sam Ukrop and Inge Sonuparlak. RSC
held its first “SKI FAIR” with a Fun Auction and a Ski
Bunny Contest. Dale Hazelwood won the title of RSC
Ski Bunny Queen. Proceeds from the auction raised
$1,200 for the U.S. Ski Team. RSC initiated its first
summer program with a tennis tournament. Sam
Ukrop and Bobbie Allen were the men’s and women’s
singles winners. This event was followed by parties at
the river homes of Rudy Butler and Buck Pinnell.
The years were 1971-1972. Ed Hakala took over
the reins as president of RSC. At the September
Board Meeting, the board noted to change the name
of the “NEWSLETTER” to “THE PACESETTER.” The
first issue was Volume II, Number 1, thus the birth of
the club’s long running PACESETTER. Since the club
was beginning to include summer activities, it was
also decided that the membership year be changed to
run from May 1 to April 30. Donnie Satterwhite
(Treasurer) proposed to the board that since the club
had grown in its membership, as well as conducting
year-round activities, trips and events, it would be a
good idea to create an annual budget for the club.
Again, this year RSC ran numerous trips for a total of
fourteen. This included one trip to Elk Mountain that
was unprecedented by it’s size, five buses. YES,
THERE WERE 5 BUSES! Coleman Figg ran his annual
trip to Mt. Snow with two buses. Some of the other
trips were to Stowe and Crested Butte. Ski trips were
beginning to get pricey. Crested Butte was $259 for a
week of skiing, lodging and lift tickets including round
trip from Richmond. The second annual ski fair was
held as another big success. Sam Ukrop had several
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sets of almost new skis for sale at the annual swap
shop. Imagine that! The year ended with a big ski
party at the Columns Restaurant and the summer
included a Tennis Tournament and River Parties.
The years were 1972-1973. Bob Mason was elected
President to lead the club. This was a tough year for
the Eastern U.S. Five trips had to be cancelled for
lack of show. The club still managed to sponsor trips
to Stowe, Killington, Crested Butte, Elk Mt., Seven
Springs, Camelback and Canaan Valley. Racing was
becoming a very big part of the club. For some of
you old timers, listed to some of the names of the
hottest and fastest racers in the club. The men
includeed Mead Broaddus, Sam Ukrop, Bill Carneal,
Bob Mason, Donnie Satterwhite, Coleman Figg, Ned
Neilson, George Winfree and Ed Estes. The women
included Inge Sonuparlak, M. A. Santo (better known
as Mary Ann Murphy), Barbara Perry, Emily Ukrop,
Judy Gilman and Susan Buchholz. At Elk Mt., the
Baltimore Ski Club challenged RSC to a race, which
RSC won overall in both the Men’s and Women’s
division. RSC’s membership had risen to 732
members. The club ended this year with a dance
featuring “The Shades of Blue” and a casino party
with over 150 attending. The summer again brought
the club together with tennis and river parties.
The years were 1973-1974. Under the leadership of
Grant Eddy, RSC co-sponsored the first Virginia Ski
Fair at the fairgrounds including a moving ski ramp.
Olympic star Susie Chaffee came down from Mt. Snow
and skied on the ramp to promote the sport of snow
skiing. The fair was very successful and well
attended. Again, this ski season was hurt by lack of
snow in the East. Along with the lack of snow there
was also a fuel shortage. Can you remember “odd
number days and even number days?” If you don’t
know what this means, one of the older members can
explain. The club came up with a successful
innovation with last minute economy trips, leaving
late Friday nights for Pennsylvania in search of show
for weekend skiing. Counting all the weekend trips to
Pennsylvania, the club still managed to run nineteen
trips. On the racing scene, the club w2on many
trophies, including the Canaan Valley Ski-O-Ree and
ESA club races at Killington. Frances Broaddus won a
trip to Sun Valley to the National NAASTAR Races and
five of the club’s racers were in the top ten in the
Eastern Citizens Races.
The years were 1974-1975. With Ham Scherer as
president, again the club sponsored two trips west to
Aspen and Jackson Hole, as well as New England trips
to Killington/Pico, Waterville Valley and Mt. Snow.
There were the usual weekend trips to Seven Springs
Canaan, Snowshoe, Camelback, Blue Knob and Jack
Frost. The club races were held at The Homestead
and the club retired the B.R.S.C. Schaeffer Cup by
winning the Ski-O-Ree at Canaan Valley. The social
scene was beginning to become part of the club’s
year-round activities with “Happy Hours.” The first
Happy Hour was held at the Flying Machine on West
Broad Street. RSC had another successful spring
dance, along with the club’s first horse race trop to
the 100th running of the Preakness. The summer
brought the members together again for a river party
at Buck Pinnell’s.
1975-1976 under the leadership of George Winfree,
the club became incorporated as Richmond Ski Club,
Inc. Even though the weekend trip schedule had to
be cut short by a very early spring thaw, the club still
managed to have very successful week trips to Sun
Valley, Waterville Valley (two buses packed full),
Sugarbush, Killinggton/Pico and Copper Mountain,
Colorado. The club also ran a very successful
beginners trip to Virginia’s newest ski area,
Wintergreen. On the social side the club was very
active. The Club sponsored its second annual bus trip
to the Preakness as well as indoor tennis, a river party
at Buck Pinnell’s a big new skier party in the fall, as
well as several happy hour parties at different
locations around Richmond. The year was capped off
with a big Spring Dance featuring “The Drifters.” The
Drifters were one of the top Rock & Roll groups of the
60’s. OK, for you younger members, “The Drifters”
sang “Under The Boardwalk,” “Up On The Roof,”
“There Goes My Baby,” Some Kinda Wonderful” and
many more.
1976-1977 with Charlie Bradshaw as president, RSC
expanded to a year-round organization. Members
were kept active throughout the summer with tennis
parties, happy hours, a river party and for the third
year in a row, a bus trip to the Preakness. Kicking off
the season in the fall was an extremely successful big
Disco Party that was also tied in with a membership
drive. RSC still had great success running bus trips to
New England, including a last minute change to
Stowe, Vermont in place of a planned Aspen trip.
