Gorham Kiwanis Ski Slope Patch — c. 1970s

A vintage Gorham Kiwanis Ski Slope patch from Maine, estimated to date from the 1960s or 70s, round with a gold merrowed border — a navy ring carrying GORHAM KIWANIS arched in gold across the top and SLOPE across the bottom, and inside it a gold disc with white peaks and SKI in heavy navy caps, the I drawn as a ski standing on end.

A service club built a ski slope for a town. That sentence used to be entirely unremarkable in New England and now reads like something out of a different country — the Kiwanis raised the money, cleared the hill, ran the tow and put the lights in, so that the children of Gorham would have somewhere to go in February.

Nobody does this anymore. The liability alone would end the conversation in the first meeting.

The slope ran on volunteers, which meant it ran until the volunteers got tired, which is a more common cause of death than bankruptcy.

Embroidered on twill, merrowed edge. Photos are the condition report.