6 days Ago
Josh Hodsdon is pictured with his grandmother Nancy Kinsey, who is administrator for the giveaway program, keeping track of receipts and donations. They are standing in front of the boot rack, built a couple years ago by his brother, James, who was then 12. Bruce Farrin/Rumford Falls Times MEXICO — Roxbury native Josh Hodsdon’s love for skiing will be on full display this Sunday when he holds a ski and snowboard giveaway for students in the River Valley.
The event, called River Valley Kids Ski Too, will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.
m. at 102 Harlow Hill Road. “Some of the kids need to upgrade their gear as they grow.
” Hodsdon encourages those kids to donate the gear they’ve outgrown. In the future, he’d like to set aside a time before the giveaway event when the gear exchange program can take place. But for this event, people who provide gear to Hodsdon will have first opportunity at the equipment he has available.
Last year was the first year of the giveaway. “I opened the doors and I had lines of people getting their skis, their snowboards, their boots, clothing, and then they were out the door,” said Hodsdon. Reps from Black Mountain and Saddleback were outside to promote skiing at their facilities.
He also made a donation to Black Mountain for the need to ski program. Helping Hodsdon run last year’s event were 10 of his closest friends. The giveaway aided 70 kids last year.
He’s set a goal for 110 kids this time around. “I do test the bindings and make sure the springs are good and (for liability purposes) have them sign a piece of paper that says you’re going to take (the equipment) to a ski shop that will make adjustments to their height and weight to make sure they’re safe and good to go,” said Hodsdon. He said they also helped some parents with equipment so they could go to the ski area with their child.
Having those free ski nights at Black Mountain helps all these guys who come get gear go up there.” Hodsdon, who grew up in Roxbury, said his love for skiing began at Black Mountain of Rumford when he was 12. The friends he made there became his support group when Hodsdon lost his father, Archie, to cancer when Josh was 14.
He said Jeff Marcoux of the Angry Beavers of Black Mountain gave him his first real pair of skis (for a real good price) when he was on a need to ski program at age12. The Angry Beavers are a collective group of individuals dedicated to the creation and maintenance of glades at Black Mountain of Maine. In addition, someone else gave him a pair for free.
Watching some of the older, more experienced skiers that came there to ski, Hodsdon noted, “This is something special. This is skiing and this is what I want to do.” He became a ski instructor at age 14.
“I would skip school and just go ski. All I’ve done is skied. Now it consumes me.
” Now 23, Hodsdon now lives in Rangeley, where he is into his 8th season working as ski patrol and other roles at Saddleback Mountain. As an adult, he now wishes he’d focused more on school. “Now, I’m trying to go back to (trade) school (electrician or welding), but I don’t this (skiing giveaway) to get pushed aside.
” Hodsdon has also been in contact with Maine Adaptive Sports & Recreation, which promotes year-round education and training for individuals with disabilities to develop skills, enhance independence. “They’ll be here (Sunday) with a booth and talking with people. I would like to find parents of local handicapped or special needs kids to get in contact with.
I just hope those kids show up. That’s the hardest part, to get them here to start that process. Maine Adaptive has their own fundraising and I think they 220 instructors.
It’s free, they pay the lift tickets,” he said. Hodsdon said he’s most excited this year about having Maine Adaptive here. “Skiing isn’t just clicking in and going down the hill.
There’s lot of obstacles in the way and Maine Adaptive takes those obstacles and they break it up, and they let people who can’t ski on their own go. It’s just a very cool event and hopefully by me running this program and that cost of, through all these bottle drives and everything, we can help get a River Valley kid who isn’t as fortunate to just go click in and needs the extra support to get out on the hill and enjoy it in his way,” he said. For his part, Hodsdon said, “I’m going to do some training days with Maine Adaptive this winter and become an instructor.
And it will better my job as a patroller to know as well.” Much of the inventory for this year’s giveaway was the result of a recent haul from Vermont. Hodsdon used funds from the $600 in donations and a bottle drive fundraiser and recently traveled to Vermont with friend Sammie Sax to purchase 100 pairs of discounted rental skis from the Middlebury Snow Bowl, which is a big part of the upcoming giveaway.
He said he met “Crazy Uncle Sammie” while working at Black Mountain as a ski instructor. “He came up here for a ski lesson, and we started talking. The ski lesson went great.
I ended up on a summit with him. Then at the end of the lession, he gave me this military coin that I still carry around, and a $40 tip. Later on that night, he and Theresa (wife, Sax) were in the Last Run Pub and we just hung out.
And he’s just been Crazy Uncle Sammie from there on out.” Hodsdon now has an account at Waldo St. Redemption in Rumford where bottles can be dropped off and the proceeds donated to River Valley Kids Ski Too for next year’s giveaway event.
Where did the plan for these giveaways originate from? “Realistically, I had an idea in the shower. I don’t tell too many people. They think it’s crazy,” Hodsdon noted.
It wasn’t long before he had a growing collection of equipment, either bought or donated, and decided he wanted to help bring others to the place he loved most. What is Hodsdon’s plan for these giveaways in the future? “The goal is get a 501c and become a nonprofit organization because I have people who are willing to give some money. Even when I get the 501c, this is volunteer committed time.
Everything we make goes right back into this. This is something I always make sure I have time for,” he said. Right now, Hodsdon is storing his collection of skiing, snowboard and equipment in the cellar at his mom’s residence, as well as holding the giveaway out of this small space.
“I want to end up with a couple of storage containers. and I’m thinking about changing the name (River Valley Kids Ski Too) because I don’t want it to be for just River Valley kids,” he said. “I won’t stop doing this.
If I was in jeopardy of losing this, I would quit my job and figure out how to run this before that. My goal is that when I’m 60, I’ll be at the Augusta Civic Center giving out free pairs of skis, or we have to charge $5 apiece,” said Hodsdon. He said, “It’s all about getting those kids on skis this winter and opening some doors, like the skiing industry did for me.
” Another goal he has is to bring back the afterschool program. “I remember going on the bus after school and going up to Black Mountain and skiing on Tuesdays and Thursdays,” said Hodsdon. Josh Hodsdon holds up a pair skis for a three year old, just one of a hundred pair of skis purchased from a recent trip to Vermont that will be available at this Sunday’s ski and snowboard giveaway in Mexico.
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