There was lack of snow in the West that year. Again
the club ran a very successful beginners trip to
Massanutten. On the racing scene, RSC had its share
of great racers. RSC, at the Ski-O-Rees in the Citizens
Race, produced gold medals for Barbara Satterwhite,
May Ann Murphy, Terry Satterwhite, and Harry Cohn.
Donnie Satterwhite won a silver medal. The club
races boasted a whopping number of over sixty male
and female club members participating – too many to
list here. It was a cold winter that year and the
Snowshoe trip recorded a temperature of –88 degrees
F, wind chill factor. Membership grew and the year
ended with a 40% increase in members. This year
also saw a big Christmas party and again the club had
headliners to entertain at the year en spring dance,
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“The Platters.” OK, OK, now I know you remember
them. They sang “The Great Pretender,” “The Magic
Touch,” “Harbor Lights,” “With This Ring,” and many
more. Oh yes, the tickets were $5.00 each which
included setups BYOB.
1977-1978 Ruth Kersey was elected RSC’s first
female president. Membership was at an all time high
– reaching 1,000 members. There was another great
beginners trip to Wintergreen, along with trips again
to New England – Stowe, Killington, Stratton, and
Sugarloaf, Maine. The club’s trip to Steuben, Austria
was 100 members strong! The Richmond skiers
encountered snow beyond their expectations – over
ten feet fell in one week. This allowed the club
members a lot of time for the sauna. Some did, some
didn’t and some swear they didn’t look. Skiing in
deeeep show gave new meaning to powder. Charlie
Bradshaw organized the first RSC racing program.
The program produced fifty-nine active racers. The
Presidents Cup competition was started. The season
was kicked off with a Ski Fair inside Regency Mall with
twenty-eight booths from ski shops and ski
destinations as far away as Grey Rocks, Canada. The
first club bumper sticker, “I SKI with the Richmond Ski
Club” was available. The Christmas Party was again a
big Disco hit. Dues were $10 for a single member
and $15 for a family. Trips were getting expensive.
The Stowe trip was $275 and included transportation,
lodging, two meals a day, 6-day lift ticket and
unlimited lessons. The social side of the club
continued with monthly happy hours throughout the
city, along with another trip to the Preakness, River
Party and Spring Dance.
1978-1979 with Jim Soyars as president, the RSC
racing program was in full swing. RSC won the
Broaddus-Eddy Memorial Trophy at the Annual Ski-ORee. This award was named after two of the club’s
members who had had lost their lives in an accident
returning from a ski trip. Barbara Satterwhite placed
fifth in her age category in the National NASTAR finals
at Park City, Utah. The racing program continued to
grow and improve. The club’s membership had
grown to 1,200. Trips were sponsored toi Copper
Mountain, Heavenly Valley, and Banff, Canada, as well
as eastern trips to Killington, Mt. Snow, Sugarbush
and Stowe, along with eleven weekend trips. The
year again kicked off the season with the 1979 Ski
Fair at Regency Mall and a dance. RSC continued to
sponsor the monthly happy hour at different local
restaurants/bars, with much success. It was not
unusual to have 60 to 70 members attending every
month. The annual Christmas Dance and the Spring
Dance were still very popular, along with the annual
River Party.
1979-1980 with a hard working Board of Directors
under the leadership of Lucy Williams, the Richmond
Ski Club had one of its most active years ever. For
the first time ever, the club sponsored three western
flight trips. Copper Mountain, Vail and Steamboat
Springs. The club ran its shortest weeklong trip that
year. Thirty brave and hardy souls ventured top
Killington over Christmas week only to get in one day
of skiing, since the East was having a bad start to the
winter season and there was a great shortage of
snow. Fortunately, conditions in the East improved
enough to allow us a good week at Sugarbush, as well
as several weekend trips to Pennsylvania. The Club’s
racers provided us with much excitement by winning
third place in the Southern Star Classic and a purse of
$3,000, as well as first place in the Virginia Ski Club
Races, which we hosted. The club took the honors at
the Ski-O-Ree by more than doubling the points of our
nearest competitor. The Social committee kept the
club busy throughout the year with happy hours, an
elegant wind and cheese party, and another trip to
the Preakness.
1980-1981 - John Lester was elected president to
lead RSC into the 80’s with a very hard working Board
of Directors. Racing has become a big part of RSC’s
activities. There were eleven days of racing
scheduled, starting in early January and running
through the end of February, beginning with the
Virginia State Slalom Championship at Bryce
Mountain, Club Races, Massanutten Cup, Governor’s
Cup at Massanutten, Ski-O-Ree at Snowshoe and
several Citizen Races. Every month the club
sponsored a happy hour at a different location. By
popular demand, there was a return visit to the Bull
and Bear Club. A big Christmas party was held at The
Tobacco Company. The price was $4.00 per person
and included lots of hot and cold hors d’oeuvres, as
well as music. The Western trips included Vail, Park
City and Banff, Canada, as well as one European trip
to Tignes, France. There were also three trips to New
England, Stratton, Smugglers Notch and Mount Snow
and two weekend trip to Snowshoe and Seven Springs
(with two buses.) The year ended with a great
Awards Banquet at Neilson’s Restaurant and the club’s
first annual “Wine and Cheese Party” at the top of the
old F&M Center in downtown Richmond.
1981-1982 - Marty Casey became the club’s second
woman president. Happy hours were one of the
biggest activities and they were held year round. The
club’s social committee did a great job locating new
places each month. Who remembers the restaurant,
“Victoria Station,” “Mad King Ludwig’s,” and
“Saddles?” There event was a bus trip in November
to a Redskins game. The annual Preakness Race trip
was again a success. IN July, the club challenged the
roaring rapids of the James River on a rafting grip.
