August 27, 2010 (Fryeburg, ME) – I am pleased to present this year’s John Caldwell Award to the Weston Family of Fryeburg, Maine. The award, named after NENSA founder and former board president John Caldwell, is NENSA’s highest honor given annually to a person or group who contributes at the very highest level to cross-country skiing in New England. – Patrick Cote, NENSA Executive Director

The 2010 TD Bank Bill Koch League Festival was in trouble. There was no snow on the planned trails at Pineland Farms, the original host site. As time passed, local back-up options met the same fate and were eliminated one by one. Luckily, the Festival Organizing Committee led by Ted Hall, Amy Laukli, and Bjorn Laukli were also very involved in Maine middle school and high school skiing. “What about Fryeburg? We were just up there for a race and the skiing was just great.”

But, a festival takes more than just snow. There are logistics like parking, making space for the “more-than-just-racing” events that have become such and important part of the weekend’s festivities. And once it was announced that the event was a “go” there was no way we want to cancel with so many families traveling from all corners of New England, staying in hotels, and making such a big commitment to the event. Could Fryeburg handle that part of it? Would it be possible for an organizing committee to manage an event that was not at their local venue?

The Weston Family had been known to NENSA primarily by their son John. John is the long-time coach at Fryeburg Academy, a NENSA technical delegate, and almost always the Chief of Course for big events at nearby Jackson, New Hampshire. This challenge, however, was too big for just John and it took the entire family chipping in to make their trails at Starks Hill ready for the Festival.

To capture the dire situation (and please remember that these were some of the best conditions in all of New England at that time,) here is an excerpt from an email from John to the Organizing Committee just the day before the event, when a night of hard rain put additional strain on an already nearly impossible situation.

I have just returned from Starks. I snowshoed both of tomorrow’s courses and they held up well. They are slowly draining and with the temp slowly falling hopefully I should be able to start to groom with the snowmobile by 3:00am or so. I’m hoping.

That’s the good news. Here are the issues. We did get a lot of rain last night and the temp has been above 40 all day. There is a lot of water around especially the parking area/trailhead. It is a mess. I have had a loader out there today trying to clean things up but there is just so much that can be done. I am going to take out hay to spread around. Hopefully it will freeze in and improve the situation.

As you can see from the above, this was an extremely challenging situation. What did the Weston family do that merited this award? First, John’s service to NENSA runs over many seasons as an athlete, coach, technical delegate, and course chief. He has always shown a great mind for the sport, a solutions-oriented demeanor, and the ability to balance the needs of the athletes with the needs of the venue. We trusted John and knew that he would do whatever it would take to make the venue accessible and safe for the athletes. In this case, the challenge was huge. The organizers worked around the clock communicating with the Westons and with the families hoping to come to the Festival. The Westons, in turn, as you can read above, worked around the clock with shovels and loaders and hay to both intelligently and through sheer willpower make the venue skiable for the Festival. As with the man that this award is named after, they went far above and far beyond a typical level of service to the sport. Despite many deserving volunteers across the region, they stood out as THE choice for the John Caldwell award for 2010.

So, what happened? It got a little colder, and we got just a tiny dusting of snow. It was a bit of a long drive from the hotels in Freeport, Maine to Fryeburg and the parking area amidst a car repair lot made me feel a bit nervous upon arrival. The dirt road toward the venue made for some wet walking, but as the parking area ended, a layer of hay covered the path, absorbing the water. And at the end of this hay-covered path was a large overhad sign saying, “Welcome to Starks Hill”.

As I walked under the sign, I looked ahead to a winter wonderland. Sure, there might have been a wet spot here and there, but I saw everything that I want to see at a Festival. There was snow and good skiing conditions. There were tents and jumps and food and music. Skiers in multi-colored racing suits and fun costumes glided across the snow in the carefully choreographed chaos that almost defines the Festival. And, most importantly, I felt that spirit of positive enthusiasm from volunteers, parents, and kids that every year reminds us of how wonderful it is to introduce as many families as possible enjoy cross-country skiing.

And, perhaps enjoying this the most were John Weston and Family. And, I am not sure if they heard it or not, but I heard at least 100 people that day say something like… “Wow, I never knew about this place,” or “How’d they pull this off?” or “Wow, thank you Westons for making this happen.” And I am sure there were many more who talked about it on their drives home and will forever remember the Festival that almost didn’t happen but was saved by a generous family in Fryeburg, Maine.

Thank you to the Weston Family and it is a great honor to present you with the 2010 John Caldwell Award.