NANCY GREEN LEAGUE MEMORIES

Ski Canada writer Lori Knowles is collecting memories of racing in the Nancy Greene League for a coming article in the magazine. The article will focus on how the league got started. She hopes to include all kinds of memories from participants… racers, parents, coaches.
Your job is to answer two of Lori's questions as thoughtfully as possible, hopefully by July 22 or sooner to lori@loriknowles.com:

Q:  When (approximately) did you participate in the Nancy Greene League (NGL) for ski racing, and was it as a racer, a coach, a parent… or maybe all three!?

Q:  Tell me what you remember best about the NGL. Describe a memory. Perhaps begin with:  “I remember driving to Devil’s Glen on a snowy Saturday morning when…” or “I remember getting so nervous at the start I’d…”

NEW FACEBOOK FAN PAGE FOR WURTELE TWINS

In this year leading up to Rhona and Rhoda's 90th birthday (January 2012) Twinski Publications has started a Facebook Fan Page and hope that you will contribute to it - if you have some memories of the twins, the Ski Jays and Ski Chicks clubs, the Twinski Club, the Penguins, the ski trips out west and to Europe - and the list goes on!  and on...and on...

The Rhoda and Rhona Wurtele Fan Page at
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rhoda-and-Rhona-Wurtele-Fan-Page/232584862449?sk=wall.

The word "icon" barely begins to do justice to Rhona and Rhoda Wurtele -- these amazing athletes and wonderful people, who have contributed so much to Canada's skiing heritage. Please share your memories.

And take Nancy Greene Raine's advice:  Buy "No Limits", Ryan Rempel's superb story of the great Wurtele twins.

MUSEUM/HALL OF FAME COLLECTION PACKED UP

On June 27, the Museum/Hall of Fame placed the bulk of its artefacts (ski equipment, clothing, trophies, medals, etc.) into temporary storage. The archival assets (photos, paintings, documents, etc.) will be stored in Ottawa's newly openened, state of the art Archives building.
Above photo:  Ivo Krupka with star volunteer packers (and former Olympians), Nancy Greene Raine and Elizabeth Greene.

It takes a lot of work to pack up 15,000 items, and it took some extraordinary volunteer work to get the job done. A huge thank you to all the volunteers (see the main list below), and particularly to Elizabeth Greene, who put a huge number of hours of painstaking work, packing and carefully recording the items packed.

Although Robin Cushnie (now the Curator of the Osgoode Museum) was our paid Curator/Manager, she was also the person who put in more unpaid time anyone. She was just amazing.

Above photo:  Voluneers from the Canadian Conservation Institute

Volunteer Packers:  Walter Boyce, Robin Cushnie, Shaun Fripp, Elizabeth Greene, Nancy Greene Raine, Kristen Johnson, Ivo Krupka Eric Kunstadt, Peter Kunstadt, Cody Leblanc, Bruce Meredith, Arnold Midgley, Jaroslav Pachner, Diane Thomson, Jim Thomson, and the volunteers from the Canadian Conservation Institute

New Hall of Fame Inductees for 2010

THREE NEW MEMBERS TO BE INDUCTED INTO CANADIAN SKI HALL OF FAME

Ottawa, 27 May 2011 -- Three great Canadians, Beckie Scott, Laurie Kreiner and Mark Labow, have been named to the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame.

Beckie Scott, of Canmore Alberta, is Canada’s most successful nordic skier, and one of the world’s best all-round cross country skiers. During her 11-year career on the Canadian Cross Country National Ski Team, she won 17 World Cup medals, a gold medal in the 10 km pursuit at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, and a silver in the 2006 Olympics in Torino in the team sprint with her teammate, Sara Renner. In addition to her outstanding competitive record, Beckie has been a leader in international sport, where her achievements include spearheading efforts to establish an independent drug-testing agency that become the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA). Recognition of Beckie’s major contributions to Canadian and international sport, is reflected in her numerous honours and awards, including the John Semmelink Memorial Award, the Governor General’s Award for meritorious service, and membership in the Canadian and Alberta Sports Hall of Fame.

Laurie Kreiner, of South Porcupine, Ontario, named to the Canadian Alpine Ski Team at age 14, went on to establish an outstanding Canadian and international competitive record, including impressive results in Olympic and World Cup competition. In the 35 years since retiring from competition, Laurie has continued to make major contributions to skiing in Canada and internationally. She has been a ski resort director, owner and operator, coach, instructor, advisor, ambassador, and volunteer. In these diverse roles she is widely recognized for her contributions as leader, team player, motivator, and as a compassionate person with impressive will and ability to help those in need.

Mark Labow, of St-Sauveur-des-Monts, has been a driving force in the development and success of the Canadian Ski Patrol System (CSPS) and the Fédération Internationale des Patrouilles de Ski (FIPS). During his 63 years with the CSPS, Mark has held many leadership positions, including National President from 1969 to 1975, and (founding) president of FIPS from 1975 to 2003. Mark was also instrumental in the establishment of the Canadian Ski Council which represents most of Canada's major ski organizations. Mark's outstanding volunteer contributions have been recognized through the numerous awards within the CFPS, as well as the Queen's Silver Jubilee medal (1977), membership in the Laurentian Ski Hall of Fame, and honorary membership in the ski patrol systems of the United States, Australia and France.

The Canadian Ski Hall of Fame, part of the Canadian ski Museum, honours persons who have made distinguished and substantial contributions to the growth and development of the sport of snow skiing and snowboarding in Canada. The three new inductees will join some 150 other competitors, officials, coaches, trainers, instructors, and builders of the ski sport and industry who have been so honoured.

The Canadian Ski Museum’s current plans are to hold an induction ceremony in the fall of 2011. The date and location of the ceremony will be announced later.

Writers Wanted!
The Canadian Ski Museum would like to encourage research exploring sports heritage. Interested contributors are invited to submit proposals for papers concerning aspects of skiing heritage. Accepted articles will be published in Skiing Heritage Magazine, the journal of the International Skiing History Association. Authors will be awarded honorariums for completed articles. Please email applications to info@skimuseum.ca, attention: Curator/Manager.

FIS Timeline of Skiing History now online
A timeline of historical events from the world of skiing has now been published on the FIS web site under the address of history.fis-ski.com This timeline represents the results of the efforts of a working group of ski historians led by former chairman and long-time member of the FIS PR and Mass Media Committee Elisabeth Hussey (GBR) between 2005-2007. The goal of the group was to compile an international timeline of events which were important over the whole history of skiing. The contents of this site are an ongoing work to which anybody with the necessary knowledge is encouraged to contribute. Contributions can be made following a simple registration on the site. They will be reviewed by a working group member before acceptance for publication.