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We added the first October Skifest” to introduce all of
our trips and in December w2e had our first “Fabulous
Fashions” show. As for trips, the club was off to the
West at Telluride, Vail, Jackson Hole, and Aspen. In
the East it was Lake Placid, Ottawa, Canada, and
Sugarloaf, Maine. There were also the usual trips to
Snowshoe, Seven Springs and Elk Mountain. The
Banff trip held club Molstar Races (The Canadian
version of NASTAR.) There were twenty-six trip
members who raced and twenty-three came home
with one or more medals for a total of 42 medals. On
the Lake Placid trip, the club experienced one of the
coldest weeks of skiing with temperatures of 50-60F
below zero. With the membership at 976 that year,
we skied over 700 people. If you have been in the
club for any time you know that Marty Casey has
been one of the club’s hardest workers, holding nearly
every office in the club, as well as running trips and
just about being everywhere. The year started with
the second annual “Wine and Cheese Party” in the
executive dining area on the top of the F&M Building.
1982-1983 under the leadership of president Tom
Lewicki, the club continued to enjoy a most
enthusiastic and successful year. The club ran seven
week trips, one four-day trip, two three-day trips and
six weekend trips. One of the trips was a two-bus trip
to Snowshoe over the New Year holiday. The
European trip this year was run by Ham Scherer. Lots
of snow and avalanches caused several of the ski club
members to be stranded in a nearby town for a
couple of days. This produced lots of time for
shopping – well that is another story for another time.
The conditions were not the best in the East that
year, however, the West had more than enough
snow. When it did decide to snow in the East, a good
amount fell in the Richmond area, and thus, caused
one of the weekend trips to Snowshoe to be
cancelled. The State Police advised the bus company
that they could not travel due to the abundance of
snow between Richmond and West Virginia. Imagine
that – a ski trip cancelled because of too much snow!
The competition committee worked hard on
encouraging racing, and was most successful with
their program. The Race Schedule consisted of
sixteen planned races and had approximately fifty
individuals who participated. As usual, the social
committee was working overtime providing a different
location each month for the ever-popular happy
hours. For those who did not have the opportunity to
be part of the 80’s happy hour scene, most of the
local hotels and many of the restaurants had a
Wednesday Happy Hour and furnished an abundant
amount of FREE FOOD. The social committee would
select a location, negotiate a special price for beer
and wine and charge a $1.00 fee to come and eat
free food. For several years, during the 80’s, it was
not unusual to have 70 to 80 club members at a
happy hour. Once again, were treated to our second
annual fashion show. The Club was approaching the
age of thirty years and it was time to get the affairs of
the club brought more in tune with the times and look
forward to the future. The Club purchased its first
computer, which would assist us in simplifying many
of the internal operations of the Club. The first use of
the computer was to build a database of our
membership and be able to keep it up to date for use
at the doors of our meetings. In February, 1984, we
introduced two promotional marketing items. The
first was the striking RSC colored poster with the
words “Richmond Ski Club is Going Down Hill.” The
second was the first blue and white bumper sticker, “I
SKI WITH THE RICHMOND SKI CLUB.” The year
ended with a big President’s with many racing
trophies (over 100 given to club members.
1983-1984 – A very talented and dedicated Lynn
Neese was president. Lynn, much like Marty Casey,
has been one of the Club’s strongest supporters and
she too has held just about every position on the
board. The Director of Beginner position was
changed to Director of New Skiers so that it would be
a source for contact and information to beginning
skiers, as well as new members, and new arrivals to
Richmond, regardless of skiing ability. The newly
organized Trip Committee planned a schedule of
twenty trips including several new locations never
visited by RSC. Trips to Vail, Salt Lake, Taos, Mt.
Tremblant, Stowe, Sun Valley and a weeklong race
camp at Pico, Vermont run by Johnny Black made up
the schedule. John Senn, VP of Trips developed the
first trip leaders manual with the help of Tom Lewicki
and using a copy of the Washington, D.C. Ski Club’s
manuyal as a guide. The Social Committee was very
active this year with happy hours at popular locations
such as Cimarron Rose, Red River Rib Company, The
Bus Stop, and Mad King Ludwig’s. The summer
started with an hors d’oeuvres party on the Annabel
Lee with 100-plus RSC members in attendance. In
September, there was a pig pickin’ at the Kanawha
Canal. In October the Skifest introduced the year's
trips. The first Extravaganza Fashion Show was in
November.
1985-1986 – After ten years, George Winfree
returned as president of the Richmond Ski Club.
Membership in RSC continued to stay above 1,000.
The members participated in a variety of activities
sponsored by the club. The social directors, Barbara
Redd, and Larry Boyd, provided the club with a
variety of events. The monthly Happy Hours were
held at Casa Gallardo, Houlihan’s, Stonewall Café, and
Extra Billy’s, as well as other local restaurants. At the
NEW baseball stadium, “The Diamond,” there was a
pre-game picnic followed by a Braves Game. In July,
the club gathered for a pool party at Larry Boyd’s
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home and a day bus trip to Atlantic City in August.
The Club had an excellent selection of programs at
the monthly meetings including a kick-off party at the
Tobacco Company. New Skiers party at Woodlake,
and a Fashion Show at the “3200” Holiday Inn. The
annual Christmas party was a great success and was
held at the Marriott Hotel Ballroom, attended by over
200 members and guests. As for sponsored ski trips,
the club went to Steamboat Springs, Vail, Alta, Lake
Tahoe, Mt. Snow, and Banff, Canada, and to
Cormayeur, Italy, which included a side trip to
Amsterdam, as well as nine weekend trips. The year
was concluded with a year-end banquet at the
Westwood Racquet Club and the annual Wine and
Cheese party at the downtown Sovran Bank building.
