bethel citizen winter guide 2012

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Ski Vacations

BethelMainea must-play destination in the Western Mountains of

12012 I 2013 Winter in Western Maine

Table of ContentsBethel’s Snow Engineer.............................................................10-11

Calendar of Events............................................................17-21 & 25

Cross-Country Skiing...........................................................................8

Dogsledding........................................................................................13

Maine Adaptive Sports & Recreation..........................................16

Mt. Abram................................................................................................6

Nightlife in the Western Mountains.............................................14

Shawnee Peak........................................................................................7

Snowmobiling.......................................................................................9

Snowshoeing.......................................................................................12

Eight Mountain Peaks, Endless Fun: A Sunday River Overview .................................................................2

Sunday River’s Vision.......................................................................3-4

More to do at Sunday River...............................................................5

DIRECTORIES

Dining ....................................................................................................22

Lodging..................................................................................................23

Real Estate.............................................................................................15

Shops & Services......................................................................... 26-27

Vacation Rentals..................................................................................15

Web.........................................................................................................28

Cover Photos: Matterhorn Ski Bar, Sunday River Ski Resort, Sarah Berry

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Western Maine’s Hometown Paper

Bethel Citizenwww.bethelcitizen.com

The

a must play destination in the western mountains of Maine

It just might be snow country at its finest, and we’d love to share it with you. Winters are crisp and snow-filled; the air is clear, the sky is blue. All around, the mountains — staggering in their quiet beauty — stand as majestic, snow-covered sentinels, insulating us from the greater bustle of the world beyond. There are no freeways, no shopping malls, no tall buildings. What there is is a scattering of small towns and villages, nestled in the eastern foothills of the White Mountains, washed by the Androscoggin River, and graced by abundant winter green forests. If you’re tired of crowds and looking for a friendly, fun break from the daily grind, you might consider visiting us this winter. Whether for skiing, snowmobiling, or just enjoying the quiet beauty, we welcome you. The Bethel area of western Maine has become known nationally as an alpine skiing mecca — thanks primarily to the incomparable quality of the skiing experience at nearby Sunday River Ski Resort, Mt. Abram and Shawnee Peak.

And more That national recognition is certainly justified — we think the skiing here is the best this side of the Mississippi River — but you don’t have to pull on ski boots to experience the delights of the Bethel area. For one thing, it’s uncrowded here, uncrowded and beautiful. Visitors will find a rural pace of life that melts those city stresses away. Rural truly, but never provincial. The Bethel area was settled by Colonial-era farmers, and later developed by 19th century lumber and railroad interests. In the 20th century, it has attracted a cosmopolitan mix of city folk who have decided there’s more to life than smog and congestion. And whether they came to visit, to spend a summer or to settle, they brought with them a variety of interests and influences that continues to add richness and texture to life in this part of western Maine. The economy, for example, is based not just on tourism and skiing, but on a mixture of wood-based industries, arts-and-crafts activities, educational institutions, farming, as well as a sizable community of retirement and vacation homes. Here, in just a few small communities, you will find such diverse businesses as a recording studio, wilderness schools, prep schools, potteries, working farms and dairies, woodworking mills, and historic inns. And of course, plenty of fine restaurants, B&Bs and inns. We hope the following pages will give you a sense of the variety of activities, especially outdoor activities, you will find in Bethel this winter. For up-to-the-minute information when you arrive, check the current edition of The Bethel Citizen.

Welcome to Bethel

2 Winter in Western Maine 2012 I 2013

Eight Mountain Peaks, Endless Fun Sunday River o!ers eight interconnected peaks of world class skiing & snowboarding, plus two Grand Resort Hotels

Eight Mountain Peaks Skiers of all abilities can find terrain to their liking among Sunday River Ski Resort’s 132 trails. Aurora Peak, White Cap, Locke Mountain, Barker Mountain, Spruce Peak, North Peak, Oz, and Jordan Bowl range up to 3,150' in elevation, with vertical drops of as much as 1,600'.

Boundary to Boundary Skiing & Riding:

Sunday River offers 743 acres of developed trails and glades, but within the boundaries of the resort’s ski area, you’ll find nearly 2,000 acres of terrain to explore. We allow skiing and riding anywhere within the ski area boundary with the exception of trails or areas marked as closed.

Terrain Parks: There are five terrain parks, ranging from beginner to advanced, plus one superpipe and one minipipe. Whoville, Sunday River’s beginner terrain park, is located near South Ridge Base Lodge and includes mini jumps and rollers, perfect for testing speed and skills. The South Ridge Jib Park, located near South Ridge Base Lodge, includes varying levels of rails for the more inter-mediate skier/rider. Starlight, located off the Little White Cap chairlift, is a designated boarder/skiercross run, while Rocking Chair Park, located on Barker Mountain near the base lodge, takes skills to the next level with a series of advanced jumps and rails.

Chairlifts: 16 lifts include a hybrid chairlift/gondola called the Chondola, four high-speed quads, five fixed quads, three triples, one double, and two surface lifts for an uphill capacity of approximately 40,000 passengers per hour.

Snowfall/Snowmaking: Sunday River averages over 167 inches (14 feet) of snowfall a year and has one of the most advanced, com-prehensive snowmaking systems on the planet covering 92 percent of the resort’s trails (616 acres, 250 hectares).

Day Care: There is on-site day care for children ages six weeks to six years at three on-mountain locations. Full and half-day day care is available.

Shops, Rentals, and Demos: The main rental shop is located in the South Ridge Base Lodge and offers an extensive product selection and inventory to accommodate both adults and children. The Children’s Rental Shop is located adjacent to the South Ridge Base Lodge in the Perfect Turn Children’s Center. For more details, go to www.sundayriver.com. Sunday River is a member of the Boyne Resorts family of resorts and attractions. Photo; Sunday River Ski Resort


Sunday River’s Vision for the Future on its Way to Becoming Reality

More snowmaking, additional skiable terrain, a new spa center, a dedicated terrain park trail, a redefined ski school experience, real estate opportunities, and additional resort amenities are among those enhancements listed in Sunday River Resort’s newly updated five-year vision, available to view online at sunday-river.com. Released this past spring, Sunday River’s Vision highlights how the re-sort has grown since joining the Boyne Resorts family back in 2007, and defines those areas in which the resort intends to build upon or improve in the next five years. To date, Sunday River has benefited from over $30 million in capital en-hancements, including a new Chondola lift, night skiing, snowmaking upgrades, hotel enhancements, and resort activi-ties, including geocaching, zipline tours, and twin zips.

More Snowmaking New this winter, guests will benefit from nearly $2.7 million in capital enhancements including $1 million toward the purchase of 300 additional energy efficient snow guns. These new guns will be placed on 15 of the resort’s most popular trails and help Sunday River open more terrain at an even faster rate. This added snowmaking horsepower will help Sunday River provide better ski-in/ski-out access to the resort’s Grand Summit Resort Hotel and other slopeside properties, as well as better snow coverage for its dedicated competitive training areas, including the Monday Mourning trail.

Each winter, Sunday River spends approximately $2.5 million to produce man-made snow and last winter made snow a total of 106 days. In the next five years, Sunday River will continue to invest in its snowmaking infrastructure with the goal to increase its pumping capability and double its water capacity all while significantly reducing energy consumption.

“When SR was pumping 9,000 gallons of water a minute 10 years ago, the rest of the world stood in awe,” says Dana Bullen, Sunday River’s general manager. “What’s happened is a few resorts have really invested in snowmaking and caught up. So how is everyone going to stand in awe and look at us again? Well, we can make it simple. We can double what we’re doing and nobody will be even close to us at that point. We have 80 percent of that plan in place to do that. What you will see is phasing the plan in over the next few years. It’s a very large capital investment to do that, but we’re committed to it.”

More Terrain Last winter, Sunday River turned its Blind Am-bition glade into the largest glade at the resort, not to mention the second largest glade in the

state of Maine. In the next five years, the resort will continue to add to its on-mountain experience with more skiable terrain in the form of new and improved glades, as well as a designated terrain park trail — all of which will create more than 200 acres of additional skiable terrain within the resort’s eight-mountain boundary.

Continued on page 4Photo: Sunday River Ski Resort


Continued from page 3

“The folks who are currently skiing our woods could describe where [the new glades] are going to be as well as I could,” says Bul-len. “You will find that because we let people ski boundary to boundary, people are skiing in all kinds of places between trails and other areas. Our goal is to open that up to more people.”

For the coming winter, guests can expect to see additional tree work done to its existing Blind Ambition and Hardball glades, as well as new glade work done to ex-pand its Enchanted Forest glade. The Enchanted Forest glade expansion is ap-proximately 10 acres of new terrain and will be considered an intermedi-ate area. This expansion will be located in the existing wooded area

adjacent to the original Enchanted Forest glade to skier’s right on the Absolutely trail.

Solace Spa Currently, Sunday River is home to two separate spa experiences with locations at both Grand Resort Hotels. In the coming years, Sun-day River will build upon its luxury and pampering offerings by constructing a new 5,000-square-foot spa facility located adja-cent to its Jordan Grand Resort Hotel. The new spa area, called Solace Spa, will serve as the flagship of the resort’s dedicated

Luxury Zone and elevate Sunday River as a true destination resort.

Improved Ski School Experience To provide a better arrival experience for guests enrolled in the resort’s Perfect Turn Ski and Snowboard School, Sunday River will work to expand its current facilities with a new Ski School Center located slopeside on the Sun-dance trail in the South Ridge base area. This new facility will better accommodate all adult and children’s pro-grams, and will provide room for the addition of new features for compe-

tition programs. Sunday River will also work in cooperation with the Maine Adaptive Sports and Recreation in build-ing the center. Additional Resort

Amenities New this winter, Sun-day River will continue to build upon its goal to become a family-friendly destination resort with a life-sized home for its mascot Eddy The Yeti located just off of the resort’s new Kid’s Adven-ture Trail. The addition of this new home will provide the resort with a new special events area for kids as well as provide a fun place for families to explore along this year-round trail.

Real Estate Opportunities

New this year, guests at Sunday River can turn their dreams of owning a piece of the resort into a reality through two new real estate developments. Village Off The Green is located on the Sunday River Golf Course and in-cludes nine single-home lots ranging between three and four acres in size. The second de-velopment, The Glades at Ridge Run, includes 13 single home ski-in/ski-out lots each sized at a little over one acre. The Glades at Ridge Run offers future homeown-ers direct access to the popular South Ridge base area. Both devel-opments are being sold through the Sunday River Real Estate office.

Photos: Sunday River

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More things to do at Sunday River

Zipline Tours and Twin Zips

Sunday River’s Zipline Tours include six ziplines ranging from 100 to 300 feet long flying through the woods and across a ravine, plus 750-foot dual racing zips! It’s a safe, spectacular thrill for ev-eryone. $49 with ticket or season pass/$59 without. One ride on Twin Zips, $15, or two rides for $25.

Cross-Country Skiing

Bethel has two cross-country ski centers with miles of groomed trails, equipment rental, instruction, and special events around the area.

Snowshoeing Snowshoeing routes are plentiful in the Bethel area. Whether it’s through local cross-country trails, or the well-maintained snow-mobile trail system, you will experience a variety of terrain. It’s another way to get out and enjoy the Maine winter.

Snow Tubing The South Ridge base area transforms at night offering lighted, lift-serviced tubing runs. The South Ridge Lodge is easily accessible by our complementary on-mountain trolley, as well as Bethel’s free Mountain Explorer Shuttle.

Ice Skating Lace up the skates and hit the ice on our lighted rink with family, friends or on your own! It is free for use and open every day and evening depending on weather conditions. Rentals avail-able, call 207-824-3000 for details.

Black Diamond Entertainment

The Black Diamond Family Entertainment series features artists and performers presenting comedy shows, magic,

music and more. Tick-ets are available at the Grand Summit Hotel, Jordan Grand Hotel, the South Ridge Welcome Concourse and the Snow Cap Inn.

