ACADIA WINTER TRAILS ASSOCIATION

Elizabeth R. Bright Endowment Benefits Cross-Country Skiers

The Bright family generously created a $255,000 fund to honor Elizabeth R. (Leila) Bright. The Elizabeth R. Bright Endowment will fund annual grants to support grooming activities in perpetuity, benefiting Acadia’s winter users for a long time to come.

The fund underwrote the purchase and maintenance of grooming equipment, fuel, safety training and equipment, volunteer and staff training and support, and other annual and capital needs of cross-country trail grooming in the park. With the additional equipment and program support, volunteers will be able to groom more of the ski routes--including Aunt Betty's Pond, Eagle Lake, and Witch Hole carriage roads--sooner, taking full advantage of Mount Desert Island's unpredictable snow season.

Over the years, this group of dedicated volunteers has acquired specialized equipment, increased the number of miles of groomed carriage roads, recruited more groomers to the program, and became known as the Acadia Winter Trails Association, a committee of Friends of Acadia.

In recent years, Friends and AWTA volunteers researched and purchased new machines and track setting equipment. Additionally, they recruited new AWTA volunteers to assist with grooming on the Witch Hole, Eagle Lake, and Aunt Betty carriage roads. Adding a second base of operations and team of volunteers means more trails will be groomed for skiing faster, creating more opportunities for skiing and relieving some congestion at the popular Brown Mountain and Parkman skiing areas.

To find out more about AWTA and snow conditions on Acadia’s carriage roads, visit the Acadia National Park website or call Friends of Acadia at 207-288-3340..

To support this program, contact Lisa Horsch at 207-288-3340 or lisahorsch@friendsofacadia.org.