1987-1988 – With John Senn as president, RSC had a very successful year. Tom Lewicki and Mary Brauer, as Social Directors, kept the Club very busy. The year started off with a weekend bus trip to Nags Head, N.C. in late May. There was the Tennis Social in the summer and in July with Lynn Neese and Ruth Kersey as Co-chairs, the club undertook the idea of a ski show. The show, held at Regency Square mall in conjunction with radio station Q-94, was a great success with hopes of becoming an annual event. We had twenty-four booths participating, including Vail, Grey Rocks, Canada, Stowe, Vermont, along with the local Richmond ski retailers, just to name a few. It truly was a national ski show. We called it SKI EXTRAVAGANZA. In October, we held the second annual Woodlake New Skiers Fall Mania and the first bust trip to the Urbanna Oyster Festival in November. Tom and Mary just kept coming up with new places for the happy hours. These included The Palm Court, Stutz Lounge, Sam Millers, and Fitzgerald’s. With Paul Fournia as Director of Membership, the club reached an all time high of 1,490 members. To keep up with the demand for changing technology, the Club bought a new IBM personal computer and because the club began to own property and had a need to store records, a mini storage space was rented. Katherine Hudgins wrote the first RSC New Skiers handbook. On the racing scene, the Junior Racers, under the watchful eyes of Marc Smith and Bob Lindemann, now had thirty-three members and would give a lot of the older racers a run for their money. The adult racers held seventeen races on nine different dates. Bob Lindemann won the President’s Cup. As for the Club’s trips, we went to Vail, Jackson Hole, Park City, Aspen, Steamboat, Stowe, Keystone, and Whistler and to Zermatt, Switzerland, which included three days in Paris. Again, this year, RSC worked very closely with the Special Olympics. The Club also participated in and offered support to Cystic Fibrosis’ first annual Skiing Fund Race at Massanutten. The year ended with an awards banquet at the Westwood Racquet Club, handing out many racing trophies. Let’s not forget the annual Wine and Cheese party.
1988-1989 – John Senn served as president for a second term, taking RSC into its 35th club year. Probably the most important accomplishment this year was RSC finally achieved its non profit tax exempt status with the invaluable help of Evelyn Small. The club'’ social directors, Tom Lewicki and Carol Johnson, continued to do a super job. RSC began the year with the second annual Nags Head trip in May. Happy hours were held at Stutz Lounge, Charlie’s at Stony Point, Margarita Maggie’s, The Bee Hive, and the Jefferson Hotel. RSC took on several 7 different activities thi year. In the summer, Bob Russell took a small group to the Salmon River in Idaho for a white water rafting trip; we had a cruise on the Annabel Lee (approximately eighty members) and a Tennis Social Round Robin. In September, we had another white water rafting trip to the Gauley River in West Virginia. In October we hosted our second SKI EXTRAVAGANZA at Regency Mall in conjunction with Q-94. Again, this was a great success with over twenty booths. New Skiers Fall Mania again was a big hit at Woodlake. RSC had another packed bus to the Urbanna Oyster Festival and the Christmas party was held at Governor’s Palace on Midlothian Tpk. An expanded New Skiers Handbook was written. RSC sponsored trips to Park City, Copper Mountain, Vail, Steamboat, Lake Tahoe, Telluride, Stowe and Banff, Canada, as well as eight weekend trips. Racing was still a very big part of the club’s activities. This year was a struggle for the racing program. December came in like a bear, but the mid-January thaw had Paul Fournia, director of competition, scrambling to find enough snow to hold races. He had to hold several races simultaneously in order to get as many as possible in. Paul had fourteen races scheduled and managed to have most of them run. Sixteen Junior and forty-one adult racers competed. RSC did field four race teams of six individuals each to compete in the Suburu’s Southeastern regional competition at Snowshoe. RSC had two teams in the top ten out of approximately twenty clubs. Membership continued to stay around 1,400. The year-end banquet was again at the Westwood Racquet Coub and the races walked away with seventy-three trophies. Noble McClellan was the top woman racer and Jim Jalbert the top male racer. Again, the year-end wine and cheese party was a success.
1989-1990 – Under Nelson Melton’s presidency,
previous board discussions that we needed to take a
hard look at the club’s operations, produced two new
committees, the Operations Study Committee was
chaired by Tom Lewicki and a Trip Study Committee
was chaired by George Winfree. The committees, in
both areas, were to determine what policies and
procedures needed to be altered or new ones installed
to manage a social club of over 1,000 members. The
major change that was presented to the club for
approval by vote at the end of the year was to change
the structure of the board of directors. Up until this
time, the board consisted of President, VP of Trips, VP
of Finance, Secretary and Directors. It was felt that
the position of President Elect should be added and
the two VP’s should split the responsibilities of the
Directors. The membership voted in April, 1990 to
approve these changes and they were implemented
with the 1991 elections. The Club’s trip calendar had
nine weeklong trips to Park City, Keystone,
Steamboat, Snowbird, Sun Valley, Jackson Hole,
Breckenridge and Kitzbuhel, Austria, as well as nine
weekend trips. The Club sponsored, for the third year
in a row, the Ski Extravaganza at Regency Mall with
Q-04. Our now traditional bus trip to the Urbanna
Oyster Festival was a big hit. The Christmas partydance was held at Smoketree Community Center.
Again, Paul Fournia struggled to keep the racing
schedule on course. He had eighteen races
scheduled, but due to another very warm January, he
was only able to run eleven of them. RSC, again this
year, was ”nationally honored” by NASTAR for best
medal point average of all ski clubs with over 1,000 in
membership. The top racers were honored at the
annual year-end social at the holiday Inn Broad
Street. They were Barbara Satterwhite, Chris Gilman,
and Jim Jalbert.
1990-1991 – Nelson Melton continued to serve as
president for a second term. The club began this year
with hopes for a return of snow to the Mid-Atlantic
area but, once again, the snow gods and Mother
Nature decided that a mild winter was in order and
the club had to scramble to complete its competition
schedule and run its weekend trips. The Board of
Directors made the decision early in the planning
process to reduce the number of Western trips. One
of the reasons was the uncertain national business
economy. The club had a very low number of
participants for six of the western trips (Vail I & II,
Telluride, Park City, Lake Tahoe and Whistler.) These
trips had to cut back on the size of the group. It
seemed that the Board of Directors decision proved to
be well founded. Trips were also run to Jackson Hole,
steamboat Springs, Megeve/Chamonix, France, and
Grey Rocks. On the social side, the club continued to
come up with numerous events for the members.
