Over 30 years ago, Minnesotans voted to dedicate a portion of state lottery proceeds to conservation. Since then, it’s provided over $1 billion for our Great Outdoors. In November, a question to renew this funding will be on the front of every Minnesotan’s ballot. To ensure this critical funding source remains dedicated for the Great Outdoors, over 50% of voters must vote “YES.” Leaving the question blank counts as a “No” vote. If it doesn’t pass, the constitutional protection for this important conservation funding will expire, and Legislators would decide what to do with the funding.

Chester Bowl is formally supporting this amendment, and we are encouraging you to vote YES. We think it is essential to preserving and protecting our natural lands and providing for outdoor recreation opportunities. You may have heard about our recent $2.3 million funding recommendation for the Chalet Renovation and Expansion- it came from this funding source. And while our funding is not in jeopardy (it falls under the current time period), we urge you to join us in voting YES so that Minnesotans can continue to benefit from this program.

All of us at Chester Bowl want to share our gratitude to the community for a phenomenal Fall Fest!

We estimate that we had about 11,000 people come through the park today, visiting our 130 craft vendors and 10 food trucks! This was only possible because of the 100 volunteers that helped out through the day.

Fall Fest is a fundraiser for our scholarship fund. Thanks to YOUR generosity, we received $12,012 in donations at the entry! Every dollar raised will directly support our scholarship, allowing low income families to ski, snowboard, and attend summer camp, when they otherwise would not have been able to.

So, whatever your role, thank you for being part of Fall Fest and the Chester Bowl community. We will see you all again on Saturday, September 20, 2025!

Happy Fall Fest Day! As you get ready for the big event, here are three things you should know:

1. The event is from 9:30 to 4:30 today, Saturday, September 21.

2. Please walk, bike, or take the shuttle buses from UMD Lot B (at the corner of College Street and University Drive). The shuttles and parking are free and convenient, and you won’t need to wait more than five minutes for one of the buses. PLEASE do not park in the neighborhoods- it will take longer and be more stressful! There is no parking near the event or on Skyline except for a limited number of spots for cars with disability permits.

3. While the event is free, we are accepting donations at the entry gate. All donations support our scholarship fund, ensuring that anyone can participate in our programs regardless of income. We recommend $5/person or $10/family, but many generous folks give more!

You can find full event details at https://www.chesterbowl.org/fall-fest/

We can’t wait to see you at Chester Bowl later today!

Winter registration is now open!

We are excited to announce that registration is now open for the 2024/2025 Chester Bowl Winter Program! While this may seem early to begin to think about skiing and snowboarding, winter will upon us soon enough and we have a lot of amazing programming planned. Please take the time to read through this email and be sure to pay attention to the info about registration and scholarships as there are lots of important details.

Registration

You need to complete a Google form if you plan on renting ski or snowboard equipment, and/or if you are requesting a scholarship (even if the scholarship is for just a season pass). Families only need to complete this form once, so please communicate with your partners to avoid submitting multiple entries. If you are getting a season pass only, and are NOT requesting a scholarship, then you do not need to register. When you register, you will identify how many season passes, how many sets of equipment, and what equipment you will be renting. If you are requesting a scholarship, you will also do that as part of this registration and will identify your family size and income range. There is more info about scholarships below. Once you click “Submit” you are registered.

Registration is now open and will close on October 13. You can register any time in that window. After that point, if you missed the deadline to sign up, you will have to sign up for any available ski fitting appointments once we post it to our website starting on October 21, and your family will likely not have access to scholarship funding, as we expect that it will have all been awarded. We also expect that all snowboard fitting slots will be filled.

You can register now at this link: https://forms.gle/GP3YSf34NgyhG2vU6

Costs & Payments

The costs of this year’s program can be found by following this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Jen9midKdilJ-uJ8SDrHw9U75D51GHpP/view?usp=sharing

To determine your family’s costs, you must first find the number of season passes you are purchasing, then find the number of equipment rentals, and then you can follow the row over to find your cost in the “Initial Payment” column.

There are several different payment options you may choose:

• Credit Card/ Debit Card- please note that there will be a 2.7% convenience charge to cover the processing fees
• Cash
• Check
• Payment Plan: You must provide Chester Bowl with three pre-written checks when you check out. Your total cost will be divided into three payments. The first check is due and dated at the time of your equipment fitting. The second check will be dated and deposited on January 15, and the third payment will be dated and deposited on February 15.

