Kents Hill School - Yearbook (Kents Hill, ME)

Page 9 text:

.xwfi 5:15 . sv.-sa t 2wt,-...., . M., ., .. ,, Mp,-'A ,,,, V L 7 W' .uh Wg, 5.1. - K N ' :Sri , , ' .MQ ,' 'I-3 gsflgisif I Davis, Silverman, D. Hinds, Ebelhare, Robertson. B1-own and Cannon GOLDTHWAIT SKI TOW Kents Hill School has become the first school in the state of Maine to build a ski tow on its campus. The new rope tow is about seven hundred and fifty feet lon and is powered by a ten horsepower electric motor. The erection of this tow marks the fina? step in the development of skiing as a major sport with us. Interest in skiing goes back to the early thirties when Ted Johnson of Portland, now Submaster at Portland High School came to Kents Hill as an instructor fresh out of Dartmouth College. Ted worked with skiers for the three years he was at Kents Hill, but interest declined with his leaving until skiing became little more than weekend recreation. In the fall of l942 Kents Hill opened with a new Headmaster, William W. Dunn, whose previous experience as As- sistant Headmaster at Vermont Academy led him to believe that Kents Hill 's location was ideal for the development of skiing as a major sport, So,Lavvrence Pug Goldthwait, a Dartmouth graduate,Olympic speed skater and a skier of note, was hired to teach science and develop the ski program. For two years Goldthwait's program was carried out on the Outing Club trail, a gentle slope leading to Lovejoy Pond a mile from the campus. Jumping, what there was of it, was conducted from banked snow. The trail was not wide enou h to do much with slalom. In the E111 of 1944 Goldthwait took a roup from the Outing Club and worked with them in clearin the old Indian trail, located east of the campus. The iill sloped gradually then fell away sharply to Torsey Pond for a natural ski area. The boys cleared the trail wide enough for a good slalom area, a jumping space, and a downhill trail almost a quarter of a mile lon west of the salom area. At the same time other members of the Work Group were busy re- vamping the old ski hili connecting it with other existing trails for a three and one-half cross-country course. Goldthwait left in l94'7 to teach at the University of Maine, and another Dartmouth man, Allan E. Boerker, took over and continued his work. That fall, the Work Group erected a twenty meter jump east of the slalom hill, and at the dedication ceremonies named it Goldthwait Jump in honor of the man who had worked so hard in behalf of Kents Hill skiing. SiDunklec,nationally known jumper and cross-country skier joined the Kents Hill staff in 1950 and was instrumen- tal in the development of cross-country and jumping skiers. Si was given leave of absence in 1951 to train with the U.S. Olympic ski team at Sun Valley and, although he did not go abroad with the team, hc distinguished himself in national meets. Mr. Broomhall, M. Stone, Brown, Silverman, Miller, Clark, Fowler, Luce. Warren. Smith, F. Stone, Fowler, Miller. 59.5 fs fX gai '5'? N 'f:'.4 1Wiiw1iffi k.' t -uv' m ff,.si3l!' . , ,Jiiilisv 'R' wfvwhv

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OUTING CLUB WORK GROUP 1953 I FIRST ROW: R, Waitt, A, Anusbigian,D, Taylor. SECOND ROW: J. Fowler, F, Stone, J, Ebelhare. THIRD ROW: D. Perkins, Mr. Van Etten, D. Hinds, Mr. Broomhall, A. Silverman, N. Davis. DEDICATION We dedicate this book to all the students and teachers especially of the Outin Club Work Groups, who with their own hands built are Kents Hill Gold- thwaite Ski Tow. 4

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Do you suppose it'll work? It's snowing... Mr. Broomhall, Mr. Goldthwait, Mr. Dunn, Mr. Boyden. Here goes! After Dunklee resigned in the spring of 1952 to enter private business, Charlie Broomhall of the skiing Broomhalls of Rumford, Maine, took over the Kents Hill ski program in the fall of 1952. Slim Broomhall is a nationally known skier, was a member of the Tenth Mountain Ski Troops during World War II, and for three years captained the Uni- versity of Maine ski team. Mr. Broomhall found that the momentum necessary for a ski tow was already under way and with the assistance of Leigh Van Etten of the Faculty and a willing group of boys proceeded to construct the tow. Fund raising had been carried out by astudent committee. Parents, friends, alumni, and students themselves con- tributed. The Outing Club itself ave up their 1952 annual banquet and appropriated S100 toward the ski tow. One roup of workers did tee annual job of clearin the trails of underbrushg another group started on the tow. Twenty-fgve foot cedar poles were stripped. Holes four get deep were dug by hand for the solid anchorage of the poles. A foundation for the motor's housing was du and poured. A bulldozer cleared an area and poles were put in place. The house went up. The wheels were put up, sae rope strung, and snow was the only commodity lackin . Kents Hill has produced some fine skiers. In recent years Ernie Tin Pentheny has become a professionaq and is now at Sun Valley. Dee Caldwell and Charlie Barr became members of ski teams at Bowdoin and Maine. Keith Brown, now a student, is a very promising skier. The girls, too,have a well-developed skl program. Miss Vlrginla Parker, a University of New Hampshire graduate, was girls' ski coach from 1946 to 1950, and Ric ard H. Leavitt, son of Vermont Academy Headmaster, Laurence G. Leavitt, headed the girls' program in 1951 and provided the initiative necessary to get the tow project underway. This year Mrs. Charles Broomhall, the former Ruth Hansen of Auburn, Maine, an accomplished skier in her own right, has taken over the girls' program. Skiing is now a major sport at Kents Hill. Of one hundred and fifty-five students enrolled this year, twenty-five boys and twenty-three girls are skiers and others joined the group for recreational skiing. Kents Hill will continue to play host to the Maine Preparatory School Winter Carnival, and the Girls' School Winter Carnival but from this year on with the assurance that the Carnivals will be held on one of the finest ski facilities in Maine. g ,,,,, ,W Keith Brown making the first ascent. Trustee Boyden accepting tow for the school from the Outing Club. Success! 6