The club sponsored a day at Water Country and a
James River rafting trip in August. Happy hours were
still popular and some of the hot spots were
Governor’s, Plata Grande, Tobacco Company, Charlie’s
at Stony Point and Mulligan’s. We built our first
Harvest Parade float and chartered a bus to the
Oyster Festival. In September, the Club had a
successful dour-day cruise in the Caribbean. To get
our legs in shape for skiing, we had an all day grass
skiing excursion to Bryce. Paul Fournia still owns his
grass skis. The club had its annual Christmas Party
and Dance at the West End Manor Civic Association.
On the competition scene, Leslie McNamee, one of
the club’s junior racers, was in the top ten racers in
the Coca Cola Junior NASTAR in Virginia. There were
over 100,000 participants nationwide. The top racer
in the club was Chris Gilman, winning the President’s
Cup. The Junior racers program was still a success.
The year ended with the club’s board of directors
completing the reorganization of the structure of the
board, which necessitated a revision of the by-laws.
8
This was voted upon and approved by the
membership at the annual meeting. RSC continued to
support the Winter Games of the Special Olympics,
thanks to the efforts of Lynn Neese and Carl
Stargardt.
1991-1992 – Larry Boyd was the first president to
serve under the newly structured board of directors
which required serving in the president elect position
prior to becoming the club president. Again, there
was a lack of east coast snow, but the club ran trips
to Salt Lake City, Telluride (2), Vail (2), Killington, Sun
Valley, Jackson Hole, Breckenridge, and Banff, Canada
along with nine weekend trips and the first trip in
several years to the Poconos. Three of the weekend
trips were to Seven Springs. In September, the club
again hosted a Ski Extravaganza at the Shenandoah
Community Center. Competition held eleven races.
This was a year with not a lot of snow. Bill Hardesty
did a great job holding it together. The Happy Hour
social scene was not like it had been ten years earlier.
Attendance had dropped drastically, thus the social
committee cut back on scheduling these events. The
annual Christmas party was held at the West End
Manor Civic Association with live music again this
year. NASTAR again recognized the club nationally.
Richmond Ski Club members had placed the club
eighth in the nation with Most Club Races, fourth Best
Club Handicap and fifth Best Medal Point average.
Top racers this year were Ed Estes, Bill Carneal, Jim
Jalbert, Tom Doyle, and more. In March, by popular
demand, the club had a big St. Patrick’s Day party.
The year ended with the annual Wine & Cheese Party.
1992-1993 - Evelyn Small served as president with
a dedicated board of directors. The club was very
active with social activities, racing, and the
membership began to increase again. The club’s
social activities included a picnic at The Diamond,
tubing on the James, first annual RSC golf
tournament, fall Gauley white water rafting trip, and
the Ski Extravaganza at the Shenandoah Community
Center. The annual fashion show was again held at
the October meeting. Another bus trip to the
Urbanna Oyster Festival and the first annual Tour de
Leaves to the mountains for a biking and hiking
weekend, led by Bill Hardesty added to the variety.
Bill also followed in the spring with Tour de Buds.
Other social activities were a spectacular Super Bowl
party at Bob’s Sports Bar, Renegades game and an
Atlantic City day trip. The trips this year were to
Jackson Hole, Steamboat, Vail, St. Anton, Austria,
Killington, Aspen, Crested Butte, Park City, Mt. Snow
and Hawaii!! There were also seven weekend trips.
This year the club had a big Christmas party at the
December meeting. Racing again was a substantial
part of the club’s activities with thirteen scheduled
races. Club members saved the Ski Bucks all year
long to be used at the first annual Casino Night in
April. The year ended with our annual Wine and
Cheese Party, still being held at the top of the Sovran
Bank Building.
1993-1994 – With Jim Doyel as president, the club’s
goal was to regain some of its membership lost during
the past couple of years due to the sluggish economy.
It was a difficult year for the Pacesetter, as our editor
was transferred out of state and her replacement
resigned after a short period. The club’s presidentelect asked Paul Fournia to chair a committee to audit
all the trips for the past two years due to allegations
of trip leader excesses. After many hours of
committee meetings and interviews with all trip
leaders, it was determined that there were only a few
very minor infractions. To avoid the possibility of
similar problems in the future, the trip policy manual
was updated. The trip schedule included Park City,
Vail, Steamboat, Chamonix, France, Telluride, Lake
Tahoe, Whistler/Blackcomb and New Zealand, as well
as seven weekend trips. There also was a very
successful Condo Crawl thanks to Jim Cochrane. Our
social program continued with year-round events
including the second annual RSC/VSC softball game
and a trip to the Gauley River for white water rafting.
The annual Ski Extravaganza was a long anticipated
hit again this year as well as the second annual Tour
de Leaves. And we can’t forget spending New Year’s
Eve in Washington, D.C., followed by a Redskins
game the next day. In February it was off to a
Renegades game and April gave us our second annual
Casino Night. In racing the club regained the
”Broaddus-Eddy” Memorial Trophy at the Ski-O-Ree at
Canaan Valley. Big congratulations to Jim Jalbert.
Jim was honored by NASTAR for the third year in a
row. This time Jim was awarded NASTAR’S Best
National Racer award for 1993 in the age category of
70-79. A tradition continued with the year-end annual
Wine & Cheese Party at the Sovran Center.
1994-1995 – The Richmond Ski Club celebrated its
40th anniversary under the guidance of Bill Hardesty
as president. The ski resorts enjoyed a good year for
snow (other than a brief January thaw in the East)
and the club sold out the scheduled trips by early
December. The club ran fourteen ski trips during the
year: Snowmass, Steamboat, Taos, Sun Valley,
Whistler, Jackson Hole, Telluride, Breckenridge, Mt.
