HAROLD HAYNES BIO

Long Time Gone

A coffee colored picture sits on a table adjacent to Harold Haynes’ desk.  It shows Perry Merrill, state forester and avant-garde architect of Vermont’s ski industry, and Harold Haynes, the first president of Jay Peak, Inc., looking out toward a stand of uncut birch trees in July of 1955.  Mr. Merrill is pointing in the direction of the trees while Harold, sporting a half-cocked fedora hat, and a pair of badly wrinkled Gabardine pants, looks to be in the process of rolling up one of his sleeves.  It is a pose he will strike, with regularity, over the course of the next 50 years.

Harold, now inching out of his middle eighties, is at ease behind his desk.  White walls hold pictures of his daughter, his 2 grandchildren and his “4 or 5 great grandchildren”.    Men like Harold Haynes are allowed this sort of imprecision.   He is sharp, quick witted and even quicker to point out that he “doesn’t have all of the answers.”  Truth be told, men who say that generally do. 

It’s 3:15 pm when I begin interviewing the founder of Jay Peak, Inc.  We’ll cover 50 years in 90 minutes, touching on everything from ski industry growth and the construction of Route 242 to Walter Foeger, Dan McNally and the roasting and grilling of Broiler Chickens.   He is sitting back in his chair when we begin.  His arm is resting on a green, cast iron safe bearing his name in script across the top.  He takes off his glasses and wipes his eyes dry as I ask my first question.

JP:   So when did you get here?
HH: 1939.  I had just graduated the University of Vermont with a degree in Agriculture, Manufacturing, Production and a few other things.  I came here as a single man, but I married a girl from North Troy not long after I got here.  Started teaching too.
JP:  When did you first get the idea to make a run at opening a ski area?
HH: Well, lots of folks in the area were interested in skiing.  We used to take the kids up the hill over there (he rolls up one sleeve, and points out an imaginary window), meet ‘em at the bottom and take ‘em up again – right in the back of my truck.  Used to put on some jumping competitions too.  Right about then, a couple of ski areas were getting start up funding from the State and I thought we should get in on some of it.
JP: Did you try to secure support from the town as well?
HH: Sure.  We held a meeting at the Hotel Reba (The North Troy Restaurant in its original iteration) where we tried to get some support from the folks in town.  They thought I was nuts.  (He rolls up his other sleeve here.)
JP: You obviously didn’t give up.
HH: Well, my father was on the Board of Directors of the Forest and Park Department with Perry Merrill.  Perry was helping to get ski resorts going across the State and I thought he might be able to help us out.  He got us in front of some legislators, but they wanted us to wait two years and to think things through a little better.
JP: How’d that go over?
HH: Well, not so good.  At least not with me.  That’s when we BBQ’d the chickens.
JP: Of course.
HH: Not many folks in the area had a good idea of what the area looked like up close so a few of us who had been raising Broiler Chickens decided to roast some of ‘em.  We went up to right about where the Inglenook Lodge is nowadays, dug a big pit and started roasting these chickens.  Put a good vinegar marinade on them too.  The smoke and the smell got the attention of lots of folks.  Even the Governor came by for some chicken.  Anyway, the State finally gave us $30,000 and an old CCC cabin from Moscow Vt to use as a base station.
JP: So then the real work started?
HH: Sure.  We started slow and tried to do things right.  Too slow for some of the folks who had invested in shares of the company (to the tune of $10 an issue).  A local member of the Church was particularly vocal about the pace at which things were moving.  He wanted us to move faster than we were.
JP: So what did you do?
HH:   We put him on the Board of Directors.  That was Father St. Onge and he did a little bit of everything, but he mostly kept things moving – helping with sales and keeping the investor’s interests in the front of his mind.
JP: And what were you doing at this point?
HH: (He fidgets with both sleeves, but leaves them rolled up.) I was clearing the road up to the area with Perry.  We had to quietly buy 200 acres of woodland – the area where the Jay Peak marquee sits now – because it was the only parcel of land not owned by the estate.  That was tricky stuff and we really needed to have it.  I was also busy trying to make payroll every Friday night.  Friday nights were always interesting.
JP: So then things started to roll?
HH:  Yup.  We hired the owner of the Derby Drive-In Theatre Dan McNally.  He needed something to do in the winter and we needed someone to run things for a while.  Eventually we figured we needed to get a ski teacher to run the place and found Walter Foeger’s resume out of a stack of ‘em that had been coming in.  He was something.
JP: How so?
HH: He was one of the most creative guys I ever met.  We were always reigning him in.  He had a dozen new ideas every week.  We were always sifting through ‘em.  Out of the dozen ideas, maybe 2 of them would get implemented, but those that did would fundamentally change the way we ran the resort. 
JP: After 10 years or so, you sold off the resort to Weyerhauser Inc. who would go on to put in the Tram and begin investing in snowmaking.  Did you ever think things would get as big as they did?
HH: More or less.  The first Saturday I was in town in 1939 I went all the way to the top of the Peak.  It was accessed by a single walking trail back then.  The view from the top really impressed me.  I can’t say that I envisioned everything, but I could see the potential.  Even way back then.
JP: What do you think of the way Jay is growing now?
HH: It’s a lot like it was back then.  Jay grows slower than a lot of places here in Vermont, but maybe that’s good.  Maybe we’re a better ski area because of the way we grow.  Thoughtfully, and all.
JP: The personality of Jay is linked back to the personalities that helped build it.  Foeger, Father St. Onge, Dan McNally.  What’s your legacy?
HH: (He rolls both sleeves down to his wrists.)  I’m not sure about that.  I am sure that’s not for me to answer though.  Lots of folks did a lot of hard work.  Investors got their original investments back, but that’s all.  Matter of fact that one on the wall (he points to the first issue of a $10 Jay Peak Inc. stock hanging, framed on his wall) still hasn’t been cashed in.  I’d probably get nothing for it.  (He pauses for a second here and starts to grin).  Actually, I think I got my money’s worth.