Theo Johnson — "Skeeing is indeed a glorious sport; it never grows tame or uninteresting; and the exhilarating joy of it is a delight beyond all comparison." Theo Johnsen wrote those words in America's first ski book, The Winter Sport of Skeeing. Johnsen had immigrated from England and settled in Portland, Maine where he worked as a carpenter. Among other projects he worked on the pews for the Lutheran Church. It was here that he met and married a Swede, Hilda Ek. In 1900 Johnsen became foreman of a boat building company and in 1904 he started his own boat building and wood products company. He correctly understood that the commercial sailboat was a thing of the past and the future was not the steamboat but rather gasoline power. He designed and built two styles of gasoline powered pleasure craft. In addition to a wife he got from the Swedes a love for skiing. By 1905 he had turned his attention from boats to skis. For the 1905 - 06 season his factory in Portland produced 12 models of skis. Since few people outside the Scandinavian community knew how to ski, Johnsen wrote a book, The Winter Sport of Skeeing. There had been earlier articles but this was America's first book on skiing. He described the sport and offered lessons on how to do it. Johnsen also included a catalog of his equipment. Johnsen's passion for skiing shows in lines like, "As the experienced skidor dashes down the crusted hillsides with the speed of the wind there comes to the sport an exhilaration and excitement that positively knows no equal." He made beautiful models of his skis, which he sold to shops. From these models customers would place an order and Johnsen would ship the skis. He also placed skis on consignment in stores as far away as Chicago, Duluth and Salt Lake City. Unfortunately passion for the sport was not enough. Martin Strand, another ski maker of the time, wrote, "The average young American is a sort of hot house plant, who does not care to spend much time out doors, as the cheap show houses and pool rooms seem to be more attractive. They do not want to spend enough money on a pair of skis so that cheap skis are the only ones that will sell." In the spring of 1906 most of his consignment equipment was returned. Johnsen closed his factory in 1907. The market for skiing and his beautiful, well made skis was still decades away. It was 100 years ago this fall that Theo Johnsen from Portland Maine tried to introduce the country to the sport of skiing. He was right, but early. Johnsen wrote what many of us would agree with today, "Any skidor will tell you that skeeing is the most exhilarating and most delightful of all winter sports and that indulged in sensibly and not to excess, it is indeed an ideal outdoor pastime for everybody young and old."

James C. Jones — Jim Jones got involved in ski patrolling almost before there were ski areas in Maine. At a meeting at Portland High School in 1936, Jones and a small group of skiers Domie Lowell, then Eastern Division Director of the fledgling National Ski Patrol explained how to create a patrol. Jones became the first leader of the first ski patrol in Maine, a municipal patrol called the Forest City Ski Patrol. They offered their services to any ski area that needed them, but in those days Pleasant Mountain had the only real ski area in the state and that's where they skied. Before becoming a patroller, a skier had to have Standard and Advanced Red Cross First Aid and Jones became an instructor, the first in Maine to teach the winter first aid supplement. Later he became the first Avalanche Instructor in Maine getting his training from Swampy Paris the legendary patrolman of Tuckerman Ravine. In 1938 he became patrol leader at Pleasant Mountain, a position he held through 1972. He served as section chief for Western Maine and Regional Director for the Maine Region of the National Ski Patrol from 1948 to 1972. During those years ski patrolling grew in many ways. Training went well beyond the basic first aid. Patrollers had to learn to handle rescue toboggans. Jones remembers the first toboggans at Pleasant Mountain being recreational models that were not rigid enough for back injuries. Jim remembered a young Lieutenant Pollard at Brunswick Naval air Station who had a true rescue toboggan which he donated to Pleasant Mountain and future sleds were designed according to that model. Harry pollard went on to become National Director of the National ski Patrol. Early training of ski patrollers was informal and standards were needed. To that end various levels were introduced to patrolling with the Senior designation being the goal of most patrollers. Naturally some way of certification was necessary and Jim Jones became the first head of ski and toboggan testing in Maine, developing a team of examiners to travel to different ski areas to test patrollers. In the late sixties it was determined that to achieve Senior status, a first aid exam was needed in addition to the ski and toboggan exam. Jones appointed Mt Abram Patrol Leader H a r o l d Parsons to head up the t e s t i n g program and under his d i r e c t i o n , Maine became the first region in the east to have such an exam. Within two years the Eastern Division developed such an exam with great input from the team of examiners already working in Maine. In addition to his years with the ski patrol, Jim Jones was a ski instructor and coach at Portland High School, member of the Maine Ski Instructors Association, and a member and President of the Maine Ski Council. For his work with NSP he was awarded a National Appointment #881. This lifetime devotion to skiing and a major contribution to the sport in Maine has earned James C. Jones a place in the Maine Ski Hall of Fame.