Batchelor, Oregon, and a trip to New Zealand with a
stopover in Tahiti, on the way home. Socially, the
club continued the successful Ski Extravaganza
(moved to Smoketree.) The club members attended
the Rescue Me IV Music Festival, Urbanna Oyster
Festival, and Richmond Braves Game, many of the
Innsbrook After Hours concerts, Tour de Leaves, and
Tour de Buds plus happy hours throughout Richmond.
The competition program under Jim Cochrane
9
continued to grow with club races well attended. The
annual Condo Crawl had the largest turnout ever!
This year’s President’s Cup competition program was
well planned and attended with twenty-seven races
scheduled. Under the NASTAR format, the club
finished FIRST IN THE NATION in both Medal Point
Average and Team Handicap (clubs with over 1,000
members.) Also, the club finished fourth with the
most NASTAR club races. The club’s 40th year saw
our membership approach 1,100 and club continued
in good financial health. Desktop publishing software
was purchase for producing The Pacesetter. Over the
past several years, the club and some of its members
have actively supported the Winter Games of Virginia
Special Olympics held annually at Wintergreen and
our 40th year was no exception!
1995-1996 – Under the leadership of Paul Fournia,
the club continued to stay above 1,000 members.
The summer started off with Tubin’ on the James,
Wednesdays at Innsbrook, a whitewater trip on the
Gauley, a Softball Challenge and cookout between
RSC and VSC, and a Pizza Party and Happy Hour at
Bottoms Up Pizza. RSC sponsored trips to Jackson
Hole, Beaver Creek, Lake Tahoe, Vail, Steamboat,
Crested Butte, Purgatory, Killington, WhistlerBlackcomb, as well as a summer ski trip to Valle
Nevado, Chile, in South America and an Alaskan
cruise. The 741-FUNN line was set up with a voice
mail system establishing eight different options to
provide information for both current and prospective
members. RSC had arrive in the technology age with
our first internet web page which was expanded to
allow prospective members to learn about the club
and its activities. The annual Ski Extravaganza “95”
was held at Smoketree Community Building. Weather
and food was great and we had a good crowd. The
fourth annual Tour de Leaves was again a success,
thanks to Bill Hardesty. In November we had our
annual fashion show. The Christmas party was held
at the Comfort Inn at 3200 West Broad Street.
Competition continued its importance to the club.
NASTAR announced the results of the 1994-1995 Bud
Club Series Winners. RSC was in competition with
clubs whose memberships totaled 1,000 or more.
RSC placed #4 in Most Club Races and #1 in Best
Team Handicap – 16.66. RSC placed #1 in Best
Medal Average – 3.58. That year, there were
approximately 20-25 clubs, nationwide, competing in
those categories. In club racing there were thirty-four
races schedule on twenty-one days. It was noted in
the 1995 Directory that the club had seventy-eight
members that had been members for fifteen years
(limited by the fact that we only had directories that
went back that far.) RSC has been very active for
several years in the Special Olympics and this year
RSC’s Carl Stargardt was presented the 1995 “Spirit of
Special Olympics” Award by the Virginia Special
Olympics at their annual awards banquet.
1996-1997 – Mike Crawford, as president of the
club, was successful in its goal of implementing new
ways of involving members in the club’s activities.
The snow conditions weren’t the best on the East
coast which made for a very tough race season for
the President’s Cup. But the week and weekend trips
had great attendance. This year, the Club saw the
need to have at least one European trip each year,
instead of every other year, along with the various
Canadian, Western and Eastern trips. Trips went Park
City, Steamboat, Vail,Telluride, Breckenridge, Europe,
Sun Valley, Tahoe, Snowmass, Banff and New
Zealand, stopping in Tahiti/Honolulu on the way back.
Unfortunately this trip was cancelled. The club
brought home second place awards for both team
competition and club participation at this year’s Blue
Ridge Ski Council’s trip to Lake Tahoe. Marianne
Goodman, a member of the club, received honors at
the BRSC trip as the “Fastest Female Racer.” “Tubin’
on the James,” a fall whitewater trip to the Gauley
and Tour de Beach were highlights of the summer.
The club also initiated some new and different ways
to increase club member participation at different
events. For the Ski Extravaganza, again at the
Smoketree Community Center, an information sheet
was placed into the club flyers that were in their
second year of use. Air time was purchased on the
radio to promote the event. In addition, a dunking
booth was added to raise money for Special Olympics.
AND this was the first year the Ski Extravaganza meal
was catered. In previous years, Tom Lewicki and his
“kitchen witches,” Lynn Neese, Marty Casey, and
Karen Lewicki prepared the food. The fifth annual
Tour de Leaves was held in October and the fashion
show in November. Trip leaders are recruited to
model the latest in fashion skiwear. The Christmas
party, held at the Holiday Inn I-64 and Broad Street
brought Christmas cheer with good food and
entertainment. The club racing schedule included
twenty-two days of racing. The club continued it’s
support of Virginia Special Olympics, organized
Strawberry Hill Race Week’s Tavern Tasting to benefit
Special Olympics and presented a check for $533 at
the Winter Games, largely the proceeds from monthly
50/50 raffles at each month’s meeting. One of the
club’s members was a coach at the Special Olympics
World Games in Toronto, Canada. Club members
continued to collect their Ski Bucks to be used at
April’s Casino Night, a well-attended success.
1997-1998 – Jim Cochrane serving as president also
took on the role as interim director of competition.
Jim’s first love in skiing has always been competition,
and for the past several years he had spearheaded
most of the competition racing. Now he was taking
10
on a dual job. Although El Nino wasn’t kind to most
of the area’s ski resorts during the season, the club
still managed trips to Keystone, Val D’Isere, France,
Snowmass, Vail, Whistler, Jackson Hole, Mt.
Tremblant and Zermatt, Switzerland, as well as four
weekend trips. The Snowmass trip was the Blue
Ridge Ski Council trip and between the twelve clubs
that participated in the racing, RSC took top honors!!
