Hello Big Tupper friends and supporters - I just wanted to send out a quick message to you all and share some good news, sad news, and some bad news...on the good news front, we just clicked over the 9,000 signatures mark today on the official 30th day of this petition! We will keep it going and hopefully we can get to the 10,000 signature goal I've set in the next few weeks. In terms of next steps, the bad news is that we are on hold for the duration of this COVID-19 crisis that is consuming our town, our state, our country, and our world. Be safe and stay healthy!
On the sad news front, we lost one of our original volunteers on the Big Tupper Ski Patrol last week, Mr. John 'Fitz' Fitzpatrick.
Fitz was born on Oct. 17, 1927, in Saranac Lake, the son of John and Margaret Slavin Fitzpatrick. He graduated from Saranac Lake High School in the Class of 1946. After graduation, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, where he served with the 1st Marine Division and was later called back to active duty during the Korean War. He married Carol Elliott on June 11, 1955, at St. Bernard’s Church in Saranac Lake. He started his collegiate education at Colorado State College. He subsequently graduated from the State University of New York at Oswego in 1957 in industrial arts. He taught at Colton-Pierrepont Central School for three years and then at the Rehabilitation Department at Sunmount Veterans Hospital for six years. He obtained a master’s degree from SUNY Plattsburgh in guidance and counseling, and was a guidance counselor at Tupper Lake High School for 25 years, retiring in 1989. He then worked for the Curry Scholarship Foundation for the next 18 years as its liaison to the 40 schools within the Adirondacks.
Fitz spent 34 years on the National Ski Patrol at the Big Tupper Ski Area, starting in the winter of 1962. One of the last times I had the privilege to ski with Mr. Fitz was at Whiteface Mtn. a few years ago. A group of us TLer's met up at the top of the Wilmington Trail and started down the mountain. At one point I was making some solid GS turns and keeping a good pace when to my right I hear this guy cruising up on me...thinking it was one of the younger folk, I took a gander over and there was Mr. Fitz cruising along at the tender age of 88 or 89ish! I was blown away, the man was a machine, he skied hard and fast! God bless you Sir, your service to your community, your country and your local ski area was much appreciated.
Warmest Regards - Rick Donah