Museum News: First ISHA Grant to Maine Museum

First annual grant of $5,000 for curation and construction of new exhibit

The International Skiing History Association is pleased to announce that its first annual grant in support of ski museum programs has been awarded to the Maine Ski and Snowboard Museum.

The $5,000 award will support curation and creation of a new exhibit within the museum’s new, larger facility, highlighting its Hall of Fame collection. In 2022 the museum moved from its longtime address in Kingfield to a new, permanent 2,975-square-foot location on the Sugarloaf Mountain access road. The new exhibit will be unveiled in December 2023, in time for the museum’s annual Hall of Fame gala.

Formal presentation of the grant will take place at ISHA’s 31st annual Awards Banquet, at Big Sky Resort, Montana, on March 22.

The Maine museum was founded in 1995 by Donald Fletcher, Greg Foster and Donald Hayes, all members of the Sugarloaf Mountain Ski Club. In addition to its physical collection, the museum collects oral histories, publishes the online Snow Trail magazine and curates the Maine Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame. Since 2003, the Hall of Fame gala has honored eight new inductees each year.

For more information on the museum and its programs, see maineskiandsnowboardmuseum.org 

Located on the Sugarloaf Mountain access road, the Maine Ski and Snowboard Museum recently relocated and expanded.

Museum exhibits have included

• Skiing in the Pine Tree State: satellite exhibit at the Bethel Historical Society

• Made in Maine: Ski-making at Paris Manufacturing in the 1930s

• Lost Ski Areas: Forgotten ski locations of Maine.

• Children’s Corner: Offering examples of early ski figurines, skis, sleds and toys

• Replica of King & Dexter 1930s Ski Shop: With products sold there

• Replica of ski-making workbench with tools and parts

• Classic Ski Equipment: Including Theo Johnson artifacts back to 1905

• 10th Mountain Division: Memorabilia and shared stories from World War II

• The Mountains of Maine: Celebrating the state’s Alpine and Nordic heritage

• Maine Olympians: Focused on Winter Games participants.

Grant Applications

ISHA invited grant applications from 46 museums from around the world. Applications are now solicited for the 2024 ISHA Museum Grant. All ski museums are invited to apply. For details, see skiinghistory.org/events.