Fireworks Who does not enjoy an exciting display of fireworks? Don’t miss the fireworks displays that are scheduled through-out the season. A hint, best viewing is South Ridge Lodge slopeside.

Photos: Sunday River

At Sunday River, we o!er more than great skiing and riding. Here are some great family-friendly activities to check out during your stay with us.

Mt. Abram remains independent, locally-owned and intimate. It’s the sort of place where kids happily pogo up and down all day long – in the park, on a race course, in the bumps or trees -- while their parents can enjoy a slower pace on long cruisers. Everyone seems to know everyone

else and they all keep an eye on each others’ kids, rather like the way skiing was back in the ‘60s and ‘70s, only with better snow. If you measure your lift ticket value by how many times you can ride a high-speed quad in or-der to reach wide, warp-nine boulevards, you’re

better off elsewhere. Things move at a gentler pace here. Two chairlifts and two T-bars – remem-ber T-bars? -- get you up the mountain in decent time. From the top, you access a trail network that was suggested by nature, not engineered by dynamite and heavy equipment. As a result,

every trail at Mt. Abram oozes character -- anoth-er increasingly rare trait at ski areas these days. It starts at the West-side base, where a small, intimate lodge serves beginning skiers and snowboarders. Westside is served by its own 3000-foot chairlift and features “easier” terrain most ski resort operators would give nearly anything to gain. The runs are long and very gentle in pitch, with just enough terrain variations and changes in aspect to keep things fun and interesting. Mt. Abram’s Snow School offers complete packages for beginners including rental equipment, coach-ing and lift access. Turns and pitch varia-tions continue through the “More Difficult” trails, which consti-tute the majority of Mt. Abrams’ named runs (Mt. Abram was the first ski area in Maine to establish a boundary-to-boundary policy; you can go just about anywhere you wish without run-ning afoul of the ski pa-trol). It’s on these trails that the mountain re-veals its secret: the trail cut allows Mt. Abram to

pack a TON of skiing into a comparatively mod-est 1,150-foot vertical descent. Trails like this invite you to take a bit more time to savor. Experts won’t find the massive straight shots some resorts use as their signature mogul runs, but you will find some wonderful tree skiing and plenty of bumps. And over the past few years, Mt. Abram has paid increasing atten-tion to its terrain parks. The Snow School offers instruction for these, too.So that’s a quick look for those who’ve never seen the place. The resort prides itself on its partnerships with other Maine businesses, so some old favorites will be on hand – including pizza from the Portland Pie Company and an ever-prominent presence from Gritty McDuff’s (including its renowned Abram Ale) substitut-

ing for the famed Loose Boots Pub. Mt. Abram expects to open for the season on Dec. 15. Operations run 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thurs-days through Sundays, and on all Maine school vacation holidays. Night skiing is confined to race and freestyle competi-tion leagues and is open to the public on full moon evenings. Thursdays are Two-for-One days (bring a friend and split the cost of a lift ticket), and any-one who shows up after 3 p.m. on Thursdays can enjoy the last hour for free. Fridays are carload days, where everyone legally seat belted into the same car can ski for a combined price of $75 (no vans or buses eli-gible). For more information, call (207) 875-5000 or visit www.mtabram.com.

Photo: Mt. Abram


Mt. Abram: Maine’s Authentic Skiing and Riding ExperienceSkiers and snowboarders who are new to Mt. Abram almost invariably arrive at the same two conclusions. First, it skis bigger than it looks – a lot bigger, in fact. Second, it has an old-school vibe of fun, funk and friendliness that just isn’t found much in the modern age of multi-resort ski operating companies.

Fun for all members of the family, Shawnee Peak is Maine’s largest family-owned ski mountain and home to the most night skiing in New England and 98 percent snow-making coverage. Big, beautiful and located just over half an hour southwest of Bethel, Shawnee Peak offers more than 40 trails, four gladed areas of all ability levels, two terrain parks - includ-ing beginner-oriented Grommet Garden, five lifts - including the new Summit Triple Express, 98 percent snowmaking and an unprecedented big-mountain experience combined with small-mountain value. Need a place to stay? Check out the beautiful 2BR/3BA East Slope Con-

dos - located slopeside, just a short slide from the base lodge, these gor-geous two-bedroom lux-ury condos are available for rent and sale. Call the reservation office at (207) 647-8444 for more info. But why would those looking for a lodg-ing experience stop at slopeside? Shawnee Peak is offering rentals in the Pleasant Mountain Cabin and Yurt on top of the mountain - perfect for skiers and anyone who wants a unique lodging/camping experience. Open year-round, the yurt will sleep four people while the cabin sleeps six. Shawnee Peak offers a world of accessible skiing and riding fun. The mountain overlooks scenic Moose Pond,

and offers great views of New Hampshire’s Mount Washington and the Presidential Range to the west, and the Lakes Region of western Maine to the east. The Peak’s gladed terrain allows intermediate skiers to experience the thrill and beauty of skiing among the trees of Shawnee’s Sherwood Forest area or graduate to the advanced and expert terrain in the famous gladed areas off the mountain’s East Side.

What’s new at Shawnee Peak:

The new improve-ments for the 2012-13 season:

BigAirBAG.

has almost doubled in size.

transporter on the snow groomer for First Tracks.

making technology is always changing and Shawnee is staying at the head of the pack. New fan guns will allow the mountain to open more terrain sooner without using any fossil fuels.

Yurts and Cabins - why stay slopeside when you can stay mountaintop?

Shawnee’s Yurts and Cabins are sure to be a unique wilderness experience for the whole family.

fleet - Rockered skis and boards are the latest in skiing technology. The new rental fleet includes Elan rockered skis, Dal-bello boots and Burton snowboards and boots to help assist your learning.

be offered at no cost.

SHAWNEE PEAK FACTS

119 Mountain Road, Route 302, Bridgton, ME 04009 Mountain/Lodging telephone: (207) 647-8444. Website: www.shawneepeak.com E-mail: [email protected]

Photo: Shawnee Peak


Shawnee Peak: The 2012-13 season marks Shawnee Peak’s 75th consecutive season and its 24th season of night skiing. The longest-running ski area in Maine is truly “Maine’s Original Ski and Snowboard Mountain.”

Carter’s Cross Country Ski

Center This is one of two cross-country ski areas owned by David and Anne Carter. David, a for-mer ski racer, grew up in Bethel. He has designed some of his advanced trails to offer a few chal-lenges to the skilled skier. Carter’s is located on the Intervale Road, 3.5 miles from Route 26. The center offers a mix of gentle scenic ter-rain along the banks of the Androscoggin River on the west side of the

road, along with more advanced and challeng-ing trails that head up Farwell Mountain to the east. The entire Presi-dential and Mahoosuc ranges can be seen from the eastern trails. There are 60 kilome-ters of trails, 40 of which are groomed for skating and classical. The rest are groomed for a 500-acre backcountry experience on the mountain. They also have some more challenging ungroomed terrain for the avid back-country skier or snow-shoer. For beginners, there are two new trails

that have been added for this season. The large proportion of north-facing trails at higher elevations (up to 1,700 feet) ensure more consistent snow through-out the season. Skiers may also take a break in a yurt-style warm-ing hut, or rest and relax with family and friends at one of the many rustic cabins, located right on the trail system. New this year is a two-story addition to the existing lodge, which has expanded the ski shop immensely. The addition is timber frame construc-tion, with a basswood tree trunk serving as the center post. The shop is now 24-by-40 feet, and full of new skis and lots of good deals. The Carters also built a beautiful “Great Room” on the second floor of the addition, with cathedral ceiling and many win-dows. In this room is an extensive collection of unique cross-country wood skis dating back 100 years to the great Norwegians.

Opening day is expect-ed to be in early Decem-ber. The Carters also oper-ate a 40-kilometer cross-country center, and one of New England’s best-equipped cross-country ski shops, at their Route 26 farm in Oxford, about 45 minutes south of Bethel. (207) 539-4848; www.cartersxcski.com.

The Bethel Inn Resort’s Cross

Country Ski and Snowshoe Center

Located downtown, the Bethel Nordic Ski Center is a classic New England cross country ski center located in The Bethel Inn Resort. The Nordic Center offers 40 kilometers of cross-coun-try ski and snowshoe trails. Exquisitely tracked and affording full skate lanes, the trails are fun and enjoyable. The ter-rain varies from wooded trails in mature white pines to sunny fields with views of the Mahoosuc mountain range. The center is open daily from December

15 well into the end of March. Trail fees are $18 a day with pricing ranges for seniors and students. Several season-pass options are available, as well as our unique ski, swim, and sauna pack-age. The Ski Center has a full-service ski shop with retail and rental equip-ment featuring Fischer Cruising Skis and Tubbs snowshoes. Ski lessons are available daily, taught by PSIA certified ski in-structors. Just steps from the Nordic Center, the family friendly Millbrook Tavern & Grille offers a perfect spot for lunch, dinner, or relaxing après-ski. Winter events include the NENSA Women’s Ski Day, Corkscrew Chase Pursuit Race, introduc-tory Biathlon Clinic and Race, and the ever- popular Troll Trolling. For more information con-tact the Bethel Nordic Ski Center at (207) 824-6276 or caribourecreation.com, or The Bethel Inn Resort at (207) 824-2175 or bethelinn.com.

In the greater region

Great Glen Trails is located at the base of Mt. Washington on Route 16 in Pinkham Notch, Gorham, N.H., less than an hour from Bethel.Great Glen Trails offers 40 kilometers of cross country ski and snow-shoe trails for all ability levels, with trails leading to and from the spacious base lodge. For more information call (603) 466-2333 or visit www.GreatGlen-Trails.com. The Balsams resort of yesteryear is about 50 minutes northwest of Bethel. Located at the height of Dixville Notch, the resort itself is a spec-tacle to behold — more reminiscent of a castle in Switzerland than what one would expect to find in the hinterlands of far northern New England. There are 95 kilome-ters of cross-country trails, most of which are groomed for both diagonal stride and skate skiing, (800-255-0600, www.thebalsams.com).


Spend your day in the peace and quiet of the Maine woodsSnow!akes drift down through the pine boughs, piling up softly on the twin tracks below. What better way to enjoy the peace of the Maine woods than on a pair of cross-country skis? The Bethel region provides many choices of terrain.

With more than 10,000 miles of officially main-tained sledding trails that traverse New England’s biggest state, Maine is a top destination for visit-ing snowmobile enthu-siasts from all across America. And Bethel is an up-and-coming cen-ter. It’s all about the trails and the connections. Situated on the flat An-droscoggin River Valley, surrounded by hills and mountains, Bethel is a natural crossroads. And snowmobile trails radiate in all directions. Any direction is ideal for one-day trips that cover 75 to 150 total miles, typical for most sledders. Trails leading north of Bethel reach the Range-ley Lakes region via a choice of interesting routes. These include

Grafton Notch, one of the most attractive moun-tain passes in the state, as well as an abandoned railroad grade. Routes leading east of Bethel head into the Oxford Hills, a region characterized by smallish mountains — 1,500-foot elevations are typical — that’s dotted with scat-tered small communities with white-steepled churches. Two principal routes lead south to Lovell and Fryeburg and the broad Saco River Valley. The easiest and most direct follows an attractive low-elevation alignment, while the other climbs through remote and spectacular Evans Notch, a dramatic mountain pass that straddles the Maine-New Hampshire boundary.

West of Bethel is New Hampshire and the White Mountains, tallest in the Northeast, and the gateway communities of Gorham and North Conway. Of course, there’s no reason to rack up major mileage on a snowmo-bile trip to Bethel. The regional trail system is well maintained by snowmobile clubs. And the area’s amenities can’t be beat, including restaurants and motels with direct trail access

and plenty of parking and maneuvering space for trailers. Want to try snowmo-biling before investing thousands of dollars in a machine of your own? Sun Valley Sports (877-851-7533; www.sunvalleysports.com) has a fleet of modern, well-maintained snowmobiles and offers guided trips that range from all-day outings to evening jaunts

lasting a couple of hours. Bringing your own ma-chine? Sun Valley Sports

is also the place to pick up trail maps and check out snow conditions.