Dick & Mary Kendell — Dick and Mary Kendall contributed eight children to Maine skiing and four of them became national champions. For most parents raising eight skiers and working with them would leave little time for other activities, but the Kendalls gave to a lot more than their own children. As President of the Auburn Ski Association during his four years Dick established the first Used Equipment Sale Program with the Auburn Recreation Department. He also served as president of the Maine Alpine Racing Association, and as a member of the first Board of Directors helped get Saddleback Mountain started. As a ski instructor Dick was the firstdirector of the Lost Valley Ski School where he taught for nine years and established the Jr. Racing Program there coaching winning teams. He served as an official at many races with the highlights the Nordic events at the 1980 and 2002 Winter Olympics. At the 2002 Games he was awarded the contract for Nordic skiing and directed a crew of 158 volunteers. He was also a timing official at numerous Junior, Senior and Collegiate National Championships. Dick's wife Mary joined him as an instructor at Lost Valley for nine years where she created the children's ski instruction program for the Auburn Recreation Department. She was a delegate to the Conference on Promotion of the Development Team for the USSA Olympic Ski Team. Her resume as an official includes timing at Junior, Senior and Collegiate national championships and officiating Nordic events at the 1980 and 2002 Olympics. While working with countless junior skiers the Kendalls were also training their own children who followed their example by staying involved in skiing well beyond their competitive days. All ten family members have held at least two or more of the following ski official positions: Ski racing coach, ski instructor, ski school director, Olympic timing official, president of local ski association, president of state organization, officer of national ski association, certified jumping judge, certified cross country instructor. All eight siblings were selected to Maine teams that competed in New England competition and seven skied for college teams that qualified to compete for the national championship. Among the eight children they won 32 team championships and 33 state, New England and U.S. National individual awards. The Kendalls are the only Maine family to have four siblings coaching teams competing for the National Championships and two of them actually won those championships. The individual achievements of this skiing family could cover several pages. They include races won, skimeister at events from high school to college, ski instruction and coaching and time as volunteers. Dick and Mary Kendall started it all by working with their own and other children developing skiers and contributing to the sport at all levels. A lifetime of devotion that has played a major role in Maine skiing has earned Dick and Mary Kendall a place in the Maine Ski Hall of Fame.

Richard S. "Dick" Osgood — Dick Osgood excelled first as a competitor and later as a coach, skiing on winning teams and coaching winning teams. Over a forty year span Osgood was a member of or coached 19 state championship ski teams. At Edward Little High School he skied for Hall of Famer Zeke Dwelley for four years. His final three years the Eddies were state champions with Osgood winning the individual state championship in cross country in 1951. In 1950 and 1951 he won the New England Cross country title and in 1952 the Eastern Schoolboy crown. He served as team captain along with Norm Cummings and Dick Field. The next stop was the University of New Hampshire on a skiing scholarship where he won the Eastern Collegiate Cross Country Championship in 1956 and missed by a single spot a place on the 1956 Olympic XC team. Following his successful college career, Osgood returned to his roots as an assistant ski coach, taking over as head coach in 1962. His boys teams won 11 state ski championships including a run of seven straight from 1965-1971, along with three New England titles. From 1975 to 1987 he coached both men and women's ski teams earning five women's state championships during that pan. The record show that when his teams didn't win they were close, with one state runner up and four at the New England level. He also found time to coach the Junior National Cross country team under the United States Eastern American Ski Association for three years and served as USEASA Jr, Nordic Director 1963-1967. He taught skiing at Lost Valley for 20 years, serving as an associate director for four years. The mark of any top high school or junior coach is how well his competitors do after moving up to higher levels and some of Osgood's charges have achieved greatly in the sport. He coached John Bower, Tom Upham, Karl Anderson, Bob and Bill Kendall, Randy Kerr, and Peter Davis. In addition to top competitors a number of Osgood's skiers also became s u c c e s s f u l coaches and instructors. Although named Head Coach at EL in 1961 his first full year of coaching was 62-63 as he was called back into military service during the Berlin crisis in 1961. For more than forty years Dick Osgood has been training skiers, future coaches and instructors, working with countless numbers of skiers at every level through high school and Lost Valley. Many of his skiers can still be found teaching at Lost Valley and coaching at various levels. Through these proteges his influence continues to spread, making his contributions even greater. For his achievements and contribution to skiing in Lewiston Auburn and throughout Maine and New England, Dick Osgood has earned entry into the Maine Ski Hall of Fame.

