Soaring at Snowflake
	Senior Solution
	Editorial
	Wisconsin Favorites Winter Wonderland Awaits at Whitecap

Soaring at Snowflake
Ski Jumping Tourney Thrives On Tradition

   By forming a ski club in 1922, the early residents of Westby, Wisconsin, were in part simply bringing their favorite form of entertainment and a necessary means of travel from the old country to their new home. Many Westby residents descend from Norwegian immigrants who used skis as a form of transportation and ski jumped for fun.

   Located in the southwestern part of the state near La Crosse, Westby sits on a ridge amidst beautiful valleys and rolling hills. Its winter landscape is inviting to ski enthusiasts and has proved to be ideal for a sporting event that attracts top-caliber athletes from throughout the world and today draws crowds that more than double Westby's normal population of 2,045.

   Ski jumpers from Norway, Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland, Finland, Austria, Slovenia, Sweden, Canada, and the U.S. are scheduled to compete in the 82nd annual Snowflake Ski Club International Ski Jumping Tournament on the third weekend of February in Timber Coulee, near Westby. There, more than 50 skiers will jump off the Snowflake Ski Club’s 118-meter hill, one of only a handful of slides that size in the country.

Community Project

   The two-day competition takes about six months of preparation, according to event organizers from the ski club. Early in the fall, invitations are sent to ski associations of other countries, which then select the athletes who will compete in the tournament. Arrangements are made with sponsors and officials are summoned from countries such as Canada, the U.S., and Norway. As soon weather permits, a committee begins preparing the hill, grooming it to rigid specifications.

   Vernon Electric Cooperative—headquartered in Westby—supplies the electricity in Timber Coulee, serving the clubhouse, food stands, security lights, and snow-making machines. Through the years, co-op personnel have also been active club members, some even rising to international fame as competitors and as judges for ski jumping contests.

   In the final weeks before the competition, the flurry of activity catches up the entire Westby populace, and the club recruits enthusiastic volunteers to stage the event. Community help, club members say, is not hard to get.

Safe, In Control

   The club works to dispel the notion that ski jumping is a daredevil sport.

   “It isn't what people think it is,” said Greg Lunde, a local attorney and club member. “It's a very safe sport. The danger's overblown.” He said the steepness of the hill helps prevent injuries when jumpers land, and medical personnel are always on hand, just in case.

   Lunde, a former competitor, explained ski jumpers are not just exceptional athletes, but they are also well trained in aerodynamics. This knowledge keeps them in control of their bodies while they're flying in the air. “You can't believe the control they have,” he said. “The top guys can land just about anywhere.”

   Body and ski positions mean more than strength and effort, and the current method preferred in competition is where the athlete holds skis out front in the shape of a “V.” The wide-spread skis allow the jumper’s body, as well as the skis, to float on a cushion of air.

Club Organizes

   The Westby Ski Club was organized in 1922 by five men who saw skiing as a chance to boost the city as well as to promote a wholesome winter sport. Inspired after attending a ski meet in Chippewa Falls that year and studying the Chippewa Falls venue’s metal scaffold, the group set to work building a ski slide at a hill near Westby.

   They bought lumber, cleared trees and brush, and leveled off a hill on a farm located about three miles east of the community. Farmers hauled the lumber; horses were used to snake the wood up the slope. Volunteers helped as they found time. The result was a 70-foot scaffold, built at a cost of about $1,000.

Tournaments Take Off

   On February 8, 1923, the first ski tournament was held at the newly constructed facility, drawing 15 jumpers and nearly 2,000 spectators. Every business in Westby closed for the afternoon. Proceeds from that first tournament paid the ski club’s debt and expenses, and the success encouraged the Snowflake Ski Club (as it was re-named in 1925) to continue hosting tournaments and erecting new and better slides.

   The club disbanded during the Depression and World War II but re-activated in 1946. By the 1950s, crowds at the jumping tournaments were averaging 8,000 to 12,000 spectators; by the 1960s and 1970s crowd sizes swelled as high as 20,000.

   Though back to more modest attendance, the annual tournament still seasonally engulfs the community. The club is as active as ever, and succeeding generations of local ski enthusiasts have picked up the tradition their parents—and grandparents—began.

Facilities, Fundraising

   Today, the Snowflake Ski Club’s complex in Timber Coulee includes five jumps. The 118-meter Olympic-sized hill accommodates U.S. and international competition, while smaller hills at the site include a 65-meter hill as well as 40-, 20-, and 10-meter hills for training junior jumpers. Maintaining and improving the facilities is a seemingly unending chore for the club.

   For instance, to better allow jumpers to follow the hill’s curve as they fly through the air, in 1980 the club moved the large hill’s scaffold back by 30 feet. Six years ago the curve itself was remodeled to correspond with International Ski Federation regulations. The result: skiers can jump an amazing 415 feet safely, where 380 feet had previously been considered the maximum.