You CAN get there from here...at least if you’re on a snowmobile


Bethel’s Snow Engineer

The name Jim Sysko may be familiar to some winter visitors to the western Maine area as the engineer behind Bethel’s unique snow creations (think giant snowpeople and, most recently, a snow volcano).But who is Jim, and where does he get his inspira-tion for such designs? Not surprisingly, the 66-year-old Pennsylvania native has been dream-ing up projects since his youth.

An early one, around age 10, was quite tra-ditional – although the results were not. “I built go-karts,” he said. “A lot of go-karts. The first one, I had trouble running the steer-ing cables. When I’d turn the wheel left, it would go right. When I turned right, it would go left. I had a lot of crashes.”But his attitude about such missteps then is the same as it is now. “A lot of times mistakes have benefits. Not only in what

you learn, but in what you might also discover,” he said. Tree forts were another childhood project – but not just any tree forts. “We had them all through the woods, connected by gang planks,” he said.In the winter, there were snow forts and elaborate snow caves, connected by tunnels. In his early teens, Jim took up model rocketry. He built one rocket that he placed in a 55-gallon barrel. Because he didn’t have a fuse, he packed trash around the rocket and lit it, to give him time to get away. It was a good thing he did. “The drum exploded, the rocket went up, and I don’t know where it went,” he said. “But the concussion was so loud that the neighbors all came running out of their houses.” At 14, Jim started thinking bigger. He and a crew of friends built a dam made out of rocks across a brook. “We wanted to create a swim-ming area,” he said.

The project would fore-shadow work Jim would do as an adult. After he graduated from high school in 1964, he went on to Northeast-ern University and then the University of Alberta to study civil engineering. His plans were inter-rupted by the Vietnam War, where he served as a paratrooper. When he returned home, he also returned to Northeastern to com-plete his degree. While he was living in Boston, he traveled to northern New England to ski. It was a skiing acquaintance who eventually connected him with Sunday River Ski Resort for a job in 1971. Jim helped survey and build the mountain’s first chairlift, at Barker Mountain. He also built his first house, at the base of the mountain in Viking Village. “We dug the foun-dation hole with shovels, and we used the rocks for the foundation,” he said. After living there four years, he happened on some wooded property in Newry that included a

brook. “I thought, ‘I could build a dam here and build a nice big pond,’” he said. That’s just what he did, and built a house, too. His father, an electrical engineer, was the perfect partner to help him make the dam work to create electricity. In the early 1980s, Sysko would begin selling some of the elec-tric power generated to the local power company. To earn a living, Jim and a crew he assembled built houses, many of them ski homes. In the mid-1980s, he earned his professional engineering license and switched to engineering as a career. He became a consulting engineer to towns and the state of Maine. One state project included assessing hy-droelectric dams all over Maine. But he was still dream-ing up other projects on the side. One winter, he was looking at a large, yellow birch tree near his dam’s powerhouse. “I wondered what would happen if I ran water on it from a hose all winter,” he said. The result: a 60-foot-tall ice tower. “Outward Bound got wind of it and they all came over and climbed it,” said Sysko.

Becoming a Snow Engineer

In the late 1990s he took a job supervis-ing the construction of new buildings at Gould Academy in Bethel. It was a move that would lead him to become Bethel’s snow project engineer.

“In 1999, Paula Wheel-er from the Chamber of Commerce had the idea to build a giant snow-man,” he said, and Gould volunteered him to help out. Sysko and other volun-teers set out to break the record of 96 feet for the world’s tallest snowman, built by a town in Japan. He knew that project had relied on simply pushing snow higher and higher and made into balls on the top. His design: a “layer cake” with four-foot lay-ers, created by a move-able form made of sheets of wood. Thanks to the inspiration of Al Bancroft of Bancrofting Contract-ing Corp., there was a ready supply of wood, in the form of dozens of highway signs owned by Bancroft. After weeks of hauling and making snow and pushing it up into a pile as high as possible, the volunteers switched to the layer cake method for the upper parts of the snowman. The snowman was not originally destined to have arms. But in the middle of one night, Sysko woke up and said to his wife, ‘We can use trees for arms.” And so Angus, King of the Mountain, as the snowman was dubbed, got arms of fir trees. When he was done, he towered 112 feet, a new record. After that mammoth effort, the Chamber of Commerce and the vol-unteers took several years off from snow projects.

Photo: David Sysko

But the itch to build with snow returned, this time producing a snow maze, the brainchild of volunteer Jim Bennett. “We built 3,000 feet of walls,” said Sysko. “I re-ally liked the snow maze – the kids had a ball.” Sadly, Mother Nature was not as impressed, taking down much of the project with a rainstorm not long after it was finished. In 2008 it was time for another snowperson, this time a woman. “No one was break-ing our record, so we decided to,” said Sysko. The crew used the same layer cake method, but it took a lot more snow and a lot more work to reach the new record height of 122 feet. But, said Sysko, “We had fun doing it. It was com-munity bonding.” With the core of vol-unteers aging, they be-gan looking for smaller-scale projects. That was when Sysko resurrected his home ice tower project. They erected a steel tower, then ran water down from the top for weeks. The ice structure grew, and grew large

enough to again attract ice climbers – but only for a day. Mother Nature inter-fered again, this time bringing very high wind gusts that brought the tower down overnight. But Sysko was philo-sophical, noting that such projects are always at the mercy of the weather and invoking the lesson from early in his life, that there is always something to be learned, or discovered, from failure.

The 2012 project also carried a lesson with it, but fortunately not from a massive failure. In late 2011, Kevin Rosenberg of Mt. Abram Ski Resort suggested a theme of “Fire and Ice” for a project, and the Chamber volunteers went their separate ways to think about ideas. During that period Sysko and one of his key project assistants, Bob Westfall, were climbing Mt. Washington. The

year before, they had visited Iceland, where volcanoes simmer beneath the ice. “As we were hiking down Mt. Washington, it dawned on me, ‘What better idea for fire and ice than a volcano?’” said Sysko. The design: bundle tree trunks together in an upright position, bury it all in snow with a tunnel to provide an air supply, and light the logs on fire with a fuse laid through the tunnel.

Construction went relatively well. When vol-unteers went to light the snow volcano at night, however, it wouldn’t go. After a delay, they even-tually lit it from the top with accelerant and the result was spectacular. “We learned to make a bigger air intake,” he said. “Wait ‘til next year.” Jim is already plan-ning another volcano for 2013, and this time

hopes to add a zip line, which would launch from the top, as well as a cave inside. And for the years after that, Sysko is confident he and the others can dream up some new ideas. “I’ll have lots more,” he said. “But I can’t tell you what they are yet, because I don’t know.” Photo of Jim & Olympia by David Sysko


Snowshoeing is another way to get out and enjoy the Maine winter. Most of the region’s cross-country ski centers also main-tain snowshoeing trails. See the cross-country article, Page 8, for information about the centers.

Public trails The Mount Will Trail, off Route 2 east of the Sunday River Road, pro-vides a perfect snow-shoe trek. Maintained by the Bethel Conser-vation Commission, it allows access to great views. It is a 3!-mile-

long loop, and has some steep sections. Trail maps for Mount Will are available at the Cham-ber of Commerce, and Bethel Town Office. Information on the White Mountain Na-tional Forest hiking trails, such as Caribou Mountain, the Patte Brook Road area (in-cluding Crocker Pond and Albany Mountain) and Evans Notch is available at the USFS office (located on Route 16 south of Gorham, N.H.) These trails are all good choices, but the access roads are not

generally plowed, so be prepared for a long trek just to get to the trailhead. The access roads themselves make nice treks, particularly Route 113 through Ev-ans Notch, the upper part of the Sunday River Road on either side of the river, and the Patte Brook Road. If the road also serves as a snow-mobile trail, be alert for approaching traffic. Remember to respect private property while on your trek. While there are vast public lands in the area, the White Mountain Na-tional Forest and Graf-ton Notch State Park, most land is private. Landowners are gener-ous in allowing people recreational access. But maintaining public access is a fragile thing, threatened by abuse.

Please treat the woods with respect. Other resources

Other area businesses that can provide snow-shoeing resources and information include: Sun Valley Sports — 129 Sunday River Road, Bethel, (207) 824-7533 or toll free (877) 851-7533. Snowshoe rentals and maps of the Mahoosuc Mountain Range. On the Web atsunvalleysports.com Bethel Outdoor Ad-venture — 121 May-ville Road, Bethel, (207) 824-4224. Snowshoe rentals and advice. On the Web at www.bethe-loutdooradventure.com. True North Adven-tureware — Route 26, just south of Bethel, (207) 824-2201. Sales, rentals, and advice on where to go, as well as

clothing and gear to be safe and warm. Online at truenorthadventure-ware.com.Follow the critter

tracks Snowshoes are a great way to follow the many kinds of animal tracks that abound in the winter woods of Maine. Since animals will move with ease around trees and brush, small snow-shoes are more suitable than cross-country skis when tracking. A field guide to animal tracks is the only other piece of equipment needed. There are numerous good ones available, and some have interest-ing descriptions of the animals’ behaviors as well as track identifica-tion. With a good field guide, you can learn

to recognize the large track of a snowshoe hare, the tiny track, including tail mark-ings, of a field mouse, or the dog-like print of a lynx. Field guides are available at outdoor-recreation retailers in the area. Animal trackers need a place that is quiet, wooded, and has little human activity. To save energy, animals use established trails, such as cross-country ski or snowmobile trails, and stream beds in the winter. Local outdoor retailers as well as cross-country ski center operators can suggest places to go for a quiet trek through the woods and a little eavesdrop-ping into the lives of area wildlife.


Trek the area’s vast array of peaceful wooded trailsSnowshoeing is another way to get out and enjoy the Maine winter. Most of the region’s cross-country ski centers also maintain snowshoeing trails. See the cross-country article on page 8, for information about the centers.

At Mahoosuc Guide Ser-vice in Newry, individuals, couples, families or larger groups can book wilderness dogsledding trips, or groups can arrange for special con-tract adventures. Situated on a 60-acre farm with spectacular views of the imposing Mahoosuc Mountains, MGS also offers a bed-and-breakfast plus a 16-person lodge. Mahoosuc Guide Ser-vice is operated by two Master Maine Guides, Polly Mahoney and Kevin Slater. Mahoney has three decades of experience with dogsled-ding and has raised and trained huskies for a quarter century. Slater, who crafts the company’s sleds from na-tive Maine ash, has been a professional guide for more than 30 years. He has trav-eled thousands of miles in the far reaches of Canada with native North Ameri-cans, an experience which gives him a deep under-standing and respect for the people and their culture. Both Mahoney and Slater are former instructors with Outward Bound and have earned multiple certifica-tions in first aid and wilder-ness medicine. Mahoney and Slater maintain three semi-perma-nent camps — canvas wall

tents with wood stoves — in remote locations. Over-night and weekend trips are held in the Lake Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge (where MGS operates under a special-use-permit), about 30 miles northwest of Bethel, while longer adventures visit more distant sections of the Maine wilderness and Canada. Mahoney also leads women-only trips, where the emphasis is on shar-ing experiences, working cooperatively and creating a supportive social environ-ment. For those not interested in the winter camping as-pect of mushing, Mahoosuc also offers one-half day and full-day tours on their own trail system. They’re not snowmobile trails, so the distances traveled (typically seven to sixteen miles) will vary depending on snow and trail conditions. On full-day trips a hot lunch is provided and there is plenty of time to pet your team of Yukon huskies. For more informa-tion: www.mahoosuc.com or (207) 824-2073. At New England Dogsled-ding at the Telemark Inn, a remote wilderness lodge nestled at the base of Caribou Mountain at the edge of the White Mountain National Forest, proprietor

Steve Crone has dozens of canine critters and decades of experience. Crone uses primarily Alaskan Huskies. The blood-lines in his kennel include many successful veterans of the Iditarod, the famed 1,150-mile dogsled race be-tween Anchorage and Nome. Most of his dogsledding business is two-to three-hour rides through the White Mountain National Forest. The WMNF virtually sur-rounds his property, which is about a 15-minute drive from Bethel’s Main Street. All-day options include frozen Umbagog Lake — about 40 minutes northwest of Bethel — and its thou-sands of acres of surround-ing timberlands in Maine and New Hampshire. Guests typically begin riding in the sled, but Crone encourages them to “get out of the basket,” trade places with the guide, step on the back runners and try mush-ing themselves. Most relish the experience. As a trained ecologist, Crone also encourages his guests to appreciate wildlife along the trail and absorb the spectrum of wilderness values inherent in the sport.