Scholarships

The scholarship support is designed for families with lower incomes that are unable to afford to participate in our programs without financial support. This season, the scholarship funding is limited to $27,300. If your family is requesting a scholarship, please complete the winter program registration form by the October 13th deadline. Families will be notified of the scholarship amount they can expect by October 15, before they will register for equipment fittings. Scholarships will be awarded based on need and will be awarded first to families that completed their volunteer hours last season and new families.  Families may be responsible for a portion of their rental fees even if they are requesting a full scholarship. You can see a full explanation of the changes to our scholarship program and the reasons for it here: https://www.chesterbowl.org/uncategorized/winter-scholarship-update-2/

Equipment Fittings

We have a limited amount of gear that is rented out for the season on a first come, first served basis. Families will sign up for individual ski or snowboard fitting appointments. On October 15 a link will be emailed out to families that completed their hours from last season or are new to the program. The link will be emailed out on October 18 to families that did not complete their volunteer hours last year. This link will let everyone watch a winter slideshow summarizing all the different programming we have planned for the winter. At the end of the presentation, there will be a link to a Signup Genius page where families can sign up for ski or snowboard fittings.

Once signed up, families will come to Chester on their scheduled fitting night in late October or November, get fit for their gear, put it in their cars, and then pay for that equipment. They then take that gear home with them, wait (patiently?) for snow, and then ski at Chester and our partner organizations all winter long!

Equipment returns are April 7, 8, & 9. Please put these dates in your calendar now, because if you miss these return nights you will be in the last group to sign up for equipment fitting nights during the 2025/2026 season.

Season Pass Benefits

Our season passes come with free lift tickets and deals at our partner resorts including: Mount Ashwabay, Giants Ridge, Mont du Lac, Lutsen, Mount Ski Gull, Whitecap, and Spirit Mountain. Details on the benefits are still being confirmed for 2024/2025.

There’s a lot of info in this email and can be a lot to absorb especially if you are a new family.

Answers to other winter program questions can usually be found on our web site, especially at our rental page and season pass page.

Please email sam@chesterbowl.org if you have any other questions. If you know of any families that would benefit from learning to ski or snowboard, please share this email with them or encourage them to visit our website. We are looking forward to having a great winter with all of you.

Chester Bowl exists to make outdoor recreation in Chester Park available to any family regardless of their income or ability to pay. For decades, Chester Bowl has had a scholarship fund that has helped hundreds of families afford to ski, snowboard, and come to summer camp by awarding full or partial scholarships. Up until last winter, no family has been turned away, and every scholarship request has been awarded in full.

Over the last few years, scholarship requests have skyrocketed. And although fundraising for the scholarship fund has also increased, it has not kept pace with requests. Because of that, we now are limiting scholarship awards to what was raised in the previous year.

For the winter of 2024/2025, we have $27,300 in scholarship awards available. This is still a significant amount, but it is very likely that requests will exceed the funding we have available. Last year we awarded $25,000, compared to requests of $40,875.

Families will need to request scholarships during the registration period between September 16 and October 13. The request is part of the regular registration process, and you will have the opportunity to request a full or partial scholarship. We expect that anyone who does not register by the deadline is unlikely to be awarded a scholarship.

If you are a family requesting a scholarship, we want you to ask for what you need – but only what you need. Families may be responsible for paying a portion of their program fees even if they requested a full scholarship. We are optimistic that we can spread out the awards so that most, or even all, of the folks wanting to participate this winter will be able to afford to. You MUST register by October 13 to be awarded a scholarship for the winter, even if you are just requesting a season pass.

Chester Bowl is prioritizing scholarships for new families and returning families who completed their volunteer hours last winter first, followed by returning families that did not complete their volunteer hours. Families with the lowest income will also likely receive a higher percentage of their request than those with higher income.

Your family will be notified of its scholarship award by Chester staff by October 15. If your family chooses to accept this award amount and move forward with the winter program you will watch the winter slideshow and sign up for fitting times as part of the regular process.

Moving forward, the total scholarship amount available each year will continue to be based on the prior year’s fundraising, and will be split between summer and winter programming. We raise money for the scholarship fund through Fall Fest gate donations, our silent auction, grants (thank you Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation and Rotary Club 25 for your recent awards!) and donations from individuals and businesses. If you want to support the scholarship fund, please give generously at the Fall Fest gate, bid at our annual November silent auction, and/or contact Dave about making your tax-deductible gift directly.

If you have any questions about the scholarship fund, you can reach out to Dave at dave@chesterbowl.org or 218-940-9378.