Big Tupper show opening popular with locals
by Dan McClelland
A new “Thru the Lens of Kathleen Bigrow” exhibit which featured 106 crisp photographs of the Big Tupper Ski Area drew over 75 people to a four-hour reception and opening night Friday at the Tupper Arts headquarters on Park Street.
Not unexpected, however, was that many who came out to enjoy the exhibition, were in some of the photos.
The show, the second one from Mrs. Bigrow's historic collection in the past year, was organized by Jim Lanthier, who was entrusted with the photographer's collection, and the art center's Ed Donnelly. The exhibit will run for a month or more.
The photographs featured hundreds of faces of people who frequented Tupper Lake's hometown ski area during the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Some were the workers, some were of local and visiting skiers, some were of well-remembered events and developments like lodge construction, new lift construction and dedications there over the years.
The photos, with the exception of a color one of Mrs. Bigrow, were all black and white, as that was her medium.
For many of the visitors, it was a vivid trip down memory lane.
There were small clipboard carrying order forms for copies of Kathleen's photographs and many of the visitors signed up to purchase them. Mr. Lanthier will be processing those orders in upcoming days. A portion of the proceeds of those sales will benefit Tupper Arts and the maintenance of its headquarters here and its many arts and cultural events coming this year.
Mr. Lanthier said Friday he was pleased with the opening night's attendance.
Visitors often huddled together in front of various photographs, discussing the people in them and the scene depicted.
Many of those who attended stayed for several hours, discussing the photographs.
Another popular aspect of the show were two vintage family home movies of the early days of the town-owned center loaned to Tupper Arts by Videotographer Rick Godin.
“We heard many compliments that evening about how wonderful the exhibition was,” said Louise McNally, the past president of Tupper Arts.
For the show Mr. Lanthier and Mr. Donnelly prepared a 12-page brochure which attempted to identify each photo by event, date and some of the people in them.
According to the brochure's introduction, much of which came from Louis Simmons' “Mostly Spruce and Hemlock,” the popular recreational area had its roots in the 1940s with the cutting of trails on the north slope of Sugar Loaf Mountain, overlooking the Tupper Lake Country Club golf area (rare photos included in this show). In the mid-1950s the town began studying the possibility of a more ambitious ski development. Initially the town was hoping for New York State financial support similar to what was provided to Gore and Whiteface mountain areas. When the state rejected the request, the Town of Altamont took matters into its own hands. A referendum was held and local taxpayers voted to invest $490,000 in the Big Tupper development.
“Big Tupper opened the day after Christmas in 1960. It was officially dedicated on January 29, 1961 with a big parade including bands, floats and ceremonies at the new base lodge.
In his book too Mr. Simmons, the veteran editor of the Tupper Lake Free Press, mentioned Mrs. Bigrow's noteworthy contribution to Tupper Lake. “No record of the newspaper people of the community would be complete without a note on Tupper's lone woman worker in the field. Mrs. Kathleen Bigrow, who has covered the Tupper Lake area for some 25 years for the Adirondack Daily Enterprise and has represented the Syracuse Herald American, the Syracuse Pot-Standard and the Watertown Daily Times here for many years.
“An indefatigable reporter and photographer, she earned a reputation for tireless, thorough day-in, day-out coverage of local news and has compiled an impressive file of photos of events and personalities in the community over the years.”
Kathleen's nickname here was Brenda Star of comic strip fame.
Kathleen also worked as the lone photographer for the Tupper Lake for about 20 years after the publication was purchased by
Dan McClelland and the Morris brothers in 1977. She later operated a store called “The Sorting Gap” which featured Adirondack crafts and woodenware, along with souvenirs, for a half dozen years when she was in her eighties. It was a daily meeting place for many senior locals to mull over the pertinent issues of the day. Kathleen died in 2014 at the age of 91. At the time of her death she possessed all her mental faculties.
