Celebrating and Preserving the History and Heritage of Maine Skiing • Spring 2015 SKI MUSEUM OF MAINE Oxford County Historic Skiing Sites: Interpretive map being developed by Ski Museum By Scott Andrews Editor, Snow Trail Oxford County has been a hotbed of Maine skiing for more than a century, a geographic theme that’s visually underscored by a new interpretive map that’s being developed by the Ski Museum of Maine. Oxford County’s claim to historical fame dates from the 1890s, when Finnish immigrants first settled in West Paris and surrounding towns. Skiing was one of the Finns’ many contributions to Maine’s culture. In 1895 a lone “skee-man” vistied Fryeburg. He was with a group of snowshoe enthusiasts from the Boston-based Appalachian Mountain Club. About the turn of the 20th century, the Paris Manufacturing Company began making skis. Most of the workers in the ski department were local Finns. Rumford’s long and distinguished ski history began about the time of World War I, when a Norwegian immigrant named Mat Liz Chenard and Leslie Miller were two of 37 junior athletes from Nilsen arrived in town and began to amaze Rumford’s Chisholm Ski Club who competed at the national level during local folks with his prowess on skis. A few years the 1970s. The Chisholm Ski Club, founded in 1924, is Maine’s oldest, and it boasts a long and proud history that continues to the present. later, he co-founded the Chisholm Ski Club, (Courtesy Wendall “Chummy” Broomhall) which remains active to the present. Please turn to page1 7 Upcoming Ski Museum Events Monday, June 8 Third Annual Ski Maine Golf Classic Ski Museum of Maine (to benefit Ski Museum of Maine) Snow Trail Nonesuch River Golf Course Scott Andrews, Editor Scarborough Spring 2015 www.skimuseumofmaine.org Friday, June 26
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