    To undertake these projects and other goals, the club conducts fundraising year-round. A principal source of income is the club’s beautiful 9-hole, par-3 golf course at the foot of the ski jump. Another fundraising activity of the ski club is a regional snocross race for snowmobiles. It is a World Snowmobile Association-sanctioned event that this year was held January 29 and 30 in Timber Coulee.

   Commenting on how the Snowflake Ski Club accomplishes all of this, club officer Marty Erlandson stated, “The club has its roots deep in volunteerism, community spirit, and goodwill, boasting over 500 members. That’s in a town of 2,000 people!”—Gary Ekern, Mary Erickson, Perry Baird

More information on the February 19 and 20 ski jumping tournament may be found on the Snowflake Ski Club web site, www.snowflakeskiclub.com, or by calling 608-634-3211.

 

Senior Solution
New Co-op Helps Meet Housing Needs

   Many of us take for granted the privacy and independence of home ownership. But for some, especially senior citizens and those with handicaps, the cost and maintenance of owning a single-family home can become a burden.

   In Adams County, Wisconsin, another alternative is now possible, thanks to some hard work by Wisconsin’s Foundation for Rural Housing, Inc. and individuals representing several local businesses and agencies including the Grand Marsh State Bank, Adams County Aging department, and Friendship-based Adams–Columbia Electric Cooperative.

   The Grand Marsh State Bank secured a grant of more than $144,000 from a foundation of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, and the grant has been used to help offset the expense of purchasing and developing a vacant property in the Village of Friendship. The site could eventually hold five new homes.

A Co-op Forms

   The grant also is designed to demonstrate the concept of cooperative home ownership and how that arrangement can make life easier for seniors who have a house that is too large for them now or those who are looking for a small house to move into.

   Many seniors want to live independently but without having to take care of property maintenance. Seniors also want to maintain their independence while staying close to health care and other community facilities. The cooperative form of business is used to accomplish goals that would be otherwise unreachable if undertaken individually, following the concept of “many hands make light work.”

   Once established, the housing cooperative welcomed its first two member families and progress was quickly made to design and build their new homes. One member contracted with Pittsville Homes to build her home; the other couple selected a model built by Terrace Homes in Friendship. By mid-November both homes had been delivered and move-in dates were expected before Christmas.

Qualifications, Specifications

   The qualifications for individuals to participate in this housing cooperative are to be age 55 or older and to be social security recipients.

   The homes will be of “universal design,” a designation that conveys accessibility. Seniors want homes that will work for them as they grow older, possibly accommodating wheelchairs or walkers.

   Another feature of the project is to provide homes that are more affordable in the future. Resale value will be limited to a small escalation based on the equity each member has in the cooperative. The grant value will remain in the cooperative and grow with the property value to be transferred to the future owners of the cooperative.

   While there are no specific price limitations on the homes in this development, the group has focused on single-story manufactured homes from reputable local builders. Members are able to arrange for financing for their homes just as they would any other home purchase.

Pioneering Work

    Wisconsin’s Rural Electric Cooperatives created the Foundation for Rural Housing, Inc. in 1970 as a statewide non-profit organization. At the time, this innovation was among the first in the nation for rural electric cooperatives. According to Char Thompson, executive director for the foundation, there are now an ever-growing number of cooperative housing projects in Wisconsin. Neighboring Minnesota is also a pioneer state in cooperative housing.

   Thompson is available to assist with individuals or groups wanting to start a similar housing cooperative in their area. At her Madison office she can be reached at 888-400-5974. The Rural Housing website is located at www.wisconsinruralhousing.org.—from articles by Keith Wohlfert, Adams–Columbia Electric Cooperative

Electric Co-ops Collaborated
to Form Rural Housing Foundation

    One of the lesser-known ways Wisconsin cooperatives work for a better future is through efforts to improve housing for rural families.

   The movement started within the Wisconsin Electric Cooperative Association (WECA) back in 1970, when the Wisconsin Rural Housing Co-op was formed in response to the electric co-ops’ desire to help low-income rural people obtain decent housing, water, and sewer systems.

   This offshoot of WECA was the first statewide organization of its type in the nation, and though other groups were also represented, rural electric co-op (REC) leaders were in abundance. The housing co-op’s first nine-member board included two REC presidents, and REC manager, an REC office manager, and a Dairyland Power Co-op representative. The first manager of the housing co-op was a WECA employee, and one of its field personnel was a former Wisconsin R.E.C. News staff member.

   In 1983, the organization, revamped as the Foundation for Rural Housing, Inc., included on its board of directors a broader cross-section of business leaders, public officials, and low-income residents, and it became less closely affiliated with the rural electric co-ops.

   The organization receives its funding from local, state, and federal government grants as well as from private support. Except for a very small emergency fund, the foundation does not have money to give or loan directly to those in need of housing upgrades. Rather, the organization serves as a statewide resource that helps individuals, communities, agencies, and other groups develop proposals and works to channel available grants to those in need.

