Wisconsin Hoofers
The Wisconsin Hoofers of the Wisconsin Union is a group of outdoor recreational clubs at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, operated by the Wisconsin Union Directorate.
The Wisconsin Hoofers was begun in 1920 by a group of Norwegian exchange students who built a ski jump on the UW-Madison campus by Lake Mendota. The club was originally called the Badger Ski Club. Porter Butts, the first director of the Memorial Union (Wisconsin), was instrumental in establishing the Wisconsin Hoofers. The first Hoofers club, a skiing and outing club, was established in 1931, modeled after the Dartmouth Outing Club. The name "hoofers" is similar to the term "heelers" used for the new members of the Dartmouth club and reportedly was designed to imply "getting there under your own power". In 1976 Hoofers listed over 5,600 members.[1]
The emblem of the club in its current form is the capital "W" overlaid by the horseshoe (which looks like "U", thus alluding to the "U of W").[2]
Contents
Hoofer Sailing Club
Hoofer Sailing Club was founded in 1939 and is part of the Hoofer outdoor adventure clubs of the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Madison, Wisconsin, United States.
The sailing club originated as an all-volunteer club whose members maintained boats and taught each other how to sail on wooden dinghies.[3] Fifteen types of craft are sailed today,[4] including the Hoofer-redesigned Tech Dinghy, originally an M.I.T. plan.[5] The club's largest boats are Decoy, a Shock New York 36 acquired in Fall, 2008 and Soma, a Mull 34 racing yacht painted like a cow [6], The smallest Hoofer craft are the sailboards.[7]
The club operates at Memorial Union, on the shores of Lake Mendota with more than 120 different boats and sailboards. The club has had upwards of 1,500 members in the past. Members have free access to available boats they are certified to sail.[1] Instruction to obtain certification is also included in the membership dues and is provided by paid and volunteer staff.[1] The University of Wisconsin undergraduate sailing team (nickname Wisco) is a part of the Hoofer Sailing Club.[8]
Famous Hoofer Sailing Club members include Peter Barrett, an Olympic sailing gold (1968) and silver (1964) winner,[9] and Peter and Olaf Harken, founders of Harken, Inc., a sailing-hardware manufacturer.[10][11][12][13]
Other clubs
Currently there are the following specialized clubs:[1]
- Hoofer Riding Club (including Hoofer Equestrian Center) (since 1939)
- Hoofer Outing Club (since 1945)
- Hoofer Mountaineering Club (since 1949)
- Hoofer SCUBA Club (since 1976)
- Hoofer Ski and Snowboard Club (Hoofers SnS)
Former clubs
Past clubs:[1]
- Badger Ski Club (1920, the first club, renamed Hoofer Skiing and Outing Club in 1931)
- Hoofer Skiing and Outing Club (1931, eventually becoming the Hoofer Ski and Snowboard Club)
- Hoofer Archery Club (1934, suffered from lack of permanent shooting range and in 1965 was made into Hunting Club, which was about shooting prey rather than targets; survived until 1967, folding into Hoofer Outing)
- Hoofer Canoe Club (1952-1957, folded into Hoofer Outing)
- Ecology Club (1970s, short-lived)
- Hoofer Environment Club (1980s, short-lived)
- Hoofer Gliding Club
Notable members
- Brothers Paul Bietila and Walter Bietila, selected for the 1940 US Olympic ski jumping team. The Games were cancelled due to World War II. Walter became captain of the 1948 team, and later served on the US National Olympic Committee.[1] Notable Hoofer Sailing Club members include Peter Barrett, an Olympic sailing gold (1968) and silver (1964) winner,[14] and Peter and Olaf Harken, founders of Harken, Inc., a sailing-hardware manufacturer.[15][16][17][18]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "Early Hoofers History", a University of Wisconsin archive webpage Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "arch" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Wisconsin Hoofers website
- ↑ University of Wisconsin Archives - Hoofers 1930s
- ↑ Sailing Club Fleets Webpage
- ↑ Photo and Brief History of Badger Tech
- ↑ Wisconsin Department of Transportation, State Highway Map, 2004
- ↑ "Old dogs, new tricks," Wisconsin State Journal, April 26, 2008
- ↑ University of Wisconsin Sailing Team - About Us
- ↑ Peter Barrett Obituary
- ↑ Small Business Times, June 23, 2006
- ↑ CNC Machining Magazine, Vol. 4, No. 14, Summer 2000]\
- ↑ "How Other Sailors Learned," SailNet, August 31, 2001
- ↑ "Alumni News," University of Wisconsin-Madison Economics Alumni Newsletter, 2004, p. 8
- ↑ Peter Barrett Obituary
- ↑ Small Business Times, June 23, 2006
- ↑ CNC Machining Magazine, Vol. 4, No. 14, Summer 2000
- ↑ SailNet "How Other Sailors Learned" August 31, 2001
- ↑ University of Wisconsin–Madison Economics Alumni Newsletter, 2004, p. 8, Alumni News (PDF)
External links
- Hoofer Sailing Club
- Hoofer Riding Club
- Hoofer Outing Club
- Hoofer Mountaineering Club
- Hoofer SCUBA Club
- Hoofer Ski and Snowboard Club
- Hoofers Club historical scrapbook collection
