SWSA News
The President's Letter
Welcome to the 84th year of ski jumping in Salisbury. This year’s event will span three days that we hope will inspire you and your family to come visit our venue and our surrounding area. Morning, noon or night there will be something for everyone on this weekend in town.
As you read through this year’s program you will realize that there are always projects, events and causes that we at SWSA sponsor and or participate in. As with many other organizations in town, we try to help where we can. Many current directors grew up in our club and enjoy giving back to the community as a way of thanking past volunteers and directors. We all work hard to preserve this unique local tradition, one of the few truly “old school” venues and clubs in the area. And our efforts have been rewarded by the support of citizens and organizations throughout our community.
For the second year in a row, Fred Stevenson and Lloyd Wallingford of the “Murphy Open” golf tournament chose SWSA as the beneficiary in the amount of $4,700. We all greatly appreciate their generosity and are committed to supporting this event, which helps so many different non-profits year after year. After talking with Fred and Lloyd, SWSA directors decided to sponsor an annual tournament of its own!
Everyone agreed that an event that did not require shovels, rakes, chainsaws, tractors, etc. would be very different for our club. We thought “this could actually be fun!” and it proved to be. Trish and John MacArthur and their entire family became our hosts. Undermountain Golf was the place, and a great day of golf was had by all! Our sincere thanks to the MacArthur’s and their family for making the day such a success!
Our advertisers in this program are also a very important part of the club’s on going commitment to winter sports in the area. Year after year and in good times and bad, these individuals and businesses help our cause in any way they can. We all at SWSA say “Thank you.” This program provides the funds to maintain our facility and equipment and to keep this tradition alive. As we approach the task of replacing our jump tower, a positive relationship with the community becomes ever more important. The program is also a way of showing our appreciation to a significant contributor to the SWSA tradition.
Marianne Fairall was known by everyone in SWSA and in the entire ski jumping community. Though many of you may not have met her personally, you may know her by reputation: she was widely known at the Salisbury Jumps as the “Cow-bell Lady”. Whether it was your first year at our event or your 10th, there was Marianne. She would walk through the crowd with a big smile and a much bigger heart selling cow bells. The money she raised was then used to support trips, equipment and anything else Eastern jumpers needed in their travels here and abroad.
Aside from selling bells at all the events she also came up with the silent auction idea at Salisbury and two other venues. She would get here on Friday night with a load of kids from New Hampshire, get them settled in for a weekend of jumping, be here first thing both days selling bells and then somehow got to the White Hart to set up the auction, head off to our awards dinner and be back in time to start and run the auction.(The silent auction in Salisbury was actually the largest fund raising event in Eastern ski jumping!) Salisbury was one of Marianne’s favorite events every year and it will be difficult to imagine our weekend without her enthusiasm and dedication for all kids involved with jumping.
Please join us Saturday night at the Wake Robin Inn for the Snow Ball. This would be a wonderful way of paying tribute to one of the most dedicated women that this sport has ever had!
Ken Barker
President,
Salisbury Winter Sports Association
