MNC is entering a new era! For years we have talked on-and-off about what our “next step” would be as an organization.
We’ve grown from a group of adult friends skiing together in the winter to a BKL program bringing kids into the sport. We’ve gone from a summer Junior program operating just a few days a week on rollerskis to one of the strongest clubs in the country.
Through all that growth over the past few decades, we have called a number of places home: Backyard trails in Underhill…the biathlon trails at the Range…a PO box at the Underhill post office….even recently, the groomed fields at Tomasi Meadow. We’re grateful for all of these resources, but our club has never been able to truly have our own home…
Until now.
We are proud to announce that the club is leasing a multipurpose space to call our own. When the popular recreation route at Cochran Road (rollerskiing, biking, running) meets Route 2 at the Jonesville Bridge, you’ll find the Mansfield Nordic Community Center directly around the corner!
Is this new home a lavish and modern ski team building with multiple offices, lockers, waxing facilities, and exercise equipment? Not yet, that’s for sure. In fact, this space truly radiates a rural Vermont spirit…it is a former 1900s lumber mill, and the space in which we now occupy formerly served as a local gun shop. As you might have guessed, it is going to take some TLC to get up-to-speed.
But we wouldn’t have it any other way. This is a club, and a sport, that is built upon hard work and a little elbow grease. While the space is currently 1000 square feet of wood floors, particle board walls, and mismatched ceilings, we’ve got a vision. We hope you’ll join us in making that vision a reality. Aside from basic infrastructure updates like painting the interior (a great project for a whole team of teenage athletes, don’t you think?) and sanding/refinishing the floor, we are imagining this space housing:
- A small corner office area for our coaches to work, meet, and organize
- A small corner “athlete lounge” area for video review, team meetings, and pre-training gathering
- Storage space in an attached basement unit for all of our gear, lease equipment, race supplies, and more
- Full row of gym equipment such as squat racks, SkiErg, spin bike(s), TRX straps, and more
- Open floor space to hold classes, events, dinners, presentations, and meetings
We are aiming for a “grand opening” the week of June 25th, the first week of our summer programming. Until then, it will be a continuous push to complete projects and installations to get what we are calling the Mansfield Nordic Community Center (MNCC) up-and-running. Please do not visit or enter the space until things are officially open unless you are involved in a project or installation…thanks!
While we’re all for a good deal, we also want to recognize this this is a chance to make this space our own from the ground up…in many cases we’re finding creative ways to source materials and pieces. But we also want to make this space something special and fresh, so we’re hoping to furnish several key components in new condition if possible. To that end, we’ve started an Amazon “Gift Registry/List” which you can view and order from below…as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, we are able to recognize donations from this list with a tax-deductible acknowledgement.
In addition to this list of new equipment, items that we’re searching for used if you have them and are interested in selling/donating include:
- Olympic standard (2″ diameter center hole) weight plates of any/all sizes
- Shelving of any size or variety that we can add to our basement storage area
- A clean, solid-color area rug about 8’x10′ (already donated, thanks!)
- A mini fridge, preferably on the smaller side! (already donated, thanks!)
The summer months are approaching, and our training groups are assembling with more and more participants! Both the MNC University and MNC Junior squads are starting to heat up.