Editorial
by Perry Baird

Fishin’ for the Mission

   The headline seemed to suggest the story would be a positive one about the effectiveness of the electric co-ops’ national organization in securing government-backed loans. Printed two days after Christmas, the Wall Street Journal article, titled “Lobbying Works for Rural Co-ops,” told how the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) had helped obtain $3 billion in rural development loans from the Bush administration.

   The subject matter gave the story’s author an opportunity to dredge up and re-state “longstanding criticism of the subsidized loans by the Government Accountability Office and other government watchdogs.” So, while the article’s tone may have begun complimentarily enough, the impression left was that NRECA’s clout had finagled unwarranted benefit for its members.

Electrifying Effort

   Throughout the Nixon, Reagan, and first Bush administrations, we were used to responding to claims that the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) lending programs had outlived their usefulness. The lending foes’ central argument, reiterated several times in the recent Journal piece, has been that the need for loans through REA (now called RUS, the Rural Utilities Service) should have ended when virtually all of the countryside had obtained electric service. Further, they claim near-universal service alone fulfills the original mission of Franklin Roosevelt and 1930s lawmakers who created the REA along with other New Deal relief programs.

   The same day the Journal story appeared, I was searching for background information on Analoyce Clapp, widow of former REA Administrator Norman Clapp. Analoyce, who died December 18 at age 90, had a long history with Wisconsin’s rural electrification program, including a stint as a columnist for Wisconsin REA News, predecessor of this magazine. Like her husband, she was a small-town Wisconsin native who embraced the electric co-ops’ cause. She and Norman went to Washington in 1961 when President Kennedy tapped him for the REA post, but wasn’t Norman’s first job in Washington; he had been on Capitol Hill working for Senator Bob LaFollette, Jr., in the 1930s when Congress and FDR first authorized REA.

The Real Deal

   During my search, I ran across a speech I hadn’t seen before, given by Norman in April of 1964 during his tenure as administrator under Lyndon Johnson. He beautifully encapsulates the true “mission” of the REA founders:

   “The real objective of Congress and all those who had a hand in making rural electrification possible was that people in the country should have the blessings of electricity just as people in town could and did have them. Underneath it all was a conviction that neither the lack nor the high cost of electric service should be a penalty imposed upon country people.”

   Focusing on the cost component of the mission, Clapp continued, “Today the lights are on in the rural areas…but the inherent handicaps leading to higher cost in serving the rural areas still remain because the development of the rural systems was restricted historically to those areas of lower population density.”

   In other words, simple availability of electric service doesn’t speak to its reliability or affordability—both significant and seemingly unending challenges to sprawling rural electric systems that can count on receiving less revenue for their investment dollars than can urban utilities.

   Thanks, Clapps, for helping make the case—once again.

 

Winter Wonderland Awaits at Whitecap

   You say the holidays are over, spring seems far away, and it’s just too cold in Wisconsin? Don’t mope! Grab your ski gear or snowboards, bundle up the kids, and head for the Whitecap Mountains Resort, near Hurley.

   Located on Bayfield Electric Cooperative lines, the resort is owned by founders Dave and Evelyn Lundberg and bills itself “Wisconsin’s Snowiest Alpine Ski Resort.” According to Dave Lundberg, he’ll be making more snow than ever this year, with special attention to the most challenging runs. That artificial snow will augment Mother Nature’s “lake effect,” which piles up, according to Powder Magazine, “transforming the woodsy hill into a hidden powder haven.”

   The resort actually encompasses three mountains—Whitecap, Thunderhead, and Eagles Nest—in the heart of the Penokee Range. With 35 trails spread over the three mountains, there are choices for the advanced skier, the beginner, and everyone in between. Snowboarders are welcome, too, and can use any of the trails.

   The belief of the Lundbergs is that “as you learn to ski and board better, you’ll have more fun.” As a result, Whitecap is a great destination for little skiers just getting started. Kids six or under ski free. Since small folks often have trouble with rope tows, there is a “Magic Carpet Lift,” similar to an astro-turf escalator, that gently lifts them to the Polar Bear Bowl, a sheltered learn-to-ski area that is separated from ski traffic. In fact, beginners of all ages can learn in safety at the Polar Bear Bowl, while the kids 4–10 can enroll in Kinderschule.

   Guests can find a variety of accommodations right at the resort, which features a Swiss design. There are hotel units—many with kitchenettes—as well as suites, condos, and chalets that can accommodate small and large groups. From many units, you can ski right from your door. A swimming pool and a soothing hot tub can help you unwind after a day on the slopes.

   The Whitecap Mountains also offers year-’round fun, with kayaking, golf at the Skye Golf Course, and other activities. Hosting family reunions is a specialty.—Linda Hilton

Whitecap Mountains is located on County Hwy. E just off of Hwy. 77, west of Iron Belt. For more information, visit www.skiwhitecap.com or call 800/933-SNOW.