New this year, New Eng-land Dogsledding will offer an “Inn-to-Inn” dogsled-ding tour that will take in the scenic beauty of both western Maine and northern New Hampshire. Tours will range from three to five days and follow trails through Upton, Maine, Errol and Dixville Notch, N.H., and the Connecticut Lakes region of New Hampshire, stopping overnight at inns along the way. The trips are still in the planning stages. For more information, visit www.New-EnglandDogsledding.com or www.TelemarkInn.com. Another option for get-ting outside with some great dogs is skijoring — where a cross-country skier uses canine power to zip across the landscape over hill and dale. Most skijorers start with one dog that’s been har-nessed and attached with an elastic rope. More skillful skiers who want to ramp up the power — and can handle speeds of 25 miles per hour — can opt for a two-dog team. Although most of Crone’s guests are day-trippers, his Telemark Inn Wilder-ness Lodge also provides a unique wilderness experi-

ence for the multiple day “Learn To Mush” Packages. Built in the late 1800s as a wilderness getaway for a wealthy sportsman, the lodge boasts five com-fortable bedrooms plus a common area with a huge mineral-stone fireplace. The dining room features home-cooked meals crafted from organic local ingredients. New England Dogsled-ding has been featured on Good Morning America (http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/extreme-cam-pout-cameron-mathison-skijoring-15867499), and on

DISNEY online magazine (http://www.disneydads.com/iron-will-glory-in-a-fathers-honor/). For more information call (207) 836-2703 or (207) 731-6888 or visit www.New-EnglandDogsledding.com or www.NewEnglandRid-ing andDriving.com on the Internet.Photo: Mahoosuc Guide Service


Mushing withMahoosucGuide Service since 1990*One day dogsledding adventures

*Fully outfitted overnight trips 207-824-2073 orwww.mahoosuc.com

Mush, you huskies!Traveling by dogsled through miles of white frozen wilderness is a never-to-be-forgotten experience.

The Jolly Drayman English Pub at the Briar Lea Inn, 150 Mayville Road (Route 2). Recognized by Yankee Magazine’s “Best of New England.” AAA Ap-proved. The Jolly Drayman offers Classic Pub Food, as well as British & Indian specialties. A unique selec-tion of draft and bottled beers with a full bar also available. Fun competi-

tion with Pub/Trivia Quiz Wednesdays at 7 p.m. $5 Angus burgers on Mondays. Thursday and Saturdays, all the Fish n’ Chips you can eat. Pull up a pint and a stool. A place where friends meet friends, new and old. Have a drink by the fireplace. Family friendly. Just five miles from Sunday River. Free shuttle service available. Open daily at 5

p.m. (207) 824-4717, http://www.briarleainn.com/. The Millbrook Tavern and Grille, downstairs at The Bethel Inn Resort, is the perfect place to unwind after a long day on the slopes and offers comfort-able, casual dining at its best. The tavern features daily après-ski drink spe-cials and nightly dinner specials, with an exten-sive menu of lighter fare and dinner entrees. Every Thursday is Mexican Night with authentic Mexican cuisine, margarita and beer specials. A great evening to celebrate a special occasion or birthday. There’s live entertainment on Friday and Saturday evenings and holidays, from soloists to nationally recognized bands and performers. Great food, big screen HD TVs, pool table, video game room and a comfortable friendly atmosphere awaits. (207) 824-2175 or www.bethelinn.com. Suds Pub, located under the Sudbury Inn on Main Street in Bethel features live entertainment, including bluegrass, jazz, Celtic and blues. There are 29 differ-ent beers on tap. A lighter fare menu is also available, including pizza, burgers and salads. Takeout is also available. A local favorite is “Hoot Night” on Thursdays, where musicians, led by Denny Breau, from near and far strut their stuff in an open-mike format. See Facebook for daily updates. (207) 824-6558 or www.sudburyinn.com. The Funky Red Barn is Bethel’s family friendly, family owned and oper-ated, fun, fun, funky, Restaurant and Nightclub. Their famous prime rib,

ribs, chicken, pasta, pizza, and the freshest seafood and vegetarian dinners are served from 5-8 p.m. Danc-ing, drinks, music and live entertainment has earned the Funky “Bethel’s Best Late Night Spot.” Thursday-Saturday, 4 p.m. - 1 a.m. (207) 824-3003/funkyred-barn.com The Matterhorn Ski Bar on the Sunday River Road, named “Best Ski Bar USA” by Skiing Maga-zine and “Classic Ski Bar” by Ski Magazine, is more than a virtual ski museum and the locals’ favorite aprés haunt. Try the famous wood-fired brick oven pizzas baked the real Italian way, right before your eyes, or try creative American fare with flair: sizzling steaks, burgers, BBQ ribs, your favorite apps and more. The Ski Bar is family-friendly and when it’s time to dance, the Ski Bar hosts New England’s hottest bands every Satur-day night. Acoustic is fea-tured Friday and Saturday afternoons. (207) 824-6836 /www.matterhornskibar.com. Loose Boots Lounge and Restaurant at Mt. Abram Base Lodge in Greenwood is open every Friday and Saturday from Oct. 6 to Dec. 15 and Thursday through Sunday from Dec. 20 to March 31… Loose Boots offers a great après ski bar with a cozy atmo-sphere. Restaurant offer-ings range from pub fare to entree selections. There’s live music most Saturday nights. Check the website at www.mtabram.com for weekly details. Blizzard’s Pub, located slopeside at Shawnee Peak is open until at least one hour after the lifts close

(10 p.m. Friday/Saturday, 9 p.m. Monday, 8 p.m. Tues-day, Wednesday, Thursday 4:30 p.m. Sunday). Live après ski entertainment every Saturday and during holiday periods At Sunday River Ski Resort the party continues long after the sun sets. The resort offers night skiing based out of South Ridge Lodge on mid-winter Fri-days, Saturdays and select holiday nights. Fireworks are also shown frequently throughout the season, with the best viewing from the South Ridge base area or from the deck of the lodge’s Foggy Goggle. Nearby, a lighted tubing park and Twin Zip towers provide ample late night weekend and holiday fun, while the Foggy Goggle kicks off each weekend with the live entertain-ment complements of the Bud Light Concert Series. For families, The Black Diamond Family Enter-tainment Series provides entertainment at the Grand Summit Hotel with special events planned through-out the winter. Other events worth marking the calendar include Sunday River’s annual Dumont Cup in March and Parrot Head Weekend in April. Both events provide great opportunities to get out-side and in on some fun. Hungry for more? There are also several on-mountain dining options at Sunday River, with restaurants in both Grand Hotels. To make getting around easy, all on-mountain facilities, in-cluding lodging properties, restaurants, activities and base lodges, are serviced by a complimentary shuttle service. For more informa-

tion on evening activities at Sunday River, pick up the current edition of Sunday River This Winter, avail-able at newspaper stands on-mountain, in Bethel area stores, or visit online at www.sundayriver.com.

Family nighttime activities

If you like your night-time entertainment under the stars, try night skiing, twin zips, tubing, or skating at Sunday River, or night skiing at Shawnee Peak in Bridgton, (207) 647-8444. Starting in mid-Decem-ber, The Bethel Inn Resort offers horse-drawn sleigh rides every Saturday and over holidays, as well as dogsledding adventures on Fridays right out their back door. Half-hour trips depart from The Bethel Inn Resort’s Millbrook Tavern & Grille starting at 5 p.m. Advanced reservations are required; please call (207) 824-2175 for more infor-mation and reservations. Larger groups and families welcome. Sleigh & Dine or Dog & Dine specials with dinner are available in the Main Dining Room or casual Millbrook Tavern & Grille. Make it an evening at The Inn, right in the heart of Bethel. For après ski of a differ-ent sort, The Mahoosuc Arts Council, schedules special musical and other events throughout the year. Check the calendar of events in this publica-tion or The Bethel Citizen, the local weekly newspa-per, for more details and information on all the area’s activities. (207) 824-3575 or mahoosucarts.org.

Photo: Matterhorn Ski Bar


There’s still plenty of fun to go around after the sun goes down!


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Vacation Rentals

Real Estate

Maine Adaptive Sports & Recreation (Maine Adaptive), a non profit organization, was founded as Maine Handi-capped Skiing in 1982 at Sunday River to provide free adaptive recreation opportu-nities for children and adults with physical disabilities. The organization launched a new name and logo earlier this year to better describe its year-round programming in a wide variety of sports, activi-ties and locations. Thus far in 2012, Maine Adaptive has served over 400 participants statewide through programs that include alpine and Nordic skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, golf, canoeing, kayaking, fishing, hiking and cycling. All Maine Adaptive lessons and programs have always been and continue to

be completely free of charge to the participants. Sunday River Ski Resort hosts Maine Adaptive’s largest winter program and includes alpine skiing, snowboard-ing, the alpine race team and the Veterans No Boundaries program. This winter, Maine Adaptive also plans to return to Black Mountain of Maine in Rumford for several days of adaptive alpine ski lessons. Opportunities for adaptive Nordic skiing and snowshoe-ing abound in the Bethel area, and Maine Adaptive will again host weekly lesson programs locally. Beyond the Bethel/Rum-ford area, winter Maine Adap-tive programs now include alpine skiing and snowboard-ing at Sugarloaf, Saddleback and Camden Snowbowl, as

well as Nordic skiing and snowshoeing at various sites including Pineland Farms in New Gloucester. Maine Adaptive also sponsors the New England Blind/Visually-Impaired Ski Festival (www.nevifest.org) Feb. 10-14th at Sugarloaf. At Sunday River this winter, Maine Adaptive will continue to run its adaptive alpine skiing and snowboarding les-sons and programs most days throughout January through March. Up to 30 participants aged four and older with permanent physical disabili-ties will arrive daily on their own, with their families or as part of the numerous group programs with which Maine Adaptive works. Additionally, Maine Adaptive will spon-sor weekly bus service from Portland to help additional participants overcome the transportation barrier. Maine Adaptive has devel-oped several exciting partner-ships with various school dis-tricts, camps, rehabilitation facilities and service/care pro-

viders to engage more people with disabilities throughout New England in adaptive ski-ing and recreation, and many of those partnerships have yielded additional opportuni-ties for participants new to Sunday River and/or Maine Adaptive. Programs planned for 2013 include Camp No Limits, a camp program for children with limb loss and their families and the New England Blind Athletic Association. Both groups will be traveling to Sunday River, staying in the Ski Dorm and enjoying daily skiing with Maine Adaptive as well as many other activities Sunday River has to offer. Beyond the daily general programs, some additional specific events and program highlights this winter include:

Veterans No Boundar-ies Winter Program

Feb. 1-4, 2013 In 2005, the Veterans No Boundaries (VNB) program was launched to bring to-gether disabled veterans and active duty personnel as well as their families for four days of alpine and Nordic skiing, snowshoeing, dog sledding and snowmobiling each winter. The program attracts wounded warriors and other veterans with permanent disabilities from throughout the country thanks to its out-standing national reputation. Maine Adaptive partners with the VA healthcare system year round to recruit and engage local veterans. Other eligible participants and their families are flown to Maine free of charge by VNB national transportation sponsor, Hope For The Warriors. Disabled active duty soldiers in the Warrior Transition Unit at Fort Drum, New York (home of the famed Tenth Mountain Divi-sion) also attend the program “on orders” and with support from the US Army. This year’s winter event takes place at Sunday River on Super Bowl weekend, February 1st-4th, and is expected to gather 25

participants and their fami-lies, as well as roughly sixty volunteers each day.

