To the editor:
On behalf of the Nordic Heritage Sport Club I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all 500 of our World Cup Biathlon organizers and volunteers as well as the many County businesses who provided sponsor support for our unprecedented event. I’d also like to thank all of our hardy spectators who toughed it out through the cold windy conditions, including all you lively school children who attended, to help make this event our most successful ever at the Nordic Heritage Center. Without all of you we would not have wowed the world and impressed them the way we did with our unrivaled hospitality, ability and spirit.
It was just 14 months ago that NHSC summoned all who were interested in helping to chart the future of the Nordic Heritage Center to a town hall meeting at UMPI’s Campus Center. In that meeting we laid out our current situation and funding changes along with a big question for our community to weigh in on: whether or not NHSC should host another World Cup Biathlon in February 2016. After all, NHC is our community asset to be used as those in our community who wish to be engaged in the venue see fit. We could have chosen to get smaller, decrease our budget and funding and, consequently, also reduce our healthy programming and offerings for residents throughout Aroostook County. Or the consensus could have been yes to hosting the world once again, with profits hopefully sufficient to help fund NHC’s operating costs for the next few years, and I was so pleased to witness a definitive and enthusiastic “yes” from the 100 or so who braved a snowstorm to attend our meeting.
Having witnessed firsthand the level of effort required to organize a World Cup at NHC for the many months leading up to this year’s event, as well as what it takes from hundreds of volunteers who selflessly step forward to volunteer their time, the Nordic Heritage Center needed full community support to move forward with the World Cup. That night at UMPI we were well on our way to the unanimous support needed and the rest fell into place through strong leadership, generous business sponsorships (including allowing their employees time off to work the event), planning and coordination across multiple continents.
This community deserves a standing ovation for the efforts put forth to make this event the success it was in the eyes of the International Biathlon Union, athletes, coaches and spectators from around the world. Make no mistake about it; we hit a home run and a home run so big the center fielder never even moved until the ball hit Lansdowne Street.
Our venue may not have cost $50 million to construct like most of the other host venues around the world and we may not have big city accommodations and infrastructure to support these events, but what we do have is Aroostook County kindness, work ethic, smiles and a genuine willingness to host like no other country or venue anywhere in the world. This is the consistent message I received from those who have been to every venue on the planet, multiple times.
Everyone who was involved in this achievement, from the volunteers to the people bagging groceries, the hotel desk clerks, our gas station attendants, the wait staff in our restaurants, our bus drivers, municipal workers and everyone in between, is to be congratulated for continuing to show the world how wonderful Aroostook County is. You all made us proud and your efforts have not gone unnoticed. Thank you all for stepping up to the plate with your eyes focused beyond on the Green Monster.
And finally, there are three people, without whom, this event would not have happened. My brother Steve Towle courageously stepped up for the second time to take on the year-long critical role of Event Manager, and called NHC his home for the two months prior to the event. Thank you Stef, and a job well done! The second is my wife Jane who tirelessly began working on this event from the end of our previous World Youth/Junior Biathlon event in 2014 right through ‘til … well she’s still going. Thank you Jane, for your brilliance, leadership and the class with which you do it all. The last person I wish to thank is no longer with us on earth but certainly helped cheer everyone on from heaven. My father, Himie Towle, was a true lifelong ski advocate, Nordic champion, coach, mentor and volunteer manager of the former White Bunny Ski Club in Fort Fairfield. He always gave to skiing and to our community. Thank you Dad, for instilling in your family the meaning of the greater good.
Until the next World Cup planning begins, I welcome you all to visit the Nordic Heritage Center but, this time, to relax and enjoy the beauty of all our facility has to offer. Thank you all for making “The Biathlon” thrive in Aroostook County and, thereby, helping to sustain the tremendous resource we all enjoy in our Nordic Heritage Center.
