Dixon ski club now in its 12th year

By Karen Peterson, Leader Staff

DIXON — It's not Vail. It's not even Whitefish. But Dixon has a ski club, and it's one of the most established ones in an area school district.

The Dixon Ski Club is not your typical ski club with expendable funds and designer attire, nor is there much opportunity for snow sports in the relatively flat town, but for the past 12 years there has been a club.

About 20 students are in the club, which is a lot considering there are only 65 students in the entire K-8 district. That's almost a third of the student body, and that level of interest is one of the reasons the club has been so successful over the years.

"In the winter, there is not a whole lot for kids to do in Dixon," principal Mark Faroni said. "We don't have a skate park or a movie theater but we do try to offer a variety of things for the kids to do."

Giving kids something to do helps keep them out of trouble, he said.

"There is a direct correlation between kids with nothing to do and crime rates," he said. "So we try to provide things for them to do."

And 12 years ago, the students wanted to ski.

"The kids showed a lot of interest in skiing when we were looking for things for them to do back then. It was a vision of mine and other teachers to be able to give the kids a chance to have some ski lessons and get a chance to ski," Faroni said.

Funding the project was more difficult than learning to navigate the bunny hills, but with a series of fundraisers done in the off season the club came up with enough money to pay for expenses. Recently, the 21st Century grant, which helps fund after-school programs, pitched in to help pay for the cost of fuel to get to the slopes.

"The kids have done bake sales, candy sales, chili dinners, car washes … We've had to go where there are more people, to places with a larger population. And Rod's Harvest Foods in St. Ignatius really helped out a lot by providing a place to do a lot of the sales," he said.

Students provide matching funds to help pay their way, too. The teachers have also created a scholarship fund to help those students who are unable to pay for the additional costs of the trip that go beyond what is raised during the student fundraisers.

"The teachers do fundraisers for scholarships for kids that can't come up with the matching funds," he said, "The teachers have created that and it helps out those students who really want to ski."

For all of that hard work, the Dixon Ski Club hits the slopes at Lookout Pass all day for a few Saturdays during the season.

"Four hours on the bus and eight hours of skiing," teacher Cindy Hill said. "We leave at seven in the morning and get back that night at seven. It's a lot of fun. The kids love it."

The club decided to utilize the open bus seats and offer them to the public, although those not in the club must pay for their own expenses. On the ride to the slopes, the bus is packed with more people in it than the school's entire population.

"We invite Charlo to go, too," she said. "We pack the bus. There are usually about 78 passengers."

Even though the ski trips represent the only opportunities to ski for many students, a lot of them have made it off of the bunny hill, she said.

"The majority of the kids are really good. They start learning in fifth grade and they really know what they are doing by eighth grade. We take fifth through eighth graders," Hill said. "It's like riding a bike. They get back on the slopes and remember what they'd learned the year before. And this next trip, we are getting free lessons. It's a great opportunity for these kids."