Brenda Baer: Gunstock is and always has been an asset for the county

To The Daily Sun, 

First, we should all remember the history of this great recreation area.

Back in the 1930s, America was in a deep depression. Millions of people were out of work and millions without food or the help needed to make life possible. That is when President Franklin Roosevelt started programs like the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps, to give a helping hand and restore families. The CCC gave jobs to the unemployed younger people to build roads, fight forest fires, plant trees and do jobs that helped build the country while giving these young people the tools needed to do the necessary jobs and later be able to go out in the world with the ability to earn a living.

The WPA made it possible to put unemployed people to work and keep them off welfare while doing something for their community. This also restored their feeling of being worthwhile. The WPA came to the aid of Belknap County. They obtained and gave to Belknap County the land which is now known as Gunstock with the intent to have local people build a recreation area, and keep them off the welfare rolls. Not only were local people put to work, everything needed to build this area including the recreation building was garnered from the area itself. The wood, the granite, etc. all harvested from within the area. Because it was county-owned, county-built, the County Commissioners made it very available to the residents of the county. I remember that kids paid $1 a day to ski on weekdays and $2 on Sunday. There were special rates for residents and reduced rates for season passes. Season passes still exist at a lower price than day prices, but at a rate no longer affordable for most kids and adults.

Over the years, the area has had good years and bad years. Years without snow and little business as a result. There have been years when the area has had to borrow money. And we have had good years, like this past year. The original commissioners operated on the premise you could only spend what you took in as it wasn’t meant to burden the taxpayers. This made it hard for improvements, but the later commission allowed borrowing to meet the demands of a growing industry. It would be essential to know the content of the original warrant to the county by the federal government. Did it lay out rules for the running and maintenance of the property it was giving to county? Are there any prohibitive actions included? And lastly, how do the people of Belknap County feel about changes?

It is your area, not the commissions'. Get involved.

Brenda Baer

Laconia