BRIDGTON – A request from a serviceman’s wife has led to a new program at Shawnee Peak, which is now offering free ski passes to military families.

Lisa Whitney of Dayton called the ski slope in December, when her husband, Darrell, was still overseas in Iraq. The Air Force master sergeant was coming home soon, and she wanted to know if the ski slope offered any special deals for returning military, said Shawnee Peak Communications Director Melissa Rock.

Rock said the ski slope thought that was a great idea, and the Military Family Pass program was born.

Under the program, new this season, Shawnee Peak offers a free Family Pass to the spouse and dependent children of any military service member deployed overseas. When the soldier returns home, he or she is also issued a pass, Rock said.

“We worked with the National Guard’s community outreach department to put it in their newsletter,” Rock said. “Also, I put out a New England-wide press release to promote it.”

So far, more than 30 families have received free ski passes under the program.

“It’s very simple,” Rock said. “Spouses just call us, we send out an application, which they send back with a copy of the deployed soldier’s orders.”

The offer is not limited to Maine military personnel. The mountain has had families from New Hampshire and Massachusetts involved.

Darrell Whitney, who now works at Pease Air Force Base in Portsmouth, N.H., as an air traffic controller, presented a flag to Shawnee Peak General Manager Ed Rock on Sunday in appreciation of the free skiing passes for him and his family.

The flag flew above Mosul, Iraq, on Dec. 25, 2004, “not in victory over an enemy but as a symbol of unity and support,” states a certificate that came with the flag.

Shawnee Peak will display the flag in a case in Blizzard’s Pub inside the main lodge.

“We just wanted to thank you for the program,” Whitney said.

Rock said the pass program is open to all military families, not only those from Maine. More information may be obtained by calling 647-8444.