(June 8, 2006 – Weirs, NH) Visit the Lake Winnipesaukee
Museum in the Weirs on Wednesday, June 28 to hear about
Water Skiing on Lake Winnipesaukee. The history of the Weirs
Ski Club will be presented by Bill Trudgeon of Laconia,
one of the club’s founders, and Dick Binette of the
Weirs, who joined the club as a teenager and went on to
become an international water ski champion. The program
will begin at 7:00 p.m. Admission is free.
“The Weirs Ski Club put amateur water skiing on the
map,” stated Dick Binette, “and it put water
skiing within the reach of those who otherwise would be
unable to ski.”
Formed in 1949, the Weirs Ski Club grew to be the largest
water ski club in the country with 350 members. Its ski
school offered lessons on slalom, jumping and trick riding,
and the club presented day and evening shows in Alton, Meredith
and Weirs. The club toured all over the New England circuit
and competed in national tournaments, hosting the National
Water Ski Championships on Lake Opechee in 1954 and 1959.
“John Veazey, Larry Brown, Bill Goodhue and I started
the club,” said Bill Trudgeon. Originally a snow skier
from Minnesota, Mr. Trudgeon first came to the area for
a snow ski tournament at Gunstock in 1946. An employment
offer came from his friend Carl Lund, the well known Northland
Ski manufacturer, and Bill and his wife came to live in
Laconia the following year. “Skiing was second nature to me,” Trudgeon indicated,
so transitioning from snow skiing to water skiing was easy
for him.
Binette indicated that one of the most important points
about water skiing is the boat driver’s ability and
stated that Mr. Trudgeon was the first recipient of the
American Water Ski Association’s National Boat Driver
Award in late 1950’s, presented by Century Boats.
The Lake Winnipesaukee Museum hosts the monthly Winnipesaukee
Wednesday programs to share the history and heritage of
Lake Winnipesaukee. The next program is scheduled for Wednesday,
July 26 entitled the “History of a Summer Boys Camp
– The Story of Camp Boycroft” presented by David
Ray. These events are free and open to the public.
The Lake Winnipesaukee Historical Society is a nonprofit
organization dedicated to preserving and promoting the history
of Lake Winnipesaukee and vicinity. The Lake Winnipesaukee
Museum is open Monday - Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
all year and is located directly on Route 3 in the Weirs
section of Laconia, just south of Funspot. For further information,
please contact 603-366-5776
or info@lwhs.us.
