Lake Placid’s Olympic bid for the ‘76 games

“Fifteen bands, including the officials White House Band — the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps which lead the Inaugural Parade last month, will participate in the 76th Annual Saranac Lake Carnival Parade this Saturday at 2 p.m.” (Enterprise photo, February 1973)
I walked into my office at 8 a.m., Feb. 3, 1973, 52 years ago, to begin a routine day as editor of the Adirondack Daily Enterprise.
My boss, Bill Doolittle, owner and publisher of the Enterprise greets me with, “Howard, I am going to send you to Switzerland with Mayor Robert Peacock to cover Lake Placid’s presentation to the IOC for the 1976 Olympics.”
Astonished, surprised, holy guacamole, shut my mouth; so I finally stuttered out, “when?”
Bill answers “today.” He had worked out the little details for me (being a Harvard man) such as, “I don’t have a passport.”
I decided to touch on this Olympic history as the Olympic Regional Development Authority makes plans to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the 1980 Olympic Winter Games held in Lake Placid.
Lake Placid was invited to bid on the 1976 Games when Denver, Colorado backed out in 1973 because of a lack of money and environmental issues. The International Olympic Committee was left holding the bag with only three years before the scheduled games and no host country.
Let me get this out of the way. I believe that if Denver had not backed out, Lake Placid may never have won the bid for the 1980 Olympic Winter Games. That Denver drop out gave the Lake Placid boys an opportunity to strut their stuff to the IOC and the world.
Once Bernie Fell made his speech, every big news service and newspaper in Europe was saturated with news of Lake Placid’s bid. The Enterprise over my on-the-scene story, in 62 point type, read: “FELL’S OLYMPIC SPEECH QUOTED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.”
[Reporters and news service people were not allowed in the room when the bid presentations were given.]
Lord Killian, President of the IOC, came over to our Lake Placid group after it had been announced that Innsbruck, Austria had won the ’76 bid and, turning away after a short chat, said, “It will be nice to see you fellows in Lake Placid in 1980.” I later had Norm Hess Killian’s talk in writing to be sure that I did not misunderstand him.
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How I got there
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After my assignment, I rushed home, got my birth certificate, Bill McLaughlin took my picture and printed three copies. I picked up Mayor Peacock and by noon we were off to Montreal. We arrived at the American Consulate and 15 minutes later had our passports.
I was carrying a big camera with the view finder on the top and a portable typewriter along with my luggage. I wrote an 800 word story about our trip and flight. I kept everybody on the plane awake typing all night with the typewriter resting on the service tray on the seat in front of me.
When we arrived in Zurich, I handed my story to Roy Kennedy, Lake Placid Chamber Executive Director who was supervising the loading of bobsleds, following a competition there, to be returned to Lake Placid. My story ran in The Enterprise three days later.
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Rev. Fell’s speech
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“President Killian, members of the International Olympic Committee — In this historic hour you are face to face with the selection of a site with a great and challenging responsibility, specifically can, in little more than 36 months, prepare itself to properly conduct an Olympic competition. We are well aware that your thoughts must dwell on the position of the United States in this matter before you.
“Two of our larger cities, beset as it were with multiple problems, that fractured and destroyed their dreams, have found it necessary to say “NO” to this great winter competition.
“And now a small mountain community comes to you from America saying, ‘Choose us, for we can accomplish this task.’ Yes, you may wonder at the boldness of such a suggestion. But gentlemen, we propose to allay your fears and to lift from your minds the heavy weight that comes in making your decision. A decision that, hopefully, will select the best possible site, in this late hour, for the 1976 Olympic Winter Games.
“We are proud to represent America in the matter before you.”
A film presentation on Lake Placid was shown before Rev. Fell’s speech and, of course, he then went in to great detail on Lake Placid’s hosting the 1932 Olympic Winter games, including the many World Championships so often still hosted by lake Placid.
“Norm Hess told me, that immediately, when Rev. Fell started to speak [and he had this powerful, smooth speaking style] one could feel the spark that his words were creating with everyone in the room.”