FARMINGTON – The Farmington Rotary Club has chosen Richard Forster as winner of the eighth annual Senior Vocational Award.

Forster grew up in the Lake Lucerne area of New York, graduating from Lake Lucerne High School in 1951. He served in the U.S. Navy on active duty in Korea as a member of the Sea Bees. After the service, he graduated from Hudson Valley Technical Institute and in 1958 and married Leona Sheehan.

At the time Forster was part-owner of an excavating and construction business. In 1966 he sold his interest in the business and moved to Maine as superintendent of repair and maintenance for International Paper in Jay, where he worked for 16 years.

Forster then went to work for S.D. Warren in Hinkley as equipment optimization manager until retirement in 1998. Since retiring he has been called back several times as a special project engineer for the Hinkley mill, now owned by Sappi Paper.

Since coming to Maine, the Forsters have lived in Farmington, raising three children, all graduates of Mt. Blue High School.

Forster has become a member and supporter of the Farmington Ski Club, which owns and operates the Titcomb Mountain ski area, one of the few club volunteer-run ski areas in the country.

According to Buzz Davis, a local businessman and former ski club president, Forster has been a major force in keeping the ski area going. First getting involved in the ski patrol, he became active in the ski school and served on various mountain committees, including as president on several occasions.

In the 1980s when poor annual snow conditions were causing the ski area to consider disbanding or applying to the town of Farmington or the university to take it over, Foster motivated the group with his can-do attitude and was instrumental in acquiring snow-making equipment.

Then, according to Megan Roberts, a long-time manager of Titcomb Mountain, when a lodge expansion was needed, Forster helped spark the fundraising efforts for the addition that was completed in 1989, the 50th anniversary of the club. For the anniversary mortgage-burning party he brought together the pioneers who had founded the Farmington Ski Club 50 years earlier.

He used his engineering skills to help solve lift and snow-making problems. When the need for special trail grooming equipment arose, Foster went to Sugarloaf to purchase equipment at a price the local slope could afford. It was later upgraded by newer equipment after he was able to negotiate the sale of the of the older equipment for the original purchase price.

More recently, when the ski organization felt that there was a need to borrow $17,000 for mountain improvements, Foster accepted the challenge to avoid borrowing and started a fundraising effort, which has raised $12,000. He is continuing efforts to raise the additional funds.

Titcomb Mountain has been the home of Mt. Blue’s state champion ski teams and several Olympians.