About Us |
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Thirty years later and still going strong.
Below is a summary of the March 2003 Newsletter written by then “Communications Officer” Gary Sandberg. It commemorated our ski club’s Silver Anniversary Season.
Our history:
Prior to 1978, members of the original Music City Water Ski Club skied at Center Hill Lake. Many of its members lived in the Nashville area. One member, Jarrell Summar, discovered Pooles Knob at Percy Priest Lake while looking for a site closer to Nashville.Jarrell’s initial request to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a ski course permit was met with resistance. However, another club member, Vic Varallo, along with the help of an individual who at the time was campaigning for the Fifth District Congressional seat, approached them. These two men convinced the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that a ski course would be a good thing and this resulted in Jarrell and the ski club getting the green light and a permit was granted.
During the summer of 1978 a group of five Nashville skiers (Vic Varallo, Jarrell Summar, Eddie Kirkland, Everett Carpenter and Walter McDade) installed the slalom course at our present site. Before the end of that year, four other skiers (Ham Wallace, Nikki Lowe, Andrew Key and Dave Turner) joined the original five and begin skiing at Pooles Knob. Thus, the Music City Water Ski Club had officially relocated closer to the city from Center Hill Lake.
The following year a ski jump was installed alongside the slalom course. And as the sayings go, "Let the competition begin" and “The rest is history.”
1979 Poole's Knob Vic Varallo Open
Bobby Chaffin (Nashville)
Paul Hafer (Paducah, KY)
Debbie French (Knoxville)
Teri Irwin (Nashville)
RIck Philpot (Nashville)
Ham Wallace (Nashville)
P.J. "the dog" (Nashville)
These past 30 years have brought about a lot of change. Skis, skiers, ski boats, speed controls and other skiing equipment have all changed over the years. However, a few things seem to remain as constant as the ski course dimensions: our love, passion, desire and need to ski, especially around those little orange balls! This passion has continued for years, and I am sure this will not diminish in the future.
Our club holds several ski clinics annually. We hold these clinics, including the Adaptive Water Ski Clinic, In-His-Wakes Ski Clinic and the Boy Scouts Learn to Ski Clinic to share our passion for the water and promote water skiing.
After 25 years of boat traffic in the ski cove, the shoreline has receded several feet. Five years ago, in an attempt to abate this erosion, the club began a shoreline project. Our efforts, wholeheartedly approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, have included lining the shoreline with both rock and plants. It may take another year or two to fully compete this project and time will reveal how successful this will be. Another project in its infancy, is creating a wave brake system to help attenuate boat rollers entering our course.
Feel free to join us and become a part of this historic club.