Medals were awarded to the top three male and
female racers. RSC recipients were Debbie Crawford,
Sara Carneal, Ed Estes, and James Jalbert. The
second annual Tour de Beach and the ever popular
Tour de Leaves were on the schedule organized by Bill
Hardesty. Again in September it was time for Ski
Extravaganza and this year it was held at the Bon Air
Community Center. Food and beverages were
provided and the weather was great. The Social
Committee put together a great trip to see The
Phantom of the Opera at the Kennedy Center with a
dinner at Tom Sarris’ Orleans House Restaurant.
November brought our fabulous fashion show and
everyone saved their Ski Bucks for Casino Night. The
Christmas Party was held at Holiday Inn I-64.
Twenty-five races were scheduled on fifteen days, but
local racing suffered due to lack of snow. This was
the thirty-fourth year of club races and the sixth
annual Condo Crawl. Even with lack of snow, there
were five President’s Cup races throughout the season
culminating with the Club Races in March at
Timberline, West Virginia. The club racing Awards
Banquet was held at the Country Club of Virginia for
the first time. With twenty-six in attendance, it was a
perfect ending to the COMP ’98 program.
1998-1999 – With Teresa Pendleton as President,
the goal of the club was to increase membership
though new members as well as reactivating some of
the long time members. Since the membership had
dropped, the board of directors decided to cut back
the number of trips to ensure filling all the spaces.
The club offered trips to Snowmass/Aspen, St.Moritz,
Switzerland, Breckenridge, Telluride, Cortina, Italy,
Lake Tahoe, Vail, Banff and Big Sky, as well as four
weekend trips. For a variety of reasons, the club
membership seemed to be asking for two European
trips. For the first time in many years, the club
decided not to participate in the Blue Ridge Ski
Council trip. An would therefore not be defending its
racing title from the previous year. While competition
was still fierce among our hard-core racers and most
of the trips offered NASTAR racing, the director of
competition position was vacant and the club did not
have a racing program for the first time in thirty-five
years. The third annual Tour de Beach was a great
success. Socials became gatherings of members on
Wednesdays at Innsbrook After Hours and at Bottoms
Up Pizza. September brought us to the annual Ski
Extravaganza, once again at the Smoketree
Community Center. The seventh annual Tour de
Leaves took place in October. In November the
fashion show runway was graced by our world
traveled models, our trip leaders. The Christmas
party was held at the Comfort Inn 3200 West Broad
with great music, food and beverages. Again RSC
was a strong supporter of Special Olympics through
financial support and contribution of time and talent.
The club shared a spot on the rail with the Virginia Ski
Club at the annual Strawberry Hill Races having cosponsored the pre-race Strawberry Hill Gala (with a
Cajun and Mardi Gras theme) with the Virginia Ski
Club. The year’s finale was the popular Casino Night.
1999-2000 – Under the guidance of Glen Young as
president the Richmond Ski Club moved into the new
millenium. The club was kicking off its new upgraded
website: www.RichmondSkiClub.org and the club
experienced very positive response to it. James
Suardi volunteered his time to maintain and
continually improve the site. With many requests
from the members, the club decided to offer two
European trips this year to Arlberg, Austria, and
Morizne, France, as well as trips to Steamboat (over
New Years Eve, 2000), Park City, Jackson Hole, Lake
Tahoe, Whistler, Aspen, and a Spring Break trip.
August brought the fourth annual Tour de Beach and
“Tubin on the James” cooled us off with a relaxed
float down the river. NASTAR National Finals were
announced and RSC’s John Leckie placed seventh in
his age group (60-70). Ski Extravaganza was back at
Smoketree, followed by the eight annual Tour de
Leaves. After nearly two years without a director of
competition, Jim Cochrane stepped up and organized
fifteen races to get the racing program back on
course. December brought our annual Christmas
social. Lynn Neese was honored as “Volunteer of the
Year” from Special Olympics. The previous summer,
Lynn headed the Virginia contingent to the Special
Olympic World Games in North Carolina. Bill Ramsey
was honored as “Outstanding Volunteer Ski Patrol
Member” and Richard Chadick was honored as
“Overall Outstanding Ski Patrol Member” at
Wintergreen for the previous season (1998-99). The
year came to and end with Casino Night being
incorporated into the lineup of Strawberry Hill Race
Week events and the club enjoyed a space on the rail
at the Races.
2000-2001 - Under the leadership of Judy Falls, the
Club’s board consisted of five past presidents and
some very excited board members, producing another
great year for RSC. This years trip schedule consisted
of Telluride (BRSC trip), Crested Butte, Steamboat,
Banff, Breckenridge, Auberge/Estrimont Canada and
two European trips, Sestriere, Italy (site of 2006
Winter Olympics) with side trip to Rome and
Switzerland with a first ever side trip cruise in the
Greek Islands, along with the usual several weekend
11
trips. The club had been looking for a new home and
seemed to have found it. This year’s meetings were
held at the Marquee, located at Belmont & Cutshaw
Ave, one block east of our previous home at the
Comfort Inn. Uniquely decorated it provided an
elegant atmosphere for these functions. The 5th
annual Tour de Beach was held. This year the Club
had a kick-off party on the deck at Legend Brewing
Company with a huge turnout and a big Oktoberfest
the next month at The Marquee. Fall also brought the
9th annual Tour de Leaves. Racing Competition
scheduled 12 race days with17 races this year.
Socials were picking back up at places like Rare Old
Times and the Tobacco Company. In January, we
had our annual Fashion show and the 1st annual
Tacky Light Bus Tour, which was a great success.
Once again, RSC was a big supporter of the Special
Olympics by volunteering their time and skills, as well
as making monetary donations. The Club donated
$840 to the Special Olympics through the yearlong
50/50 raffles. Once again Casino Night was a
Strawberry Hill Race Week event. This year the Club
sponsored a bus to the Strawberry Hill Races with two
locations in Richmond to board the bus which took
participants to the Races at Colonial Downs. The club
had its own prime location on the rail for a fun day at
the Races.
2001-2002 - Mary Sullivan as president of the club,
had to step down after only serving as President for
four months, as she was moving out of state. This
was the first time to test the system of succession of
president-elect that the Club put in place several
years ago.