28th Annual Ski-A-Thon March 23, 2013

Skiers, fundraisers and corporations from through-out New England gather each March at Sunday River to raise money for Maine Adaptive Sports & Recreation, Maine’s largest adaptive rec-reation program for children and adults with physical disabilities. Since 1985, the Ski-A-Thon has been the largest source of revenue that supports Maine Adaptive’s year-round programs, all of which are free for par-ticipants. Beginning this fall, skiers, riders and businesses throughout Maine will begin soliciting pledges for their fundraising teams. On March 23rd, over 100 teams of five will submit pledges they raise during the previous weeks and months, and partici-pate in activities and races throughout the alpine resort and cross-country center at Sunday River. Dozens of businesses also pitch in each year by sponsoring fundrais-ing teams, donating cash and supplies, and assisting with event operations. The event typically raises over $300,000.

Enhanced Training Programs for Vol-

unteer Instructors : ongoing throughout

Winter 2012/2013 At the heart of Maine Adaptive are over 400 dedicat-ed and passionate volunteers who donate their time and energy providing adaptive lessons to the people with dis-abilities they serve. All Maine Adaptive instructors will be in brand new uniform jackets this winter thanks to a suc-cessful mini capital campaign this summer. The organiza-tion’s acclaimed volunteer training program will enjoy a renewed focus this season thanks to some national training initiatives and a grant to support additional PSIA/AASI clinics and exams for the

volunteer instructors. Each fall, Maine Adaptive seeks additional skiers and riders of intermediate or above ability and the desire to share the sport with others. Training for new instructors takes place in October and November for the winter lesson season. Those interested in becoming volunteers should visit the website.Maine Adaptive Alpine Race Team: Saturdays

throughout winter The Maine Adaptive Alpine Racing program was started more than 10 years ago to give participants, families and volunteers an opportunity to enhance their experiences and refine their skills through competition, travel, and year-round training. Several Maine Adaptive racers compete at the national level, and former athletes have gone on to race with the U.S. Adaptive Ski Team at the Paralympics. The Maine Adaptive Alpine Race Team trains at Sunday River each Saturday, and racers and coaches travel through-out New England to com-pete against other adaptive programs and racers. Sunday River also hosts one of the events in the Diana Golden series, a regional circuit of races for adaptive skiers new to racing. Maine Adaptive staff member and head race coach Diane Barras of Bethel is a current member of the U.S. Paralympics ski team serving as a sighted guide for Lindsay Ball, a visually-impaired skier from Benton who learned to ski with Maine Adaptive. Diane and Lindsay plan to represent the US in the 2014 Parlympics in Russia. For more information on supporting Maine Adap-tive Sports & Recreation or becoming involved as a par-ticipant or volunteer contact Maine Adaptive via phone (800) 639-7770 or email [email protected] or visit the web site maineadaptive.org.

Photo: Maine Adaptive Sports & Recreation


Maine Adaptive Sports & Recreation

Below is a sampling of the organized activities planned for this fall and winter in the Bethel area. New events are added all the time, so for the latest information and listings, be sure to check out the Community Calendar in The Bethel Citizen. Please see the PHONE / CONTACT DIRECTORY on page 25 for all contact information not listed below.

NOVEMBER 3 Day of the Dead: Holiday Throwdown. Bust out your best costume and join us at the Loose Boots Lounge. Costume contest, giveaways, live music, and drink specials are all up for grabs at one of the biggest off snow events of the year! Contact: Mt. Abram Ski Resort. 7 Don Perkins, author of The Barns of Maine: Our History, Our Stories. Discussion of the history of Maine’s barns, which went through three basic phases & generations. He will also illuminate regional trends in the State. Copies of his new book will be available after the program for purchase and signing. 1pm Dr. Moses Mason House (14 Broad Street). Contact: Bethel Historical Society. 9-18 Musical: The Road to Eden’s Ridge. OHMPAA proudly presents the world premiere of an original, locally written musical play about the journey of a young woman who follows her heart to the bright lights and music of Nashville, Tennessee. In order to pursue her dreams of becoming a musician she leaves her home and loving family in the western foothills of Maine. While writing and performing in Nashville, along with her new friends, she finds out more about herself and her family’s past than she ever could have imagined. It is there that she finds herself back on the road to Eden’s Ridge. Contact: Oxford Hills Music & Performing Arts Association. 17 Concert: Dave Rowe. Foggy Goggle Apres Ski. Subject to change. Contact: Sunday River. 17 Bluegrass Concert: Tricky Britches. Portland based band playing a mix of bluegrass, country, folk with fiddle, banjo, mandolin, and guitar. Mahoosuc Lodge in North Newry 7pm. Contact: Mahoosuc Mountain Lodge

Nov 23-Dec 24 Country Christmas in Bethel. Theme wreath, auction, wagon rides, shopping specials, open houses – a fun country Christmas atmosphere. Contact: Bethel Area Chamber of Commerce. 23 16th Annual Local Craft & Wares Fair. 9am to 4pm. A true hometown craft and wares fair of locally handcrafted items. Come start your holiday shopping at this wonderful event. Craft items usually include wooden ware, baskets, handmade jewelry, maple syrup products, photography, artwork, homemade jams and jellies, hand-knit items, quilts and other quilted items, doll clothes, fleece products, mittens, hats, potholders and other kitchen items, antler items, alpaca products and much more. Don’t miss the raffle items. Location: Bethel Inn Conference Center. Contact: Bethel Area Chamber. 24 Concert: Royal Hammer. Foggy Goggle Apres Ski. Subject to change. Contact: Sunday River. 24 Mt. Abram is the place for this years Ski Channel film premier. Join us at 5pm for great prizes and giveaways amongst great friends! Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 24 Fireworks at Sunday River: Shows are 8:30pm, best viewed from the South Ridge Base Lodge. Dates and time are subject to change due to inclement weather. Contact: Sunday River Ski Resort. 24-25 Demo Days. Join the fun as hundreds take

advantage of the opportunity to try great products from major manufacturers. Registration is from 8am to Noon in the Welcome Center at South Ridge Lodge. Cost is $10, which can be used as a $50 value at Sunday River Sports to purchase any new ski or snowboard package. Contact: Sunday River. 25 Rotary Club Breakfast. 7:30am-11am. All you can eat pancakes. Ordway Hall, Gould Academy Contact: Bethel Area Chamber of Commerce

DECEMBER Weekends-Country Christmas in Bethel. Theme wreath, auction, wagon rides, shopping specials, open houses – a fun country Christmas atmosphere. Free horse-drawn wagon rides Saturdays 2-4 on Common. Contact: Bethel Area Chamber of Commerce. 1 Christmas with the Masons. 3:30 to 6pm at the Dr. Moses Mason House. Music and refreshments in the Mason House period rooms decorated in traditional nineteenth-century style and illuminated by candles. Free and open to the public (donations accepted). Contact: Bethel Historical Society. 1 Concert: Tilden Katz. Foggy Goggle Apres Ski. Subject to change. Contact: Sunday River. 2 13th Annual Santa Sunday. Celebrate the arrival of winter and the upcoming holiday season while raising money for a good cause with our annual Santa Sunday. Dress in a full

Santa costume and you can ski or ride for free. Pre-registration is required. We will be opening registration at the end of November. Stay tuned for date and time. Contact: Sunday River 7-9 Tracking Workshop. Learn about animal behavior, habitat, and tracking. Contact: Mahoosuc Mountain Lodge. 8 Concert: Adam Ezra Group. Foggy Goggle Apres Ski. Subject to change. Contact: Sunday River. 8-9 Concert: A Heritage Christmas by the Maine Music Society. Franco-American Heritage Center Lewiston. 7:30pm Saturday, 3:00pm Sunday. This year the voices of the Androscoggin Chorale will be joined by those of the Lewiston High School Chamber Choir under the direction of Darren Avery. Each choir will perform works of its choosing and then the choirs will combine to celebrate music of this holiday season. Favorites of the season will include Carol of the Bells, Ding Dong Merrily on High, and many more. Aided by the talented Bridget Convey, accompanist, the Chamber Choir and Chorale will conclude the concert with the incredible Hodie! by Z. Randall Stroope. Then to complete the concert,

Maestro Corrie will invite the audience once again to sing several traditional Christmas carols with the combined choirs. Contact: Maine Music Society. 14 Sunday River Winterfest. Come join the party at Winterfest 2012 where we kick-off the season with a bang for the 5th year in a row. Prepare yourself for a weekend full of festivities with popular bands, Dining at the Peak, fireworks, fire dancers, appearances from Eddy the Yeti and Santa, and more! Check out our special Winterfest lodging deals! Contact: Sunday River.

15 Concert: Cosmodrome. Foggy Goggle Apres Ski. Subject to change. Contact: Sunday River. 15 Opening Day at Mt. Abram! This is the official kick off day to the 2012-2013 season. As we get closer to opening day we will have plenty of early bird specials for lift tickets, lessons, and both basic and high performance rentals. For additional information log on to www.liftopia.com/ .Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort.

Photo: Sunday River


Winter/Spring Calendar of Events

DECEMBER 15 Fireworks at Sunday River: Shows are 8:30pm, best viewed from the South Ridge Base Lodge. Dates and time are subject to change due to inclement weather. Contact: Sunday River Ski Resort. 15 Concert: A Heritage Christmas by the Maine Music

Society. First Congregational Church South Paris. This year the voices of the Androscoggin Chorale will be joined by those of the Lewiston High School Chamber Choir under the direction of Darren Avery. Each choir will perform works of its choosing and then the choirs will combine to celebrate music of this holiday season. Favorites of the season will include Carol of the Bells, Ding Dong Merrily on High, and many more. Aided by the talented Bridget Convey, accompanist, the Chamber Choir and Chorale will conclude the concert with the incredible Hodie! by Z. Randall Stroope. Then to complete the concert, Maestro Corrie will invite the audience once again to sing several traditional Christmas carols with the combined choirs. Contact: Maine Music Society. 20 Portland Pie Night at Mt. Abram. Thanks to the gracious support of Portland Pie Company we bring you our signature Thursday night event. Once things cool down on the slopes our chef heats up the oven and your and your friends can enjoy $5 Portland Pie Company pizza and drinks specials every Thursday night from 5-9p.m.Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 22 Concert: Squid Jiggers. Foggy Goggle Aprés Ski. Subject to change. Contact: Sunday River. 23 Living Nativity. Come and enjoy a living reenactment as Jesus is born in a stable. Actors are in full costume and live farm animals are used. Contact: Bethel Alliance Church 27 Fireworks at Sunday River: Shows are 8:30pm, best viewed from the South Ridge Base Lodge. Dates and time are subject to change due to inclement weather. Contact: Sunday River Ski Resort 27 Portland Pie Night at Mt. Abram. 4pm. Live Entertainment. Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 28 La Cocina Mexicana at Café DiCocoa: Regional Mexican home-style cuisine made from scratch. Reservations encouraged but not required and BYOB. 5-8pm Contact: Café DiCocoa. 29 Concert: Fast Times. Foggy Goggle Aprés Ski. Subject to change. Contact: Sunday River.

29 Full Moon Hike at Mt. Abram! This is a must attend event that continues to grow year over year and at last count we had over 100 people. Mt Abram will provide you with transportation for your skis and boards, so you can enjoy the hike to the top at no cost! Once at the top you can enjoy the company of other like minded Mt. Abram fans, and then ski/ride down to the Loose Boots Lounge for live music, great food, and our award winning servers. Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 31 Fireworks at Sunday River: Shows are 8:30pm, best viewed from the South Ridge Base Lodge. Dates and time are subject to change due to inclement weather. Contact: Sunday River Ski Resort 31 5th Annual New Year’s Eve Bash at Mt. Abram. Join us in the Loose Boots Lounge to ring in the New Year with live music, midnight toast, and plenty of great giveaways. Contact: Mt. Abram.

