“The members of Camden Rotary are leading the way with this gift to the Mountain of Possibilities capital campaign,” said campaign co-chair Erin Flanagan of Viking Lumber. “They’ve been a major help in spreading the word about the improvements needed to make sure the Recreation Area and the Camden Snow Bowl can provide great year-round benefits for years to come.”
Two years ago, the Camden Rotary Club decided to revamp its community service strategy, concentrating most of its fundraising efforts on one big project. The Ragged Mountain Recreation Area redevelopment project fit the bill perfectly.
“Many of our members and their children grew up spending their winters at the Snow Bowl – and quite a few of us still do,” said Graham Phaup, Camden Rotary Club president. “Anything we could do to help extend this amazing community resource for use in more seasons, by more people, and into the future was a natural fit with the club’s purpose and goals.”
The club held more fundraising events – and raised more money – in the past year than in recent memory. Two blueberry pancake breakfasts, the Music-by-the-Sea Concert, a giant yard sale, holiday nut sales, and a super raffle all helped provide financial support, while also raising awareness of the project’s importance.
With this donation in hand, the campaign has received gifts and pledges of well over $2 million, on the way to raising a total of $4.5 million. Once the private donation total is in place, a bond issue will be placed before Camden voters to raise the balance of the project’s $6.5 million total budget.
Ragged Mountain Recreation Area Foundation board chair Bob Gordon noted that people have been eagerly asking when the new lifts will go in, the new lodge will go up, the snowmaking will be expanded and new trails and other improvements will be in place. “We keep saying that the project will get done as soon as the money is in place. The Camden Rotary Club has just helped us take a major step in that direction, and we’d love to hear from others interested in helping make this all happen quickly.”
Plans for the project can be found at www.camdensnowbowl.com/redevelopment. For more information on the capital campaign, contact Bob Gordon at 691-8339.