Debbie Crawford, serving as President-elect, stepped
up and took on the role as President. This year will
long be remembered for many things, but the date of
September 11 will always be in our thoughts. Debbie
stepped up to the task and did a great job a
president, though she will tell you that she would
have liked to have had a year to prepare. Trips this
year were a challenge with pricing and the fear of
flying on many people’s minds. Trips were either
being cut back or canceled. The Club had scheduled
trips to Flims Switzerland (side to Istanbul), Jackson
Hole, Whistler, Breckenridge, Lake Tahoe, Val
Gardena and several weekend trips. The Social
Committee was working overtime this year, lining up
all kinds of activities. Salsa dancing lessons, hiking,
Arena Football games, Happy Hours at Sharky’s, 6th
Annual Tour de Beach, Tubin’ on the James, Kick off
the season Ski Extravaganza on the deck at Legend
Brewing Company, the 10th Annual Tour de Leaves,
the return of a bus to the Urbanna Oyster Festival and
the 2nd annual Christmas Tacky Light Bus Tour - and
this was just the first half of the year! We had our
annual Christmas party at the Marquee and it was well
attended. Racing, again this year was still a big part
of RSC with 10 race days and 16 races scheduled.
Let’s not forget, again, the volunteers from our club,
who give of themselves to the Special Olympics each
year. In April, we held our annual Casino Night with a
large crowd, as usual. Our website had another
transformation thanks to Richard Day and his creative
and technical skills. Richard Day brought many hours
and technical know-how into making Richmond Ski
Club’s web site one of the best Ski Club web sites on
the Internet today.
2002-2003 - The system worked and Debbie
Crawford was President of RSC (again). I believe I
was told that at one of the new board’s meeting
Debbie said, “I think I have done this before.” Debbie
was starting this year with five past presidents on her
board and she did a great job again this year. The
demand for week long trips seemed to be somewhat
slow and this year the club sponsored trips to Zell am
Zee Austria (with a side trip to Prague), Sun Valley,
Snowmass, Telluride, Innsbruck, Park City, Lake
Louise and Big Sky and, as well as Seven Springs and
Snowshoe. The Social calendar was off and running
with Innsbrook After Hours, Wednesdays on the
Waterfront, Sunday’s at Brandermill, the 7th Annual
Tour de Beach, Friday Cheers, ice-skating and the
September Ski Xtravaganza held on the deck at
Legend Brewing Company. In October we had the
11th Annual Tour de Leaves, and the bus to the
Urbanna Oyster Festival. The club, during the
summer, had as many as 40 members volunteer their
time at different locations promoting RSC at events
around town, primarily as beer servers. Who saw the
RSC Christmas float at the Powhatan Christmas
Parade? Again, the Club had its Annual Christmas
Party and in January the volunteers gathered again
for the Special Olympics. Our 50/50 Raffle, again,
raised a substantial amount of money that was
donated to the Special Olympics. As the trips began
to wind down, it was time again for the Strawberry
Hill Races and again the Club sponsored a rail side
location. A large number attended and the count was
50+ members in and out during the day. The annual
Casino Night was again a big success.
2003-2004 - Sue Mullins as President of the club
had a strong and talented board ready to celebrate,
honor and recognize the first fifty years of existence
of the Richmond Ski Club while setting the pace for
the next fifty years. John Senn became the club’s
unofficial historian assembling all of the past history
written on these pages which appeared in installments
throughout the year in The Pacesetter. A variety of
social activities throughout the year (Colonial Downs,
Annabel Lee cruise) and happy hours around town
(Sundays at Brandermill, Buckingham’s, Capital
Alehouse, Louie’s Café, Midweek Mojo at the
12
Canalwalk turning basin, Penny Lane) gave members
a chance to keep in touch as did a busy schedule of
volunteering at the River City Beer Festival, Friday
Cheers, and Innsbrook After Hours. Rain almost
every weekend during the summer officially cancelled
the third annual Wintergreen Hike (a few folks
showed up and hiked anyway), but Tour de Beach
went on in spite of a little “early liquid snow” and club
members enjoyed a fun weekend at Sandbridge.
The
big 50th kickoff for the season, however, was our Ski
Xtravaganza, appropriately titled Richmond Ski Club
Annual Winter Sports Xtravaganza . . . 50 Years
of Winter Fun, which was held in September on the
Sharky’s courtyard at the shops at Innsbrook.
Building on similar events the past two years at
Legend Brewing Company, the evening took the club
to the public in an even more visible way capitalizing
on a strong regular Wednesday crowd. Promotional
tables, retailers, music and introduction of the
impressive “Pot of Gold,” whereby club members
earn chances to win an Aspen ski vacation and a pair
of skis through club participation made this event a
golden celebration. A new marketing package offered
ski retailers and destinations the opportunity to
receive a package of benefits including a table at
Xtravaganza, ads in the Pacesetter, and an ad in the
club Directory as well as links/exposure on
www.RichmondSkiClub.org. For the second year,
club members volunteered at the Central Virginia Pork
Festival, then assisted the Jaycees with their
Christmas tree lot as well as enjoying Oktoberfest and
the “magic bus” trip to the Urbanna Oyster Festival to
get in form for ski season. To further get in shape
club members could partake of Tour de Leaves in
October and Condo Crawl in January involving four
stops of sumptuous cuisine and beverage at
Wintergreen. Two European, two Canadian, four
Western U.S. and three weekend trips were offered at
the beginning of the season; lack of participation
caused two of the trips to cancel while others were
well-filled. Twelve days of racing were scheduled for
the Presidents Cup series. The monthly meetings at
the Marquee continued with thematic twists every
month with special touches added to make this fiftieth
year a memorable one.
The February meeting made
for some new golden memories as past club
presidents were recognized while members were
encouraged to bring photos and ski club memorabilia
from the past, while celebrating Valentine’s day with
dancing and chocolate! Railside fun at the Strawberry
Hill Races and a season-ending Casino Night left
members catching their breath after a whirlwind year
of fun , friendship, and inspiration for the next fifty years!