The Village at Squaw Valley Hosts Snowshoe Thompson Dedication Celebration

[Squaw Valley USA] June 4, 2011 – The Village at Squaw Valley and Sons of Norway, Snowshoe Thompson Lodge 6-078, are hosting a dedication celebration honoring the Sierra legend Snowshoe Thompson at the world famous Squaw Valley USA resort, site of the 1960 Olympics. The Dedication is to be held at 1 p.m. on June 25, 2011 in the Events Plaza of The Village at Squaw Valley.

The dedication is for the Resort’s newly acquired, thirteen ft. copper sculpture of “Snowshoe Thompson”, created by artist Richard Gill of Nevada City, CA. The sculpture depicts one of histories legendary characters who carried the mail through Sierra snows, from Placerville, CA. to Genoa, NV., for more than twenty winters. A bronze plaque, donated by Sons of Norway, Snowshoe Thompson Lodge of Yuba City, CA. will be installed honoring this Norwegians place in California history.

The idea for Gills creation came to him in his Nevada City studio while researching some historic California lore. Snowshoe was that impetus for the creative spark. During the months of construction that followed, Gill said “I got into the mind and story of The Man, how he fashioned his 25 pound skis, known back then as snowshoes, out of solid oak and carried a mail pack weighing up to 100 pounds through mountain blizzards, but most of all, how he felt about the great Sierra Nevada mountains that he came to love. I wanted to capture the feeling of that moment. So on completion of the sculpture I wrote the accompanying poem and titled it “A REST AT THE CREST”.

In addition to his fine-art sculpture, Gill is a poet and performer, having written and performed his one-man show “The Medicine Man” throughout America. His latest endeavor is a video incorporating sculpture, poetry and the spoken word. “Signs of Our Time” is a social commentary, and can be seen on You Tube or richardgillproductions.com.

The event program will include a brief history of Snowshoe Thompson and a reading of Gills poem, Norwegian dancing and instruction provided by the Kropps, Norwegian singing by Phil Walker and a special performance by Snowshoe Thompson impersonator, Steve Hale.

All Sons of Norway Lodges, District representatives, International representatives and the Norwegian Consulate are invited, as well as the general public. A recruiting stand will also be available for prospective members in any represented lodge. For further information please call (530) 584-6266.

Special Lodging Packages available: Call 1-866-818-6963 and use promotion code SMMR.