JANUARY 1 29th Carter’s Last Stand. Come celebrate the New Year by snowshoeing with us at our Bethel location. 11a.m. BBQ lunch to follow. Contact: Carter’s X-C Ski Center 2 First Day of Winter Programs at Maine Adaptive Sports and Recreation. Daily adaptive ski and snowboard lessons and programs for people with physical disabilities aged 4+. All programs are free of charge. Participants must register in advance with Maine Adaptive. Contact: Maine Adaptive Sports and Recreation. 3 Portland Pie Night at Mt. Abram. 4pm. Live Entertainment. Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 4 La Cocina Mexicana at Café DiCocoa: Regional Mexican home-style cuisine made from scratch. Reservations encouraged but not required and BYOB. 5-8pm Contact: Café DiCocoa. 5 Concert: Sly-Chi. Foggy Goggle Aprés Ski. Subject to change. Contact: Sunday River. 5 Gentle Dining at Café DiCocoa: Northern Alpine Influenced Regions. Join us on our winter culinary tour of Italy! Learn about distinct regional Italian foods as we eat our way from the Alps to Sicily. Tonight’s cuisine is from the Northern Reservations required and

BYOB. 6:45pm Contact: Café DiCocoa. 5 Fireworks at Sunday River: Shows are 8:30pm, best viewed from the South Ridge Base Lodge. Dates and time are subject to change due to inclement weather. Contact: Sunday River Ski Resort. 6 USASA Snowboard Event at Mt. Abram. The USCSA is making it’s first of two stops at Mt Abram and we are excited to best snowboarders in New England compete for standings, this event will be held in our signature race arena called Boris! Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 7-11 College Week. Get ready for an incredible week dedicated to college students with parties, concerts, fun activities and more! Stay tuned for more info on discount lift and lodging packages and a jam-packed line-up you won’t want to miss! Contact: Sunday River. 10 Portland Pie Night at Mt. Abram. 4pm. Live Entertainment. Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 11 La Cocina Mexicana at Café DiCocoa: Regional Mexican home-style cuisine made from scratch. Reservations encouraged but not required and BYOB. 5-8 p.m. Contact: Café DiCocoa. 12 Gentle Dining at Café DiCocoa: Piedmont Region Join us on our winter culinary tour of Italy! Learn more about distinct regional Italian foods as we eat our way from the Alps to Sicily. Reservations required and BYOB. 6:45 p.m. Contact: Café DiCocoa. 12 Concert: Midnight Goggles. Foggy Goggle Apres Ski. Subject to change. Contact: Sunday River. 14-18 Children’s Festival. Sunday River’s Children’s Festival Week is for the young and the young at heart. Enjoy an entire week dedicated to families with activities like scavenger hunts, live entertainment, movies, and themed Perfect Turn kid’s lessons - all with incredible savings for families - kids can ski, snowboard, stay, rent, and learn for free when staying with their parents! Check out the special Children’s Festival Lodging Package. Contact: Sunday River.




JANUARY 14 Fireworks at Sunday River: Shows are 7:30pm, best viewed from the South Ridge Base Lodge. Dates and time are subject to change due to inclement weather. Contact: Sunday River Ski Resort. 17 Portland Pie Night at Mt. Abram. 4pm. Live Entertainment. Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 18 La Cocina Mexicana at Café DiCocoa: Regional Mexican home-style cuisine made from scratch. Reservations encouraged but not required and BYOB. 5-8pm Contact: Café DiCocoa. 19 Concert: Now is Now and Royal Hammer. Foggy Goggle Aprés Ski. Subject to change. Contact: Sunday River. 19 Gentle Dining at Café DiCocoa: Venice-The Magical City. Join us on our winter culinary tour of Italy! Learn more about distinct regional Italian foods as we eat our way from the Alps to Sicily. Reservations required and BYOB. 6:45 p.m. Contact: Café DiCocoa. 19 Fireworks at Sunday River: Shows are 8:30 p.m., best viewed from the South Ridge Base Lodge. Dates and time are subject to change due to inclement weather. Contact: Sunday River Ski Resort. 20 USCSA Collegiate Reynolds Cup Slalom at Mt. Abram. The USCSA is making its first of two stops at Mt. Abram, and we are excited to watch as the best snowboarders in New England compete for standings. This event will be held in our signature race

arena called Boris! Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 21 USSA U16/U18 Seeded Slalom at Mt. Abram. USSA athletes from all parts of New England compete in a seeded slalom event. This is one of two USSA ski events that showcase our race terrain and we look forward to some fantastic slalom racing. Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 23 SAD 44 Elementary Performing Arts Series. Hip Hop Hand Book. The mission of this group is to teach and entertain, build confidence in the youth, promote the positivity of the Hip Hop culture, and instill high esteem in kids expressing themselves through this art form. 10am & 1pm. Contact: Mahoosuc Arts Council. 23-Feb 1 Go50 Week. Celebrate being 50 and active with an exciting week exclusively for skiers and riders age 50 and older. Special events, activities, entertainment and our annual old-fashioned sock hop. Contact: Sunday River. 24 Portland Pie Night at Mt. Abram. 4pm. Live Entertainment. Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 25 La Cocina Mexicana at Café DiCocoa: Regional Mexican home-style cuisine made from scratch. Reservations encouraged but not required and BYOB. 5-8pm Contact: Café DiCocoa 25-26 Bethel Winterfest. Fun family winter activities throughout the area. There will be a snow mountain for sledding, a snow volcano eruption, and more winter

activities. . Contact: Bethel Area Chamber. 26 Concert: Fast Times. Foggy Goggle Aprés Ski. Subject to change. Contact: Sunday River. 26 Gentle Dining at Café DiCocoa: Liguria-“Italian Riviera”. Join us on our winter culinary tour of Italy. Learn more about distinct regional Italian foods as we eat our way from the Alps to Sicily. Reservations required and BYOB. 6:45pm Contact: Café DiCocoa. 26 Fireworks at Sunday River: Shows are 8:30 p.m., best viewed from the South Ridge Base Lodge. Dates and time are subject to change due to inclement weather. Contact: Sunday River Ski Resort. 26 Full Moon Hike at Mt. Abram. This is a must attend event that continues to grow year after year, and at last count we had over 100 people. Mt Abram will provide you with transportation for your skis and boards, so you can enjoy the hike to the top at no cost! Once at the top you can enjoy the company of other like minded Mt. Abram fans, and then ski/ride down to the Loose Boots Lounge for live music, great food, and our award winning servers. Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 29 In The Blood. An original film and score on Maine’s logging history by Sumner McKane. Gould Academy Bingham Auditorium 7pm. Contact: Mahoosuc Arts Council. 31 Gentle Dining at Café DiCocoa: Join us on our winter culinary tour of Italy! Learn

more about distinct regional Italian foods as we eat our way from the Alps to Sicily. A different province each week. Reservations required and BYOB. 6:45pm Contact: Café DiCocoa. 31 Portland Pie Night at Mt. Abram. 4pm. Live Entertainment. Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort.

FEBRUARY TBD Flying Moose Classic Cross Country Ski Race. Watch the Bethel Citizen or contact the Bethel Outing Club for updated information. Contact: Bethel Outing Club. 1-4 Veterans/No Boundaries 2013 Winter Program. Maine Adaptive Sports and Recreation conducts a multi-day program at Sunday River Ski Resort and Sunday River Outdoor Center. All veterans and active duty personnel with physical disabilities are welcome at no cost to participants. Contact: Maine Adaptive Sports and Recreation. 1 La Cocina Mexicana at Café DiCocoa: Regional Mexican home-style cuisine made from scratch. Reservations encouraged but not required and BYOB. 5-8pm Contact: Café DiCocoa. 2 Gentle Dining at Café DiCocoa: Emilia-Romagna-Italy’s “Market Basket” Join us on our winter culinary tour of Italy! Learn more about distinct regional Italian foods as we eat our way from the Alps to Sicily. Reservations required and BYOB. 6:45pm Contact: Café DiCocoa. 2 Concert: Living On a Bad Name. Foggy Goggle Aprés Ski

Music Series. A wicked good Bon Jovi tribute band out of the greater Boston. Contact: Sunday River. 2 Maine State Telemark Festival. Free your heel, free your mind as telemark skiers from all over New England rejoice! This event is geared specifically for you, with clinics, rentals, demos, and a telemark only Giant Slalom race event. Giveaways, live music all day, and more. Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 2 Maine State Whitegrass Festival. The only bluegrass festival on snow in Maine is back again for another year! Last year we heard some of the finest bluegrass in New England and will be sure to provide you with the same this year. Stay tuned for more information. Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 3 USCSA Collegiate Reynolds Cup Slalom at Mt. Abram. The USCSA is making its second of two stops at Mt Abram and we are excited to watch as the best snowboarders in New England compete for standings, this event will be held in our signature race

arena called Boris! Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 3 Wood Ski Day: Free trail pass for anyone on wood skis. Contact: Carter’s X-C Ski. 7 Portland Pie Night at Mt. Abram. 4pm. Live Entertainment. Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 8 La Cocina Mexicana at Café DiCocoa: Regional Mexican home-style cuisine made from scratch. Reservations encouraged but not required and BYOB. 5-8pm Contact: Café DiCocoa 9 Gentle Dining at Café DiCocoa: Tuscany-The Knee of the Boot. Join us on our winter culinary tour of Italy! Learn more about distinct regional Italian foods as we eat our way from the Alps to Sicily. Reservations required and BYOB. 6:45 p.m. Contact: Café DiCocoa. 9 Concert: Peach Eaters. Foggy Goggle Aprés Ski Music Series. Contact: Sunday River. 9 Fireworks at Sunday River: Shows are 8:30pm, best viewed from the South Ridge Base Lodge. Dates and time are subject to change due to inclement weather. Contact: Sunday River Ski Resort.


FEBRUARY 10 USSA U16/U18 Seeded Slalom at Mt. Abram. USSA athletes from all parts of New England compete in a seeded slalom event. This is the second of two USSA ski events that showcase our race terrain and we look forward to some fantastic slalom racing. Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 14 Portland Pie Night at Mt. Abram. 4pm. Live Entertainment. Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 15 La Cocina Mexicana at Café DiCocoa: Regional Mexican home-style

cuisine made from scratch. Reservations encouraged but not required and BYOB. 5-8pm Contact: Café DiCocoa. 16 Concert: Hello Newman. Foggy Goggle Aprés Ski Music Series. Contact: Sunday River. 16 Full Moon Hike at Mt. Abram! A guided winter hike to the peak of Mt. Abram with hot cider, cheese and crackers and sometimes a little music. Then it‘s hiker’s choice of descent of the mountain by foot or by ski. Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 16 Gentle Dining at Café DiCocoa: Umbria & Marche-

Central Italy. Join us on our winter culinary tour of Italy! Learn more about distinct regional Italian foods as we eat our way from the Alps to Sicily. Reservations required and BYOB. 6:45pm Contact: Café DiCocoa. 16 Fireworks at Sunday River: Shows are 8:30pm, best viewed from the South Ridge Base Lodge. Dates and time are subject to change due to inclement weather. Contact: Sunday River Ski Resort. 19 Kid’s Rule Day at Mt. Abram. Today is all about the kids! Featuring discounted lift tickets, rentals and lessons as well as games throughout the day and an ice cream social at 5PM. Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 19-20 MPA High School Class A Championship at Mt.

