TOC MISSION
The mission of the Tamworth Outing Club is to organize and host recreational, inclusive activities for the benefit of Tamworth residents and visitors of all ages. We are dedicated to providing year-round opportunities that bring people together for social and recreational enjoyment, as well as an appreciation of our local traditions and the natural world around us. Our goal is to offer relevant programs that engage our community in meaningful ways while continuing to evolve in an ever-changing future.
TOC HISTORY
The Tamworth Outing Club was established in 1935 to support outdoor sports and recreation in Tamworth. Since then, the TOC has been leading important community projects initiated by the first board of directors. Many of these programs are still in existence today, after almost ninety years! TOC continues to be a vibrant organization in Tamworth, building on the ideas of these early visionaries.
TOC PHILOSOPHY
All of us, living in society today, are confronted with a barrage of information and choices. Social media and technology keep us “connected” without the true human interaction that binds communities together and helps people of all ages to thrive. For decades, the Tamworth Outing Club (TOC) has facilitated multi-generational programs and events, providing opportunities for our town’s residents and visitors to get “out” and meet their friends and neighbors in a wide variety of face-to-face settings. This is so essential in today’s often “virtual” world, and TOC prides itself in working to ensure that people here in Tamworth have the chance, year-round, to put down their devices and take part in both time-honored traditions and brand new events which engage each person, while strengthening our community as a whole.
As our website and mission statement make clear, the TOC lives in the tangible world of outdoor sport and recreation, especially important for our children. We think that technology and online activities cannot compete with six afternoons of supervised skiing at King Pine or on the Nordic trails — dressing up for the cold and any sort of weather and feeling the rush of movement over snow. The Tamworth Sled Dog Fun Day is tradition in action. Whose heart doesn’t thrill at the sight of a team of excited dogs pulling and straining to get on the trail, all in the iconic Wonalancet Intervale, where sled dogs have been raised and trained for decades. Free to all, TOC offers groomed trails in Wonalancet for everyone to get out and enjoy a beautiful winter’s day on cross-country skis, snowshoes, or simply on foot.
Other TOC-supported activities fill the year-round calendar as well: Second Saturday Dances at the Tamworth Town House bring people together, joining hands around the dance floor; Traditional Music & Dance programs reach across generations and experience to provide musicians and dancers of ALL ages and abilities with the chance to fully participate in a true New England art form; Halloween-in-the-Village connects pumpkin-growing farmers with eager jack-o-lantern carvers to decorate Tamworth’s Main Street, followed by fun and spooky Halloween evening activities throughout Tamworth Village; the Ordination Rock Fun 5K on July 4th morning brings runners, walkers, and cheering fans out to begin the town’s Independence Day celebrations; TOC’s Winterfest collaboration with the Chocorua Lake Conservancy has, in its early years, become a hit with all comers. May these and other low-tech and no-tech events continue, no matter what our future may bring.
The Tamworth Outing Club embraces what we feel is an important balance between the growing dominance of technology in our world and community-based recreation and person-to-person interaction. TOC encourages movement in our outdoor spaces and the process of learning a variety of skills that will endow our youngsters, elders, and everyone in between with confidence, better health, and community enrichment.
EARLY PROJECTS
- Page Hill Project (ski slope): voted to adopt, August 2, 1935.
- Trail clearing and rope tow established in late 1936.
- Ski trail cut on Mt Whittier- 1937, in cooperation with the W.P.A.
- First ski race competition was February 27, 1937.
- Sled dog race: voted to sponsor the race, November 17, 1936.
- First Race was on March 7, 1937.
- First dances were held at Huckins Barn, rented by the TOC.
- The first dance was on July 28, 1937. Seventy (70) people attended and the orchestra was paid $11.
- Dances were also held in winter with the warmth of the stone fireplace.
