July 2, 2009

Volume 19, Number 6


July 4th Festivities Will Liven Up Stowe


July 4th weekend remains America’s biggest summer holiday and Stowe celebrates America’s Birthday with a wide range of activities. For Stowe Mountain Resort’s visitors the fun will begin on Friday with the first of a series of Farmer’s Markets to be held on selected Fridays throughout the summer and fall foliage seasons. But the Farmer’s Market will be just the start of a great day. There will be live music throughout the day. There will be a barbecue hosted at Spruce Camp. Capping it all off will be a very impressive fireworks display beginning around 8:30 on Friday evening. This weekend visitors can also enjoy the full assortment of the resort’s summer attractions highlighted by the Alpine Slide at Spruce and the Gondola Skyride lifting off from the base terminal barn across the way at Mt. Mansfield.


Farmer's Market, BBQs, Live Music and Fireworks Highlight Friday the 3rd


Independence Day Weekend Festivities kick off tomorrow, July 3, with the first of this summer’s Spruce Farmer’s Markets and fun family activities all day and into the night.

The Farmer’s Market will take place from 11am to 3pm in the Spruce Peak Plaza at the base of Stowe Mountain Resort. In addition to over 30 purveyors on-site there will be U-Paint-It Pottery all day, Cooking & Garden Care demos from 1-2pm, Learn how to fly cast at 3pm, Hillbilly Horseshoes, fireworks to music at 8pm and Stowe’s full array of summer attractions open late ‘til 7pm. Attractions include the Alpine Slide, Bungee Trampolines, Climbing Wall and Gondola Ride. On-mountain restaurants available for lunches and dinners filled with native cuisine are the Cliff House, Golf Cottage, Schuss gourmet takeout shop, Solstice Restaurant and Hourglass Bar.

Enjoy local agriculture, art and organic products next to Vermont’s highest peak, Mount Mansfield. The markets will take place Fridays July 3 & 24, August 7 & 21 and September 4 & 25. Vendors include; Green Seed Herbals, Farmer Sue, South Mountain Crepes, Rory Jackson Art, William Boote & Corrine Chatelan Wood Fired Artisan Breads, Vermont Birchbark Arts, The Nutty Vermonter, Storm and Sunrise Jewelry, Sage Farm Goat Dairy, Shelmandine Design Sauces, Clear Light Art, Tony's Old Style Maple Syrup, Lana Parkhurst Pies, Gizmos Pickled Plus, Deborah Aschenbach Baked Goods, Peter Kitonis Furniture, Boyden Valley Winery and more. For additional information call 800-253-4754.


Over-Easy Gondola to Play a Big Part for Friday


When Stowe Mountain Resort built the ‘Over Easy’ Gondola as a transfer lift linking the resort’s two base areas of Mt. Mansfield and Spruce Peak, most folks thought of it essentially as a ski lift. But it has a much wider role than that. Its greatest value has been eliminating the need to move by vehicle between these two recreational areas of the resort. Guests staying at the new Stowe Mountain Lodge can testify how quickly and effortlessly they can move from the comfort of a slopeside hotel to the base of the Quad for grabbing those early morning powder tracks. The value of the lift will be seen by a new group this Friday when hordes of fireworks buffs are expected to descend on the resort for a spectacular show. With more than ample overflow parking available at Mansfield, it will be extremely easy to park there and take the two and-a-half minute ride over to Spruce where all the fun will be.

Go take a hike - Here’s wrinkle to consider. Enjoy the Farmer’s Market at the Spruce Plaza for a while and then when you are ready for a change of pace take the transfer lift across to the Mansfield side. Less than five minutes from there is the bottom outlet of the Hazleton hiking trail and it provides a wonderful journey up into the fascinating hardwood forest that covers the flanks of Vermont’s highest peak. Enjoy a refreshing adventure in the cool of the forest following the path of a mountain stream. When you are ready to rejoin civilization take a relaxed ramble back down to the Over Easy and head back across the way for barbecue and fireworks.


