Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
Volume 18, Issue 6
Friday, May 20, 2011
Powder Ridge sale up to Middlefield voters By Sue VanDerzee Town Times Dennis Abplanalp can tell you exactly when he began thinking about Powder Ridge Ski Area. “I have the magazine right here,” he said during a phone interview this week. “It was the March 2007 issue of Ski Area Management magazine where Ken Leavitt had placed an ad. I called him up. “I’ve been working on this for four years,” he continued. “I’m tenacious.” While Powder Ridge has been simmering in his consciousness the last four years, Abplanalp’s involvement with skiing goes back much further. “I started working in ski areas as a 17-
year-old in 1974 in the ski rental division of Ski Liberty in southeastern Pennsylvania,” he explained. “After a few years, I realized that I wanted to be in mountain operations, and I left there nine years later as assistant mountain manager. Since then I’ve worked in at least 10 different resorts all across the country, including Mt. High in California, the
Above, CRHS students begin the first lap around the new track, released by Bill Currlin's starting pistol. Left, students form the words "Thank You!" to the community for the new athletic complex.
See Sale, page 16
In this issue ... Calendar............................4 Durham Briefs................13 Middlefield Briefs...........12 Obituaries .......................28
Photos by Mark Dionne, Beth Manley and Sue Michael
Adopt me, please!
Rain doesn’t stop enthusiasm at Coginchaug track opening By Mark Dionne Special to Town Times
Photo by Cheri Kelley
The third annual Durham Pet Fair, where lots of lovable pups like this one were hoping to find a new home.
Students cheered as they stepped past the fence, still marked with “Keep Off” signs, and onto the newly finished track complex at Coginchaug Regional High School (CRHS). A few minutes later, they cheered again for the rain that started to pour down, but no one left. According to Bill Currlin, Board of Education and Building Committee chair, “The kids wanted to be the first on the field.” After school on Monday, May 16, Currlin and CRHS principal Andre Hauser presided over the opening of the track and the ceremonial first lap. A track meet was scheduled for the
following day. Dozens of students gathered with various coaches, teachers, Board of Education (BOE) and community members and reporters on the artificial turf and eightlane track for the brief ceremony.
Hauser tossed a football with some students before making his remarks. He thanked, among others, the BOE, the Boards of Selectmen from both towns, Superintendent Sue Viccaro and
“the thousands of voters of Durham and Middlefield.” Hauser also cited Currlin for special thanks, calling him the project’s “guardian angel.” Currlin, who only a week earlier lost his re-election bid to the BOE after 17 years as a member, spoke next. He thanked the work done by the BOE and recognized “all the athletes for years and years who didn’t get a chance to run on their home track.” It has been 10 years since CRHS has hosted a track meet, according to Viccaro. Currlin also encouraged student athletes to thank members of the community. The track complex faced opSee CRHS Track, page 14