November 10, 1936 – JSA to J. W. Van de Water (19 Circle Driveway, Hastings on Hudson) –
Dear Jack:
A Mr. Kenneth Cuddleback from Pittsburgh, a director of the U.S. Eastern Amateur Ski Club, discussed with a group here the possibility of his organization appointing a committee in New York State to represent their organization, the idea being that such a committee would be statewide, non-commercial, and therefore, more representative of the state’s ski trail interests than a single representative, who now happens to be Mr. Hicks,, one of the directors. It was hoped by our group here that this arrangement would help to promote this sport in a way agreeable to the average skier and with due regard to those who have commercial interests.
It seems that this proposed committee, while logical, could not be encouraged definitely by Mr. Cuddleback in view of his lack of authority, and to bring about such an arrangement would require several weeks and possibly not mature for several months, particularly if such an arrangement was opposed by Mr. Hicks and also because the U. S. Eastern is overwhelmed with the problems that they now have and apparently are unable to take on any new obligations or problems.
To bring our group here in synchronism with each other or completely out of step, we have called for a business meeting of the Schenectady Winter Sports Cub which will take place next week, at which tie they will vote to join the Trails Conference or decline to do so. We here think that you should appoint, right away, a good strong representative statewide ski trail committee, some or all of them to attend the December 5th meeting as observers, and hold a meeting themselves possibly Saturday night after the other meeting, or at such time or place as the chairman might direct. This committee, after listening to the various discussions and no doubt resolutions, will then be in a good position to agree or disagree on what has taken place and take suitable action I their committee, that is, action to be confirmed or approved by the main organization later.
You and Torrey will, of course, know better who the metropolitan representatives should be, but we suggest you consider Bill Gleussing and Florence Fuller. As you probably know, they have been the leaders in developing the North Creek ski trails and are fairly well acquainted with the Schenectady crowd and will be active. Andrew Kellogg of Schenectady, who as you know is disabled from a broken leg received while skiing last year, is excellent on the executive end of such work, although he is at present identified with the Hicks group, being a member of the Adirondack Mountain Club committee, but not a member of the club. After our meeting next week we will know more definitely what recommendations to make regarding this section. One other name occurs to us in New York, and that is Alex Wylie who is with General Electric.
I am sending a copy of this letter to Malone with the thought that he will have someone to suggest in his neighborhood, and I am also asking him to comment on the procedure suggested in this letter, which he may wish to do. I believe it was his feeling when last we discussed this subject that as soon as we got a reasonable number of other organizations as members we would then hold an organizational meeting on the 12th of December as we considered a week or more ago. In place of that would be the meeting of the ski-trail committee that we suggest you appoint, and which may wish to meet in Albany before or after the Hicks meeting.
Sincerely yours,
JSApperson