MORE GGB: Many times over the years, RTS has had comments on the
old Zippo ski slope located on one of the hills at the back of
Callahan Park. Virtually everyone of a certain age, it seemed,
learned to ski there and had fond memories of the sport.

By virtue of its name, we obviously knew that the ski slope had
some connection to Zippo but it wasn’t until recent days that we
learned the whole story.

The history was included in a story which appeared in the
spring/summer edition of Portraits magazine on “the Blaisdell
effect” – a reference to the impact George Blaisdell, his family
and company has had on the community at large.

We quoted extensively from the story during last week’s
Zippo/Case swap meet but wanted to add some of the background on
the ski slope.

“From the mid-1940s until the early 1970s, the Zippo Ski Slope
was almost as much of a regional attraction as the Kinzua Bridge,”
the story says.

“Blaisdell bought the land for the 1,000-foot long, 275-foot
wide ski slope and jump located near the end of Edgewood Road near
Callahan Park in Bradford. Even after he gave the site to the city
so it could be maintained, he paid the light bill to run the tow
and the spots that permitted popular night skiing.

“Run by volunteers, some who manually packed the snow by
side-stepping up the hill, the slope was rated one of the best in
the Niagara Frontier region and provided 20 seconds of downhill
that some recall being as smooth as polished chrome. By the 1970s,
however, new safety regulations proved costly, especially for an
operation made up of volunteers, and the city’s building needs put
an end to this popular attraction.”

Fast-forward to 2006 we see another contribution to the sports
scene linked to the Blaisdell family, specifically the late Paul C.
Duke III, one of Mr. Blaisdell’s grandchildren.

This past spring, the pool in the Sport and Fitness Center at
the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford was named the Paul C. Duke
III Aquatic Center, and we’ve been told a formal dedication is
scheduled next month.

The center will support the college’s new women’s and men’s swim
teams.

A campus official was quoted in the story that, “The naming of
the aquatic center gives us a chance to memorialize Paul for his
tremendous generosity.”