Abram. We are very excited to be able to present to you the Maine Principals Association Class A finals. For media please call 207-875-5000 to obtain your media pass for the day. Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 21 Fireworks at Sunday River: Shows are 8:30pm, best viewed from the South Ridge Base Lodge. Dates and time are subject to change due to inclement weather. Contact: Sunday River Ski Resort. 21 Portland Pie Night at Mt. Abram. 4pm. Live Entertainment. Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 22 La Cocina Mexicana at Café DiCocoa: Regional Mexican home-style cuisine made from scratch. Reservations encouraged but not required and BYOB. 5-8pm Contact: Café DiCocoa. 23 Gentle Dining at Café DiCocoa: Lazio & Rome-“The Eternal City” Join us on our winter culinary tour of Italy! Learn more about distinct regional Italian foods as we eat our way from the Alps to Sicily. Reservations required and BYOB. 6:45pm Contact: Café DiCocoa. 23 Concert: Royal Hammer. Foggy Goggle Aprés Ski Music Series. Contact: Sunday River. 23 Fitch/Gilpatrick Memorial Ski Race at Mt. Abram. Honoring the lives of wo predominant members of the Mt. Abram community this event is open to the public. Thanks to the gracious support of the Mt. Abram Ski Club we are honored to open up our race arena for this fun filled event. Prizes awarded in many different categories, all skill levels are encouraged to join in. Contact: Mt. Abram Ski Resort.

23 Mt. Abram Ski Club Charity Auction. Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 27 Fireworks at Sunday River: Shows are 8:30pm, best viewed from the South Ridge Base Lodge. Dates and time are subject to change due to inclement weather. Contact: Sunday River Ski Resort. 28 Portland Pie Night at Mt. Abram. 4 p.m. Live Entertainment. Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort.

MARCH 1 La Cocina Mexicana at Café DiCocoa: Regional Mexican home-style cuisine made from scratch. Reservations encouraged but not required and BYOB. 5-8pm Contact: Café DiCocoa 2 Wild West Festival at Mt. Abram. Calling all Cowboys and Cowgirls! Back by popular demand, the Wild West Festival is a great way to celebrate spring skiing. Activities throughout the day include Live Music, BBQ Lunch, Cowboy & Cowgirl Ski Race, and a mechanical bull! Grab your boots and chaps and come on down partner! Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 2 Gentle Dining at Café DiCocoa: Abruzzo & Molise-Coastal Mountainous. Join us on our winter culinary tour of Italy! Learn more about distinct regional Italian foods as we eat our way from the Alps to Sicily. Reservations required and BYOB. 6:45pm Contact: Café DiCocoa. 2 Concert: Nikki Hunt Band. Foggy Goggle Aprés Ski Music Series. Contact: Sunday River. 3 28th Mr. Machine Event. Ski and snowshoe. Tour and

potluck.11am. Bethel location. Contact: Carter’s X-C Ski. 3 MPA High School Shootout at Mt. Abram. See the top athletes in Maine, as they compete head to head to become the 2013 top Maine skier. Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 7 Portland Pie Night at Mt. Abram. 4pm. Live Entertainment. Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 8 La Cocina Mexicana at Café DiCocoa: Regional Mexican home-style cuisine made from scratch. Reservations encouraged but not required and BYOB. 5-8pm Contact: Café DiCocoa. 9 Gentle Dining at Café DiCocoa: Campania-Southern Italy. Join us on our winter culinary tour of Italy! Learn more about distinct regional Italian foods as we eat our way from the Alps to Sicily. Reservations required and BYOB. 6:45pm Contact: Café DiCocoa. 9 Concert: Peach Eaters. Foggy Goggle Apres Ski Music Series. Contact: Sunday River. 9 Fireworks at Sunday River: Shows are 8:30pm, best viewed from the South Ridge Base Lodge. Dates and time are subject to change due to inclement weather. Contact: Sunday River Ski Resort. 14 Portland Pie Night at Mt. Abram. 4pm. Live Entertainment. Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 15 La Cocina Mexicana at Café DiCocoa: Regional Mexican home-style cuisine made from scratch. Reservations encouraged but not required and BYOB. 5-8pm Contact: Café DiCocoa.



MARCH 16 Gentle Dining at Café DiCocoa: Apulia, Basilicata & Calabria. Join us on our winter culinary tour of Italy! Learn more about distinct regional Italian foods as we eat our way from the Alps to Sicily. Reservations required and BYOB. 6:45pm Contact: Café DiCocoa. 16 Fireworks at Sunday River: Shows are 8:30pm, best viewed from the South Ridge Base Lodge. Dates and time are subject to change due to inclement weather. Contact: Sunday River Ski Resort. 16 St. Patty’s Day Celebration and BBQ. Live Entertainment. Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 21 Portland Pie Night at Mt. Abram. 4pm. Live Entertainment. Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 22 La Cocina Mexicana at Café DiCocoa: Regional Mexican home-style cuisine made from scratch. Reservations encouraged but not required and BYOB. 5-8pm Contact: Café DiCocoa. 23 Gentle Dining at Café DiCocoa: Sicily & Sardinia. Join us on our winter culinary tour of Italy! Learn more about distinct regional Italian foods as we eat our way from the Alps to Sicily. Reservations required and BYOB. 6:45pm Contact: Café DiCocoa. 23 Full Moon Hike at Mt. Abram! A guided winter hike to the peak of Mt Abram to view a spectacular full moon. Meet at the base area at 6:00pm. After reaching the summit relax with hot cider, cheese and crackers and sometimes a little music.

Then it‘s hiker’s choice of descent of the mountain by foot or by ski. Contact: Mt. Abram Family Ski Resort. 23 Western Maine Fly Fishing Expo: The Bethel Inn Conference Center. Fishing guides, camps, retail vendors, fishing videos, fly-tying competitions, outdoor authors and artists, prize drawings every hour. Contact: Upper Andro Angler’s Alliance. 23 Fireworks at Sunday River: Shows are 8:30pm, best viewed from the South Ridge Base Lodge. Dates and time are subject to change due to inclement weather. Contact: Sunday River Ski Resort. 23 28th Annual Maine Adaptive Sports and Recreation Ski-A-Thon. Our flagship fundraising event for adaptive skier programs. Courtesy of Sunday River Ski Resort and the Sunday River Inn and Cross Country Ski Center, Ski-A-Thon’ers get a free day of skiing or riding, a unique event t-shirt and goodie bag, breakfast, lunch and a delicious après ski dinner, a fun race and zany obstacle course, an opportunity to win or earn great prizes and incentives, evening dancing in the Summit Hotel Ballroom and a terrific day spent with family and friends. Contact: Maine Adaptive Sports & Recreation. 24 23rd Annual Eat the Heat Chili Cook-off and Firefighters’ Race. Watch teams of five firefighters skiing in full turnout gear and carrying a hose as they compete to raise money for Maine Handicapped Skiing. Then, sample chili from the best cooks in the state as they vie for the prize of Best Chili Cook.

Try all the samples and vote for People’s Choice. Activities take place at White Cap Lodge. Contact: Sunday River. 29 SAD 44 Elementary Performing Arts Series. Piti Theater-To Bee or Not to Bee. A production for family audiences and elementary schools inspired by research about honeybees. The performance blends puppetry, dance, live music, audience participation, and offers people of all ages a profound sense of the positive impact their actions can have on our environment, communities, and the future of the honeybee. 10am & 1pm. Contact: Mahoosuc Arts Council. 29-30 5th Annual Dumont Cup Going even bigger with pros from around the world throwing down along side 200 of the best amateur skiers out there. Come on up to catch all the action in the Rocking Chair park over two days of world-class competition. Contact: Sunday River. 31 Easter Egg Hunt at Sunday River. Join our special Easter egg hunt slopeside at South Ridge Lodge. It’s an Easter celebration full of fun activities perfect for the entire family, including an appearance by the Easter Bunny! Plus, on Easter Sunday you can attend our sunrise service at the Peak Lodge. Contact: Sunday River.

APRIL 2 Mahoosuc Arts Council Performing Arts Series. Syncopation. A modern vocal quartet that focuses on jazz. 7pm Bingham Auditorium.

Contact: Mahoosuc Arts Council. 5-7 Annual Parrot Head Festival. Sunday River’s biggest and best party of the year. Join us Friday through Sunday for Jimmy Buffett-inspired festivities. Thanks to the Parrot Head Club of Maine’s efforts to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The weekend includes outdoor concerts, our famous pond-skimming competition, fun contests, prizes, parties, a key lime pie eating contest, and margarita mix-off, not to mention the best spring skiing and riding around. Contact: Sunday River. 6 Handel’s Messiah by the Maine Music Society. Franco-American Heritage Center Lewiston. There is no other choral work that carries the significance of Messiah by George Frederic Handel, performed by more singers every year than any other. Most often, we hear only the Christmas portion plus the Hallelujah Chorus. But this season we will offer the special treat of nearly the entire work. There are some wonderful

choruses in the second and third sections. Several choruses and solos from the second part number among Artistic Director John Corrie’s favorites. The Androscoggin Chorale will perform this enduring work with soloists Susan Strickland, Shannon Rolbiecki, Martin Lescault, and Leon Griesbach, along with the Maine Music

Society Orchestra. Contact: Maine Music Society. 13 Annual History Symposium: Each spring, the Bethel Historical Society invites historians to speak on subjects of local and regional interest. This year’s topic is The Civil War. Mason House exhibit hall, 1 to 3 p.m. Contact: Bethel Historical Society.

Photo: Sunday River


Where toEat in the Area Dining

Heat & Eat/Take-Out

Bethel Inn Resort

Featuring a seasonal menu with fresh seafood, Prime Rib, Rack of Lamb, fresh Maine Lobster, and more. Enjoy candlelight dining, !replaces aglow and great views of the golf course and surrounding mountains, all in a comfortable setting. Reserva-tions suggested. Breakfast 7:30-9:30am midweek, and 7-10am weekends, dinner is served nightly 5:30-9pm

Black Diamond Steakhouse & Last Trax Pub

Full-service STEAKHOUSE and PUB serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Menu includes fresh Maine seafood, salads, vegetarian and gluten-free options on request. Live entertain-ment in pub Friday and Saturday nights. Daily specials, good for families, and ample parking. Screened-in porch, outdoor !repit, horseshoes, and bocce. Can accommodate private groups by reservation.

Crosstone Restaurant & Conference Center

A family friendly menu that includes steak, seafood, baskets, burgers, Blue Plate Specials, a kids’ menu, and more. Breakfast 7-10am daily, dinner 5-8pm daily, lunch Friday-Sunday until 2. Eat in/Take out.

Erin’s Café on Main

Featuring eggs and homemade toast, Erin’s Benedicts, create your own crepes, fresh baked mu"ns, omelets, wa#es, heart healthy options, burgers, Gyros, subs, garlic chicken salad, grape tuna salad, turkey sandwich, avocado BLT and more! Open daily 7-2 for breakfast and lunch.

The Jolly Drayman at the Briar Lea

Cozy English pub. O$ering a great selection of draught beers, bottled beers, wines, and a fully stocked bar. Our menu o$ers a selection of British, Indian and American favorites. The Jolly Drayman Pub has a AAA 3 Diamond rating and has been recognized by Yankee Magazine’s 2010 “Best of New England” edition.

Kowloon Village Chinese Restaurant

Serving Chinese, Szechuan and Hunan cuisine, full bar. American dishes are also available. You can either dine in or take-out.

Legends Restaurant

A casual, !ne dining experience for the whole family with American cuisine including steaks, seafood, and a martini bar. Located in the Grand Summit Resort Hotel at Sunday River Resort.

Maurice Restaurant Francais

Delicious continental cuisine at a$ordable prices. Open Tuesday-Friday for lunch and dinner, Saturday at 4pm for dinner, and Sundays for Brunch and dinner. We o$er o$-site catering and specialize in rehearsal dinners.

Millbrook Tavern & Grille

Open for lunch, dinner, and late for cocktails with dinner spe-cials nightly. O$ering fresh seafood, steaks, and burgers with an extensive lighter fare menu of soups, salads, sandwiches, and more. This family-friendly atmosphere is a great place to watch the game, play pool, or just relax with friends.

Mill Hill Inn/Studio Bistro Bar

Casual Dining, Cocktails, (wines, unique beers), Private Parties, Weddings in a Unique and Eclectic Setting, Gardens, Art, Pot-tery and Culinary Events. Rooms are available 7 days a week. The restaurant is open, Weds-Sun, 5-10 pm, the bar is open until 11pm.

