By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
Though disappointed in the Libra Foundation’s decision to stop funding the Maine Winter Sports Center (MWSC) as of April 1, area officials are optimistic the non-profit organization will be able to develop a sustainable model through fund-raising efforts and continue to promote skiing and winter sports in Maine communities. “Since their [Libra Foundation] announcement about funding for Bigrock, people were wondering if this might come at some point. I was surprised to hear that funding would be cut off so quickly,” said Caribou City Manager Austin Bleess. “Maine Winter Sports has done a lot to promote winter activities. The people of Caribou — and Aroostook County — are resilient. I’m optimistic that the citizens of Caribou will band together to continue to promote the great winter opportunities here in Caribou.”
Bleess said the city will do what it can to help with the situation.
“We are certainly willing to meet and discuss with Maine Winter Sports to see what we may be able to do,” he said. “In the meantime, our Parks and Rec Department will continue to offer the great outdoor opportunities for people to enjoy. We are always willing to work with any group to help expand and grow those opportunities.”
Nate Berry, president of the Nordic Heritage Sport Club, said while the news isn’t favorable, the Libra Foundation has contributed greatly to the success of the organization.
“It’s not great news, but at the end of the day, they [Libra Foundation] built this beautiful facility for us, and they have funded the majority of our operating expenses over the last decade since it was built,” he said. “However they have decreased that funding over that time frame, so it’s not a total surprise to us that they’re eliminating the funding. We knew that Libra had other investments that they wanted to allocate money to. It was probably time that they go on and help other communities in the way that they’ve helped us.
“It’s hard that it’s going away, but luckily we still have a relationship with the MWSC and they have a very good plan to fund raise to offset that loss from Libra,” said Berry. “Essentially the Libra Foundation gave money to Maine Winter Sports and then Maine Winter Sports used a portion of their budget to help with the expenses of our club. That helped put on big events and brings economic development to our area, which is another way our club makes money.”
The Nordic Heritage Sport Club is a non-profit corporation with a mission to re-establish skiing as a lifestyle in central Aroostook County. The club sponsors and coordinates community recreation programs for summer and winter sports and activities, and hosts local, national and international competitive events for cross country skiing, biathlon and mountain biking competitions.
Berry said he’s not “overly concerned” about how the Libra Foundation’s decision will impact the club.
“I think it’s just going to take us, as a club, to sit down and figure out what we need to do to replace that revenue, though some of it will still come from Maine Winter Sports because they’re committed to us,” he said. “We have events out there such as the trail festival in the summer and the Aroostook Women’s Ski Day, plus we rent the facility for parties, weddings and other events. Corporate sponsorships is something we’ve done and will continue to do, so we’ll just figure it out. We knew some day we’d have to be self-sustaining, and now we’re working to get there.
“Fortunately at the club level it’s almost all volunteers. We pay someone to do the grooming or if we have to have an electrician, but the club itself is led by 15 volunteers that make up the steering committee and then hundreds of other volunteers that put on these events, so that’s the real value to us,” said Berry. “Obviously the money’s important and we need it to keep the lights on so the trails are lit, but as long as we still have that commitment from the volunteers and the community, I think the money issue will be pretty easy to solve in the long run.”
Theresa Fowler, executive director of the Central Aroostook Chamber of Commerce, praised the Libra Foundation for “investing very heavily” in Aroostook County over the years.
“It’s unfortunate, of course, that the Maine Winter Sports Center, which is based in Caribou and operates two facilities in Aroostook County, will be losing funding from the Libra Foundation; however, we do have a Maine Sports Commission that was developed in the last couple years that has lots of resources to assist us,” she said.
“I think that people — particularly involved in the Nordic Heritage Center — will be creative and innovative enough to develop programs that satisfy the needs of the people of the area,” said Fowler, “and hopefully we’ll be able to continue to attract visitors to the area for some of their events.”
