The Clock is Ticking to Double $250,000!
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Only a week and a half remain to double your donation
to the Preserve Our Paradise Campaign! All gifts or pledges of $500 or more will be matched through December 31, 2018. A generous Mad River family has presented our community with a tremendous opportunity by pledging
$250,000
to double all year-end donations.
Help keep the momentum going and fund our largest projects! We need to upgrade the Basebox & Patrol Building with cost-effective, essential renovations; finish improving our snowmaking system; and rebuild the Birdland lift for the next generation.
Your end-of-the-year gift or pledge will help ensure that we don’t leave any of these matching funds on the table!
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There are many ways to make your gift or pledge count!
With $250,000 in matching funds at stake, now is the best time to maximize the impact of your gift! Your gift can be a
one-time donation
, made either online or by check, or you can
spread out your gift with a pledge
paid monthly or annually over the next four years. Many people don't realize that if you
make a gift in your will during the match period
, the full value of your bequest counts towards the match! Many corporations will also match your donation, further leveraging your impact.
Contact our campaign volunteers
for more information.
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The sun rises over a snowy early-season Porcupine. Photo by Ry Young.
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A
Message from the General Manager
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Greetings from a snowy Mad River Glen! We've had an amazing stretch of weather dating back to late November, which enabled us to have one of our earliest openings ever on November 24. We are off to a great start and are looking forward to the holidays. I hope you can make plans to find your way to Mad River and enjoy all the early season snow, both from the heavens and hoses.
Speaking of snowmaking, the new improvements funded by the Preserve our Paradise Campaign are paying huge dividends so far this season. The projects include a new snowmaking pump and pumphouse, new snowmaking pipe, two new snow guns, and more electrical connections. These improvements, combined with an aggressive snowmaking plan, have enabled us to make more snow, in a shorter period and in more locations than anytime in Mad River’s history. To date, we have made snow for 319 hours compared to 412 hours last year, and we have more snow on the mountain than any point last year. In addition to the main mountain, the snowmaking improvements have enabled us to make enough snow on the Practice Slope to host a race in mid-December for the local high school race teams. The piles of snow on the mountain last Sunday were truly an impressive sight and simply would not have been possible without the Preserve Our Paradise Campaign.
The other mountain improvements funded by the campaign, including a summer’s worth of trail and mountain work and the new drive system on Lift 4, are also having a tangible impact on the skiing experience at Mad River Glen. As you ski around the mountain, know that your support of the Preserve Our Paradise Campaign is an integral part of creating a sustainable future for the Mad River Glen Cooperative.
As we look to the future, I am even more excited about the projects to come, including renovations to the Ski Patrol/Skier Services building, the Basebox, and the Birdland Lift. Renovating these facilities will enable the Cooperative to operate more efficiently and provide a better experience for guests to Mad River Glen, now and well into the future. Thank you for your support and as always, THINK SNOW!!
- Matt Lillard
General Manager, Mad River Glen Cooperative
Meet with Matt Lillard for an Apres Ski Chat on Friday, December 28 from 3:30-5:30 pm at Molly Stark's Balcony on the third floor of the Basebox.
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Adults weren't the only ones enjoying the early season skiing!
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MRG Awarded Grant for New Backcountry and Environmental Education Program
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Mad River Glen has been awarded a significant grant to develop a Youth Backcountry and Environmental Education program for skiers ages 12-18. The new program seeks to educate young skiers in the techniques, skills and thought processes to safely travel outside the boundaries of a ski area in a natural environment, and become life-long stewards of the land. The program expects to attract and train a minimum of 100 or more youth participants each year, including some who will be subsidized due to lack of financial ability to pay for the program and necessary equipment.
The first offering of the program will be a one-day course that will touch on many snow and ski safety subjects as well as an introduction to the natural winter environment. It will be offered at a nominal fee to encourage participation by kids in the Mad River Glen seasonal programs as well as from other areas and the local community.
The second offering will be a multi-week program that will provide a complementary track to the MRG Freeskiing Team, and will educate kids on backcountry travel skills, avalanche/snow safety education, and environmental education. It will provide education and training both at the ski area and in the backcountry.
The grant was awarded by a nonprofit community foundation that has requested to remain anonymous at this time. This exciting new program will be a great addition to Mad River's youth programs, and will help young skiers make smart decisions while they’re enjoying the outdoors, the mountain environment, and the sport of skiing.
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Support for the Campaign from Many Quarters
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The Mad River Glen community is finding creative ways to lend support to the Preserve Our Paradise Campaign!
The
Montclair Ski Club
is working together to support the campaign with a dedicated web page for donations. The gifts will be pooled into one large donation by the club. From the latest club newsletter:
"Montclair Ski Club and MRG are inseparable; we are partners, tied together like bacon & eggs, Abbott & Costello, and peanut butter & jelly. Without MRG, the Montclair Ski Club would be a ski club without an amazing location on an iconic ski mountain that we call home. MRG is the 'Paradise' of Northeastern skiing. When an old friend asks for help, we respond!"
Mad River Valley Real Estate
has pledged a portion of their commission for the duration of the campaign on any sale they close made by a Mad River Glen Cooperative Shareholder. To date, the program has raised $3,000 for the campaign. MRVRE also sponsors the MRG web cams, including the popular new Birdcage web cam.
Local photographer
T.J. Greenwood
has pledged to donate $50 ($25 in your name, $25 in his name) to the campaign for each copy he sells of a beautiful 20" X 24"
framed canvas print of the Single Chair
. Check out the copy he donated to MRG in the ticket office!
If you're interested in finding a way to support the campaign through your business or organization,
please contact
our volunteers.
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Late evening snowmaking near the Birdcage. MRG had seven guns in simultaneous operation in early December, up from only three guns just two years ago. This allows Mad River to take advantage of good snowmaking weather when it occurs, and while the stream still has good flow. Photo by Ry Young.
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The mother of all MRG face shots, taken on November 28! Photo by Brooks Curran.
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LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN AT:
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Upcoming MRG & Campaign Events
December 27
Free Heel Friday, 10:00 am
December 28
Apres Ski Chat with GM Matt Lillard, Molly Stark's Balcony, 3rd floor of the Basebox,
3:30-5:30 pm
December 29
Naturalist Snowshoe Program, 10:30 am
December 31
Last day to take advantage of the year-end match!
January 10
John Lackard Blues Duo at General Stark's Pub, 3:30 pm
January 12
The Grift at General Stark's Pub, 7:00 pm
January 17
The Phineas Gage Project at General Stark's Pub, 3:30 pm
January 21
Mad River Glen Family Tournament. Registration 8:00 am, race 12:00 noon
January 26
MRG's 70th Anniversary Gala, Basebox, 7:00 pm
A huge bash to celebrate seven decades of memories at MRG. Live music featuring
Rick Redington and the Luv
. Dinner will be served. Tickets available soon.
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Your complete campaign resource:
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Campaign Cabinet
Chairs:
Annika Holtan, Eric Palola
Members at Large:
Lars Bruns, Bob Dillon, Jim Elkind, Meg Hourihan, Amory Hunnewell, Betsy Jondro, Karen Lloyd, Brandi Myers, John Nesbett, Pamela Nesbett, Penny Parson, Meg Schultz, Greg Scott, Debra Steines, John Tobin, Brooks Ware
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Look for our next newsletter in January.
Stay connected with the campaign on social media:
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