Richard "Pat" Murphy — The perfect volunteer can be described in to two words, "Pat" M u r p h y. Starting when he joined the Sugarloaf Ski Patrol in 1959, Richard "Pat" Murphy has patrolled every single weekend, a total of over 1600 days and he is still going at age 83. Stub Taylor who directed the Sugarloaf patrol for most of those years until his retirement, noted that Murphy was always willing to "go the extra mile" whether it was fund raising to buy needed equipment, work with new members, number of accidents handled, days volunteered, training sessions attended, and all the various duties involved in patrolling. Patrolling at Sugarloaf every weekend for over 45 years would be more than enough for most skiers, but not for "Pat" Murphy. Several nights a week he patrols at Lost Valley not far from his home in Auburn. At both areas he goes about the job quietly and professionally, leading from behind and by example. Since his retirement from business, he has expanded his ski volunteering. Phil Geelhoed, CEO of Maine Special Olympics had this to say, "Pat" Murphy has served a one-on-one volunteer to a Special Olympics Athlete since the Special Olympics came to Sugarloaf in 1982." In 2003 "Pat"was honored by Sunday River for ten years of service to Maine Handicapped Skiing, a program he still volunteers for. If the time could be totaled, "Pat" has spent more hours working with the disable, Special Olympians and assisting skiers than most professional skiers spend in a lifetime of their work. His fellow patrollers think so highly of his contribution that they named a special award for him and Murphy promptly insisted that the award carry the name of Stub Taylor as well. It is one of the most prestigious awards a Sugarloaf patroller can receive. His service has been recognized by the National Ski Patrol as well. He has been a Senior Patroller for many years and in 1981 was awarded a National Appointment (#6235). This award goes to patrollers who have "demonstrated leadership, good character, diplomacy, a positive attitude, good judgement, unusual qualities of patrolling ability, a genuine desire to serve the skiing public and extraordinary service to the National Ski Patrol. In 2001 "Pat"was further honored with the NSP National Service Award. How many skiers' lives have been touched by "Pat" Murphy is impossible to measure. During his working years he devoted virtually all his time off, weekends and evenings to ski patrolling at two ski areas. After he retired he simply expanded his volunteering to teach the handicapped to ski, and through all these years he has maintained his ski patrol skills at the highest level, even into his eighties. This lifetime of dedication to other skiers has earned Richard "Pat" Murphy a place in the Maine Ski Hall of Fame.

Robert Pidacks — Bob Pidacks became the second Olympic skier from Maine when he joined his coach and fellow Chisolm Ski Club member on the 1952 Olympic Nordic Team. His journey to the highest levels of competition started when he learned to ski in Rumford at age seven. He began competing as a sophomore at the Stephens High in Rumford. His ski career was interrupted during his senior year when he drove a ski pole into his eye while competing in the state downhill competition at Gould Academy in 1946. He entered the University of Maine in 1947 to study forestry and in 1950 returned to training and competition. He became a three letter man at the University and in 1951 captained the ski team. Although his experience was limited to two years he piled up a series of outstanding results during the 1951 season. Heading into the Olympic Trials in March he had recorded a second place finish in an open meet at Jackson, NH, 4th at the Dartmouth Winter Carnival, First in a State College meet including Bowdoin and Colby at Rumford, Second at the McGill ISU Winter Carnival, Second at an open meet in Salisbury and First at the Middlebury Winter Carnival. The winter's competition had him in top form for the Olympic Trials which were held on his home course in Rumford. His time of one hour, 32 minutes and 19 seconds beat National Combined Champion Ted Farwell by 21 seconds and Pidacks become the number one cross country skier on the 1952 Olympic Team. After being named to the Olympic Team he graduated from college and entered the U.S. Army. He was given leave to train for and compete in the games in Oslo, Norway where he ran the 18 kilometer course 14 minutes faster than his trial time for a 69th place finish. Following the games Pidacks traveled through Europe competing in numerous r a c e s b e f o r e r e t u r n i n g to the Army and service in Korea. Returning to the states Bob was named to the 1954 FIS Team. With the demands of a career and family Pidacks declined an invitation to tryout for the 1956 Olympics, but his active participation in cross country skiing was not over. For the next ten years he continued to compete locally and spent countless hours working with the junior program in Rumford. He and his wife Ruth drove all over the Northeast transporting skiers to races. For his outstanding race career he was inducted into the University of Maine Sports Hall of Fame in 1990 and his record of achievement and contributions to the sport of skiing has earned Bob Pidacks a place in the Maine Ski Hall of Fame.

