And boy, wasn’t it worth all the mess on Main Street because it has turned out so beautiful. Looking at the park and lake as one enters the village, and now with the impressive, massive, FISU flame cauldron.

So here is a look at the opening events of the Kennedy Games taken from the lead story on page one, Editor Ellen George:

“Jim Miller was awarded the Gold Medal as the winner of the third Kennedy International Memorial Winter Games Nordic Combined event.

“Miller, who placed first in the cross-country run with 220.0 points, amassed 196.0 points in the combined jump to tally 416.0 points for his first place overall.

“Errki Kilpenin of Finland, who amassed 194.2 points in the cross-country, took a second in the jump with 217.0. He didn’t catch Miller, however, and tallied 411.2 overall.

“Mike DeVecka, second in the cross-country coupled with a third place in the combined jump, earned third place overall with 403.9 points.

“Robert Kendall, 23, of Auburn, Maine, who placed ninth in the cross-country, pulled himself into second in the jump and fourth overall with 343.2.

“Teyck Weed, Etna, N.H., finished in fifth place with 327.2 points.”

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Cross-country race

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“Odd Martinsen, 25, Norwegian cross-country ace and winner of the world Title and every major race on this season strode to an easy victory in the 15 kilometer in the Games cross-country race held Friday morning.

“Martinsen toured the 9.3 mile course of the evergreen-lined Mt. Van Hoevenberg cross-country complex in 50 minutes 10 and 98-100th seconds to win the Gold Medal.

“Mike Elliott, 28, of Durango, Colorado, raced into second place, taking the Silver Medal when he crossed the finish line in 51:36.73.

“Bjorn Arvnes and Erik Rosebak, both of Norway’s National Squad skied into third and fourth spots. Arvnes; time of 52:01.03 gave him the Bronze Medal. Roesbak was clocked in 58:18.04 for fourth.

“Mike Gallagher, 28, of Killington, Vt., won the event last year and a Bronze Medal in 1969. U.S. Nordic Team Members, Joe McNulty, 21, of Hinsdale, Ill., and Bob Gray, 31, of Putney, Vt., placed sixth and seventh.

Of course, all events and times were reported in detail. Too much to cover here but I loved the write-up on this winner:

“A flying Finn from Roveniemi, Tauno Kayhko, 20, won an easy victory in the Master’s Ski Jump held Saturday afternoon on the 70-meter Intervals Hill in Lake Placid.

“The 54 entrants all jumped in one class.

“The slight, dark-haired flyer with the boyish grin took one practice jump on the hill prior to the meet. He then slid from the top of the scaffolding in fine style, soared 241 feet and 246 feet in his two jumps and won first place by a margin of 12 points.

“Second was Jerry Martin, 20, a 5’7″ fireball from Minneapolis and a member of the National team, laid on his skis and found the 238 and 231 foot marks. His style points were 16.5 and two 17’s for both flights. He tallied 225.8 for his efforts. [I know my friend, Jay Rand, an Olympic ski jumping competitor will be reading this with interest, even though he was only a young lad at the time.]

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First gold medal

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Martha Rockwell, 25, of Putney, Vt., toured the five kilometer Mt. Van Hoevenberg Cross-Country Racing Course Friday morning in 20 minutes, 31 and 81/100th seconds to win the first Gold Medal of the Third International Memorial Games.”

Just a quick glimpse at the past …