Ski Ward

Ski Ward's history "dates back to as early as 1939, when Ward Hill ski area may have first opened" on the Ward family's farm on Union Hill in Shrewsbury, per New England Ski History. Citing the Patriot Ledger, the same source states Ward Hill received its name because bonfires were lit atop it during the Civil War when the Union Army won battles. Ward Hill received press coverage in December 1942 as one of the few ski operations near cities allowed to have night skiing, because it was located just outside the wartime dim-out restriction area; operators Warren Tyler and Louis Payne made improvements to the slope ahead of the 1942-43 season. In September 1965, Ward Hill Ski Area Corp. was established by Robert Martin, Brenda DeCoteau, and Paul O'Connell, with Edwin Fedeli named Treasurer, "reportedly established in conjunction with long time operator" Robert "Bob" Rochette. That same month, the corporation entered into a 15-year lease with Florence B. Ward and her son Bruce B. Ward for the 40-acre ski area, and a new Mueller T-Bar was installed for 1965-66, financed through Guaranty Bank & Trust Company of Worcester. Ski instructor Steve Morrow, son of ski school director Bill Morrow, was named to the PSIA Demonstration Team in the late 1960s while teaching at Ward Hill, later moving on to run a program at Sugarloaf. Ward Hill entered "the chairlift age in 1983-84, when a used Mueller double chairlift was installed in front of the lodge." In the fall of 1990, the LaCroix family formed Ski Ward, Inc. and took over Ward Hill; John LaCroix of that family briefly expressed interest in also taking over Blue Hills' ski area in 2000, helping the Metropolitan District Commission develop lease proposals. After twenty years of service, the Mueller double chairlift was retired following the 2002-03 season, replaced by a new Partek triple chairlift, while the original lattice Mueller towers were retained. Ski Ward entered a new 20-year lease with the Ward family for the same 40-acre tract in April 2007. Bruce Ward, whose family had leased the land to the ski area since 1965, died in 2012 at the age of 90; three years later, in 2015, his granddaughter was married atop Ski Ward. In the early 2010s, Ski Ward built out summer operations including tubing, a terrain park, a BigAirBag, and volleyball, further diversified with "the inception of the Shrewsbury Farmer's Market in 2014." John LaCroix's son Mikey began making headlines in the 2010s as a teenager notching wins in national snowboard competitions, and was named to the US Ski and Snowboard Team in 2019. Ski Ward hosts the Central Massachusetts Conference Ski League, whose own page lists member teams from Algonquin, Ashland, Hopkinton, King Phillip, Medfield, Medway, Millis, Nipmuc, St. John's, Shrewsbury High, Westborough High, and Wachusett Regional High, with races "held regularly on thursdays."