Franklin "FC" Emery — For more than half a century Frank Emery has been actively involved in skiing but not just as a skier. Actual skiing has been closer to three quarters of a century . His involvement goes much deeper and has been very important to Maine skiing. An early interest in competition led him to take an active role in junior ski racing, which he pursued as race chairman of the Downeast Ski Club. He was directly responsible for that club's heavy involvement in junior racing for years. His activities included serving as a race official at every level from junior to World Cup. He worked as a starter for Jr. I and II races and when the World cup came to Sugarloaf in the Tall Timber Classic in 1971. During races at Pleasant Mountain, now Shawnee Peak, Frank could always be found at the start or finish, if not in an official capacity, as a volunteer just helping out. When his sons took up racing he started a race team in Westbrook and took up the job of coach. He transported carloads of racers to events and worked tirelessly in the hill. In addition to working on the hill at races he served the organizations of skiing as a director of USEASA and as President of the Maine Ski Council. His work for the Downeast Ski Club as race chairman and president led to his being awarded a lifetime membership. He was a tireless fund raiser for race programs and ski events and few events were held in Maine without his presence. Following a visit to the National Ski Hall of Fame in Ishpeming, Michigan he returned to Maine to encourage skiers to join that organization, just one more way for Frank Emery to promote his sport. For most this would have been plenty, but Frank also found time to serve as a member of the Pleasant Mountain volunteer ski patrol. For his dedication he received a prestigious National Appointment (No. 4145) from the National Ski Patrol, an organization he served for 20 years. Frank got involved in every aspect of skiing. As one of the three founders of Ski Spree Wax, he spread his bronze colored wax throughout the East and even to many shops in the West. Skiers were advised to "Ski the bronze", and this popular rub on became the regular choice for spring skiing, East and West. This led him to work as a rep selling a line of ski clothes and accessories which brought Ski Spree to even more shops and skiers. After a trip to Europe he became a pied piper leading groups of skiers to Austria, Aspen and Tahoe. There was no part of skiing that escaped his attention and even though he finally had to give up skiing in his eighties he still promotes the sport. Through a lifetime of devotion to the sport of skiing, Frank Emery's contribution has earned a place in the Maine Ski Hall of Fame.

Robert Remington — Robert Remington started his skiing career at Gould Academy where he was a standout competitor on a ski team known for its success among New England prep schools. From 1964 to 1967 "Rem" competed in cross country racing and jumping, the events that would become a key part of his life's work and in 1967 captained the Gould Academy team. He went on to the University of Maine ski team 1970-1972 where his second place finish in jumping in 1970 helped the team to the state title. He once again demonstrated his leadership by captaining the team in 1972. Returning to the Bethel area after graduation he became ski coach at Telstar Regional High/Middle School in 1974 where he coached jumping until 1980 and cross country until 1998. His teams compiled an enviable record with a string of victories. The boys won the Maine nordic title in 1974 and 1975, and the overall crown in 1978,1982, 1985 and 1992. The girls won nordic in 1974 and 1976 and overall 1979, 1983 and 1986. The boys also collected four Mountain Valley Conference championships and the girls three. In 1978 the boys won the New England Championship when it was still a four event meet. For 25 years Bob Remington coached skiing at Telstar and turned out many outstanding skiers. Somehow he still found time to coach the Bill Koch Youth Ski League from 1978-1988. He also worked with the Olympic Training Summer Program and Maine Team for the Eastern High School Championships. His work in trail design included the creation of the nordic trail system at Telstar High which led to hosting numerous state championships in all three classes from 1988-1998. Another creation was the Telstar Relays which began in 1979 with six schools and has grown to be the largest event in the state with over 300 skiers. His work maintaining the Swan's Corner Jump in Bethel which the ski team used helped keep jumping alive in the area even after the NCAA dropped the event from its competition. Remington has served at many levels, President of the Maine Ski Coaches Association, ski liaison for the Maine State Principal's Association and co-founder of the Bethel Outing Club and its annual ski sale. Through a long career in ski coaching Robert Remington covered it all, designing trails, grooming them, leading in rules and regulations governing nordic skiing in Maine and earning the respect of other coaches around the state. For his dedication to the sport and the multiple contributions to skiing in Maine, Robert Remington has earned a spot in the Maine Ski Hall of Fame.

