Heritage Zen:: Fun on the Slopes

Helene (Szerejko) Dingle (First Girl Seated) and Unidentified Friends, Mid 1940s

(Digital Images. Photographs Privately Held By Cynthia Shenette; Photographs and Text, Copyright (c) 2013 Cynthia Shenette) As I was looking through some of the winter photographs in my collection for something to post for Wordless Wednesday I found the picture shown below. Not being a ~~winter~~ sports enthusiast I had no idea what the heck the structure was behind the skiers. Then I found the photo above and figured it out! My mom's sister, Helene (Szerejko) Dingle (1923-1955), is the girl sitting at the front of the toboggan. When I looked at the ramp my first thought was gee, that looks safe. From what my mom said, Helene was more of a risk-taker than she was. Mom preferred to hang out at the lodge and sip hot chocolate on the deck while the others hit the slopes. Mom was my kind of girl. One thing I do know is that if my grandmother saw that ramp and knew one of her daughters was coming down that thing on a toboggan she would have had a coronary...