Fireworks on Spruce Peak Have A Long History in Stowe


For many years the grassy slopes of Lower Spruce were home to the town’s annual  July 4th festivities. Townspeople and visitors alike enjoyed their time spent in one of the most scenic locations you can find anywhere. The evening was always capped  off by the much anticipated pyrotechnics display synonymous with July Fourth celebrations in Every Town USA. To listen to the reverberations of the mortars and rockets launched by the local fireworks committee was an experience hard to top. Eventually the town moved the July 4th activities down to a more centrally located spot at the town’s Mayo Fields complex, but few could forget how great the fireworks were up there in the mountains. Now a whole new generation of Stowe folk will be able to experience the wonder of fireworks in the mountains, starting this July on Friday the 3rd. Of course July 4th fireworks will also take place in it’s current location downtown. By the way! The BEST place to watch the Town of Stowe’s fireworks on the 4th is from Kirkwood’s at the Stowe Country Club. There is a wonderful family friendly BBQ open to the public at Kirkwood’s on the 4th. Best bet is to attend the BBQ and watch fireworks from that location.


Stowe Country Club News


The Kirkwood Tournament concluded a very successful 42nd annual edition of its great amateur golf event at Stowe Country Club. This year’s champions were two local Stowe stars in the golf world, brothers Dave and Mike Slayton. The duo clinched their title on Sunday at the challenging 16th with a birdie that gave them the crown by a match play margin of 3 and 2. The field this year included 72 teams with play in nine flights. There were two holes in one recorded during the event. Scott Light recorded his on Saturday at hole-15, while on Sunday Gary Shover holed out his tee shot at the 10th in full view of assembled spectators. The Stowe Country Club is an excellent place to enjoy the community fireworks display, which will take place on Saturday evening, July 4th. Please call 802-253-4893 for info.

The fourth week of the Tuesday Night League took place this week and Guy Ruohuonen and Alex Bradley captured the top spot in the week’s standings. Marcel Begnoche and Vaughn Carter followed by Chris Canby and Steve Deserio took the next two spots. There is still room in the field for more two person teams. Six weeks of play remain. For information on this and other fun events run by the staff of the Stowe Country Club at 802-253-4893.


Weekend Events at Spruce Peak


July 3

Summer Attractions Open Late ‘til 7pm!11am – 3pm / Farmer’s

 Market12pm – ‘til / BBQ lunch at Solstice1pm – 3pm / Cooking & Gardening Demos, Learn How to Fly Cast6pm – 8pm / BBQ at Spruce Camp7pm – 8:30pm / Live Music with JT+L at Spruce Camp8:45pm – FIREWORKS on Spruce Peak

July 4

11am - 3pm / U Paint It Pottery - Spruce Peak Day Lodge
11:30am - 2:30pm / Themed BBQ with Live Music -- Solstice Terrace
12pm - 4pm / Live Music with The Country Western Boys

1pm - 2pm / Horseshoe Toss - Stowe Mountain Lodge Spa Terrace
4pm - 5pm / Horseshoe Toss - Stowe Mountain Lodge Spa Terrace

July 5

12pm – 4pm / Arts & Crafts in the Plaza

11am - 3pm / U Paint It Pottery - Spruce Peak Day Lodge
12PM - 4PM / Interactive Arts/Crafts - Spruce Plaza
1pm - 2pm / Horseshoe Toss - Stowe Mountain Lodge Spa Terrace

 


Mountain Operations Update


This week the brush crew has started working on Chapel Lane. This quiet trail is a real favorite of many members of Stowe’s Dawn Patrol and this week the task is to brushback the edges before the trail becomes too congested. Mountain Operations staff were also doing some summer training work with members of the Mount Mansfield Ski Patrol. Another ongoing project was summer maintenance work being performed on the automated York Snowmaking System which has been instrumental into producing some of the ski and snowboard world’s premier cruising during the winter.