Karl Anderson — Karl Anderson always wanted to be a ski racer. Early on in his career he made a difficult choice to follow the Eastern ski racing circuit rather than compete with his good friends on the State and New England Champion Edward Little High School Ski Team. In his final year as a junior racer, Karl won the 1971 Eastern Jr. GS championship, securing the final position on the Eastern Squad for the US Jr. Nationals. Upon graduation Karl attended Johnson State College, in an effort to make the Can-Am national race circuit. Missing the final slot on the Eastern Team, he considered quitting, but Earle Morse, his coach at Johnson, encouraged Karl to continue competing on the Europa Cup circuit. Traveling on his own and raced throughout Europe. His results that winter catapulted him from not being rated in the top 100 in the US to 5th overall. Unknown to any US coaches and most other national level ski racers he was named to the US Ski Team in 1972. Starting his career as a slalom and GS specialist Anderson finished 4th in the US National Slalom and had a 9th place World Cup GS finish. During the fall national training camps in 1975 Karl trained downhill for the first time. Given the opportunity to race downhill that season he had seven top fifteen finishes. The season culminated with a 5th place finish in the final World Cup, won by Franz Klammer, in Jackson Hole. In the following 1976 season Karl became the first American male to win an overall European Cup title by taking the downhill discipline. That same season, as a downhiller, he became the first Maine skier to represent the US in an Alpine event at the Olympics. Internationally, over the next five years, Karl was often the top US downhiller on the World Cup. Even after seriously injuring his back in January of 1978 he had top ten finishes in World Cup downhills. That back injury would require a regimen of 10+ aspirin per day for the rest of his ski career and a metal back brace for four years thereafter. Even with the impairment he secured the final slot on the 1978 US World Championships DH Team. He also represented the US in the 1980 Olympics. He won the 1978 US National DH Title, and was runner up in that event in 1976,77 and 79. Following his retirement from the Team in 1981 he continued to contribute to US Skiing and the Olympic movement. He was a member of the US Ski Association Board of Directors from 1982 to 1988, and later was the Assistant Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer of US Skiing. At the Olympic level he served on the Executive Board of the US Olympic Committee from 1984 to 1988. He also served on the Athletes Advisory Council of the US Olympic Committee. For his outstanding competitive record and his continuing contribution to US and Maine skiing Karl Anderson has earned a place in the Maine Ski Hall of Fame.

Robert MacGregor Morse — Robert "Bob" Morse first achievements in skiing came at the high school level when he captained the 1962 ski team at Deering High School in Portland. He showed his versatility by winning Skimeister honors through five events, downhill, slalom, giant slalom, cross country and jumping. Unfortunately, the University of Maine, Machias from which he graduated in 1967 had no athletics but he still prepared himself well for a career in coaching. Since 1970 Morse has coached cross country running, track and field and skiing at both the junior high and high school levels amassing numerous championships and awards, his ski teams winning a total of 39 state championships. From 1984 to 2004 his girls teams won nine overall (4 events) titles, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003 and 2004, and twelve Nordic crowns, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1995, 1996, 1997,1999, 2003 and 2004 and the 2004 alpine championship. During the same period his boys teams won eight ski championship (4 events), 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1998, and 2004, and eight Nordic titles, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993 and 1996 and they were alpine co-champions in 2004. The Maine Sunday Telegram named him coach of the year twice, Ski Coach of the Year in 2000 and Girl's Ski Coach of the Year in 2004. While winning is important to any coach developing athletes is equally important and many of those who skied for Coach Morse have gone on to make their own contribution to the sport as competitors and coaches. Both Scott Loomis and Walt Shepard have competed at the US Team Level. Others have skied at the college level, several for NCAA Division I schools and some can be found coaching at the high school and college level. Yarmouth skiers have made All America status in Division I colleges and Maine skiers are regularly recruited by the best schools. Coaches also need raw material in the form of skiers and facilities. On the facility side Morse helped to rebuild and maintain the Hurricane Mountain jump which the school used until jumping was dropped from high school skiing. To spread skiing beyond the school Bob worked with the Yarmouth Ski Club as they set up programs for junior skiing. He also r e c r u i t e d cross country runners into s k i i n g transferring their skills to the ski trails and developing more skiers. Coach Morse has worked with the organizations in skiing as well, serving as President of the Maine Ski Coaches Association for five years and as Nordic Liaison to the Maine Principals Association for three years. He also works with the New England Nordic ski Association to promote junior cross country skiing. Bob Morse also took time to serve his country retiring after 26 years in the U.S. Army Reserve. He hasn't retired from coaching and his teams look forward to more success. This successful career in coaching which continues to contribute to Maine skiing has earned Robert "Bob" Morse a place in the Maine Ski Hall of Fame.