Winterset Ski Club Holds Raffle Night

By Warren Griffiths

Do you want to get up to 50 percent off on lift tickets to almost all of the major resorts in New England? Do you want to meet new friends and families who share the same hobbies as you? Do you want to sample a variety of delicious homemade chili? Newtown’s Winterset Ski Club is holding a Raffle Night in the basement of Newtown Town Hall from 6:30-9:30 pm on November 30, and is welcoming skiers and snowboarders of all ages and abilities to come sign up to be a member and partake in the festivities.

Winterset’s annual Raffle Night is one of the largest of the many events held by the club throughout the year. The part that attracts the most members and non-members to Raffle Night is, no doubt, the food. Make sure you become a member before trying any cuisine or buying any raffle tickets, though. The chili and the rest of the fun will be for members only.

“Like last year, there is going to be a chili cook off with up to 15 varieties of chili,” said Chas Perry, the vice president of the organization. “In prior years we’ve had guest judges who were chefs at Sal & Pepe, Macdaddy’s, Buffalo Bills, and Mexicali Rose, just to name a few.”

The food is just the beginning. There will be a variety of tables set up for the trips scheduled this winter, in addition to the most important table of the night, the new member sign-up table.

“Trips for the 2012-13 season include seven day bus trips throughout the winter to various mountains in the Northeast, as well as longer trips to Sugarloaf, Smuggler’s Notch, and Aspen,” said Susan Brier, the special trips coordinator for the club.

A bus trip is by far the most convenient and cheapest way to reach the big mountains in Vermont and New Hampshire. Winterset buses leave early in the morning from the parking lot behind Newtown Town Hall, and arrive back at a reasonable time in the evening. Seats on a bus cost just $10 for adults and $5 for children.

In addition to the chili contest area, other tables will be set up for the numerous day and overnight ski trips available to members of the club. At the heart of all of this ski-related craziness, though, will be a huge raffle event.

“We will be raffling off two one-day ski demos at Butternut, a nice pair of woman’s skis and, of course, lift tickets to all the best mountains of the Northeast, including favorites like Okemo, Killington, Loon, and Sunday River,” Perry said.

The Winterset Ski Club has been drawing in skiers and, more recently, snowboarders for more than 40 years. The club is perfect for singles, couples, and families, and for people of all ages and abilities. Members are entitled to bulk buy tickets at the beginning of the season to dozens of great mountains, for up to half the price of standard tickets.

For information, visit www.wintersetskiclub.org.

— Warren Griffiths is a Winterset Member