Pat’s Pizza

Some tasty samples of our six-page menu: Salad Pizzas are favorites with six salad choices, Chicken !ngers and fries for the little logger, Steak-Loaded Subs, Italian Subs, and Roll-up sandwiches, a full bar, and we also o$er gluten-free dough and gluten-free beer.

Phoenix House & Well

Our menus will delight both your palates and your purses...scrumptious appetizers, decadent desserts, prime cuts of meat, fresh seafood, as well as gluten-free and vegetarian options, along with a great kids’ menu for our younger guests. Creative comfort foods you’re sure to enjoy anytime with our broad beer selection and our extensive wine list. Known lo-cally as the hot spot for entertainment in the winter, the great-est bands from around New England play Saturday nights. Apres legend Denny Breau plays live Friday and Saturday, and everyday during vacation weeks, 4-8pm.

Rooster’s Roadhouse

Dining for the entire family! Featuring Maine LOBSTER & SEAFOOD, char-grilled steaks n’ chops, New England special-ties, pizza, burgers, dinner salads, and a great kids menu. Fun, casual & a$ordable! Reservations accepted for any size party. Daily specials o$ered. Open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner.

S.S. Milton

Serving classic American Cuisine with a down-home touch. We pride ourselves with o$ering one of the most varied menus in the Bethel area -- everything from Lobster and our specialty, Scallops Nantucket, to Steak, Chicken, and Pasta.

Shipyard Brew Haus

Full service restaurant and bar at the White Cap Lodge at Sun-day River, the perfect place to grab lunch, hang out apres ski, or have a leisurely and enjoyable dinner. During ski season the Shipyard Brew Haus has frequent entertainment, from musical acts to !lms. Come on down and enjoy the fun and excellent food! Open during the ski season only.

Sunday River Brewing Company

Sunday River Brew Pub combines classic New England fare with contemporary styles. Outdoor dining in the warmer months or !reside through the winter; our doors are open year-round. On-premise small-batch brewing makes for fresh brews and seasonal variety.

The Sudbury Inn

We feature a wide selection of dinner choices prepared by Executive Chef Peter Bodwell and his sta$. From Sudbury Clas-sics such as Roasted Duckling and Broiled Seafood Sampler to Rack of Lamb, Osso Bucco, Chicken Marsala, and of course, fresh Maine Lobster, the Sudbury Inn o$ers something for everyone in a casual yet elegant setting.

The Suds Pub

Featuring a great pub menu, live entertainment three nights each week, and Western Maine’s largest selection of draft beers. Hoot Night, open mic night -- a long-standing tradition -- is every Thursday night. Hosted by Denny Breau (amazing in his own right), Hoot Night starts at 8:30pm.

Good Food Store

Daily lunch specials, heat & eat foods for dinner, catering & chef service. Gourmet co$ees and teas, cookies, cakes, sweet things, great soups, salads and sandwiches, including vegetar-ian options, and heat-and-eat meals.

Gourmet in a Pinch

Bethel’s catering headquarters. Home of the “Heat n’ Eat” Dinner Special for Two $19.99 (Mon-Thurs). Breakfast sandwich with co$ee (Fri-Sun) $3.49. River/hike ready lunch boxes. Convenient drive thru pickup window or outdoor seating available. Specialty beer and wine sales.

Smokin Good BBQ

Dry rubbed with secret spices, our meats are smoked in a time-honored method, using only local hardwood, at a very low heat, for a long time. All of our sides are made from scratch, prepared in our unique style. Open Thursday-Sunday 11:30-7.

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Bethel Inn Resort On the Common, Bethel ͻ ͻ ͻ�ͻ�ͻ ͻ ͻ O ͻ�ͻ ͻ� � ͻ� � ͻ�ͻ www.bethelinn.com

Briar Lea Inn 150 Mayville Rd., Bethel ͻ ͻ ͻ�ͻ��ͻ ͻ��ͻ�ͻ�ͻ www.briarleainn.com

Carter’s Welchville Inn & Lodge Ski Lodge & Cabin - Bethel ͻ ͻ ͻ ͻ� ��ͻ� ͻ�� ͻ ͻ Welchville Inn - Oxford

www.cartersxcski.com

Chapman Inn On the Common, Bethel ͻ ͻ�ͻ ͻ ͻ ͻ� � ͻ ͻ� ͻ www.chapmaninn.com

Mill Hill Inn 24 Mill Hill Rd., Bethel ͻ�ͻ�ͻ ͻ�� ͻ ͻ� � � � ͻ�ͻ

www.millhillinn.com

Mollyockett Motel ͻ ͻ ͻ� ͻ ͻ� I �ͻ� � � ͻ�ͻ www.mollyockettmotel.com

River View Resort ͻ ͻ ͻ ͻ I ͻ ͻ www.riverviewresort.com

The Sudbury Inn 151 Main St, Bethel ͻ�ͻ�� ͻ ͻ�� ͻ�ͻ�� ͻ� ͻ (207) 824-2174

www.thesudburyinn.com

Where to


River Valley Directory

Your Guide to River

Valley Area

Businesses


River Valley Directory

Calendar of EventsPhone & Contact Directory

BETHEL AREA CHAMBEROF COMMERCE8 Station PlaceBethel, ME 04217(207) 824-2282 (800) [email protected]

BETHEL ALLIANCE CHURCH251 Walker’s Mills RdBethel, ME 04217(207) 824-2289 [email protected]

BETHEL HISTORICAL SOCIETY10-14 Broad St.Bethel, ME 04217(207) [email protected]

BETHEL INN RESORT On the CommonP.O. Box 49Bethel, ME [email protected](207) 824-2175 or (800) 654-0125

BETHEL OUTING CLUBJim Reuter: [email protected] or(207) 824-4099bethelouting.org

CARTER’S X-C SKI CENTERSBethel: 786 Intervale Rd. (207) 824-3880Oxford: 420 Main St.(207) [email protected]

CAFÉ DICOCOA125 Main StreetBethel, ME 04217(207) 824-5282cafedicocoa.com

MAHOOSUC ARTS COUNCILExecutive Director: Aranka MatolcsyP.O. Box 534Bethel, ME 04217Tel: [email protected]

MAHOOSUC LAND TRUST18 Mayville Rd.Bethel, ME 04217Garden Tour Info: Becky Seacrest(207) 824-3806mahoosuc.org/events.html

MAHOOSUC MOUNTAIN LODGE1513 Bear River RoadNewry, ME 04261(207) [email protected]

MAINE ADAPTIVE SPORTS AND RECREATION8 Sundance LaneNewry, ME 04261(207) 824-2440 or (800) 639-7770 (TTY/Voice) [email protected]

THE MAINE MUSIC SOCIETY221 Lisbon StLewiston, ME 04240mainemusicsociety.org(207) 782-7228

MT. ABRAM FAMILY SKI RESORT308 Howe Hill Rd.Greenwood, ME(207) 875-5000 or [email protected]

OXFORD HILLS MUSIC & PERFORMING ARTSPO Box 131Norway ME 04268ohmpaa.gmail.com

SUNDAY RIVER RESORTNewry, ME 04261(207) 824-3000 OR (800) 543-2SKIsundayriver.com

SUN VALLEY SPORTS & GUIDE SERVICE129 Sunday River Rd. Bethel, ME 04217(207) 824-7533 or (877) [email protected]


ActivitiesBethel Inn ResortOn the CommonBethel, Maine(207) 824-21751-800-654-0125See our ad on the Inside Back Cover

Carter’s X-Country Ski Center & Ski Shops

(207) 539-4848 See our ad on Page 8

Mahoosuc Guide Service

(207) 824-2073 See our ad on Page 13

Mt. Abram Ski Resort


Sun Valley Sports

Bethel, Maine(207) 824-75331-877-851-7533See our ad on Page 9

The Ballroom

(207) 583-6964See our ad on

BakeryHungry HollowRoute 26

(207) 674-3012See our ad on Page 9

Charter & TourNortheast Charter & Tour Co.

1-888-593-6328See our ad on Page 11

Florists/Wedding & Event SpecialistsPooh Corner Farm

(207) 836-FARMSee our ad on Page 13

Designs by Janet Black, AIFD


FurnitureRustics Log & Country Furniture


Gem ShopsSunday River Gems


General ContractorSteve Pelletier(207) 369-0099

See our ad on Page 4

GrocerGood Food StoreRoute 2Bethel, Maine(207) 824-3754See our ad on Page 22

Hardware & Building SuppliesBrooks Bros Inc.


Western Maine Supply

(207) 824-21391-800-858-2139See our ad on Page 27

Health ServicesBridgton Hospital


Home SitesChoice Homesites


JewelersHarvest Gold Gallery


MassageHealing Touch Therapeutic Massage

Bethel, Maine(207) 824-5445See our ad on Page 11

Party Rental Gourmet in a Pinch

Bethel, Maine(207) 824-6000See our ad on Page 21

Breakfast & LunchOpen Daily 7-2

Western Maine’s Finest Hand-Cut Steaks

Your Home Away From Home�

Serving Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Shops & Services Directory


Property Maintenance General UpkeepProperty MaintenanceDanielle: (207) 357-1753Jon Martin: (207) 357-1752Upton, Maine(207) 533-2021See our ad on Page 11

Shops & ServicesBear Country Powersports54 Main Street Errol, NH(603) 482-3370See our ad on Page 9

The Bethel Citizen

(207) 824-24441-800-922-6397See our ad on Page 4

Carlisle’sCongress Street Rumford, Maine888-231-3553See our ad on Page 25

Carter’s X-Country Ski Center & Ski Shops


Kedar QuiltsRoute 35Waterford, Maine(207) 583-6182888-583-6182See our ad on Page 28

Linda Cli!ord Scottish and Irish Merchant91 Main Street

877-607-7787See our ad on Page 14

The Marketplace at 101101 Main Street


Ruthie’s88 Main Street


SupermarketBethel Foodliner72 Main Street


Shops & Services Directory

Designs by Janet Black AIFD

Exceeding your Expectations

Wedding & Event Specialst

207.514.3500www.janetblack.com

[email protected] BRIDES CHOICE

weddingwire.com 2010 & 2011


AccommodationsBethel Area Camps & Cottages www.wightsmainecottages.com

Bethel Inn Resort www. bethelinn.com

Carter’s Welchville Inn and Lodge www. cartersxcski.com

Chapman Inn www. chapmaninn.com

Mollyockett Motel www. MollyockettMotel.com

River View Resort www. riverviewresort.com

The Sudbury Inn www. thesudburyinn.com

Sunday River Rentals www. sundayriverrentals.com

ActivitiesCarter’s X-C Ski Center cartersxcski.com

Mahoosuc Guide Service www.mahoosuc.com

Mt. Abram Ski Area www. skimtabram.com

Sun Valley Sports www. sunvalleysports.com

Charter and TourNortheast Charter & Tour Co. www. northeastchartertour.com

Dining and EntertainmentBethel Inn Resort www. bethelinn.com

Dining, cont. Black Diamond Steakhouse & Last Trax Pub www. blackdiamondsteakhouse.com

Crosstone Restaurant and Conference Center www. crosstonerestaurant.com

Maurice Restaurant Francais www. mauricerestaurant.com

Rooster’s Roadhouse www. roostersroadhouse.com

The Sudbury Inn www. thesudburyinn.com

FloristPooh Corner Farm www. poohfarm.com

Real Estate Four Seasons Realty www. fourseasonsrealtymaine.com

Mahoosuc Realty www. mahoosucrealty.com

Riverside Realty www. riversiderealty.org

Sunday River Real Estate www. sundayriver.com/realestate

Shops and ServicesThe Bethel Citizen www. bethelcitizen.com

Kedar Quilts www. kedarquilts.com

Linda Cli!ord Scottish & Irish Merchant www. lindacli!ord.com

Western Maine Supply www. westernmainesupply.com

Web Directory

bethel citizen winter guide 2012

Documents