Silver among gold

Posted: Nov. 17, 2008

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MaryJo Walicki

Ron Sonntag (left, in blue), president of the Vagabond Ski Club, leads 32 other members on a hike in Nashotah Park in Waukesha County. The club, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, has added activities as it has aged.

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MaryJo Walicki

Ron Sonntag (left, in blue), president of the Vagabond Ski Club, leads 32 other members on a hike in Nashotah Park in Waukesha County. The club, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, has added activities as it has aged.

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There was a time, in its early years, when one could rightly suggest the Vagabond Ski Club was a ski club with a drinking problem.

And that was decades before the group added "social" to its official masthead.

The group's longstanding theme song, "Lustig," exemplifies the spirited attitude of the time:

"All through the night we drink and sing,

Through all the bars our voices ring,

Up in the morning it's hard to rise

We ski all day with bloodshot eyes."

Today, many of those bloodshot eyes shine under gray crowns.

The members have aged right along with the club itself and the activities have expanded while their hairlines receded.

In its golden anniversary year, the Vagabond Ski and Social Club would more correctly be described as a ski club with a hiking problem, and a tennis problem, and a biking and dancing, card-playing and socializing problem.

That diversity of activities, while a point of irritation to some of the ski-obsessed charter members, has helped the Vagabonds remain 1,200 strong 50 years after a small group of young Milwaukee professionals founded the Vagabonds in a meeting at the Milwaukee Yacht Club.

Quiet hikes in the woods have replaced the long days of burying and retrieving wine bottles on slopes from northern Michigan to the Italian Alps.

Bike rides and tennis lessons have supplanted those bawdy bus rides through winter nights.

The romances of 20-somethings have become the marriages of 60- and 70-somethings and the thrill of flirtation has given way to the comfort of camaraderie.

In search of social activity

"They come to the club because of one thing or another, whether they're skiers or bowlers or hikers or bikers or they like to travel, or they have an empty nest or lost a loved one," said Ron Sonntag, who works in public relations and is the Vagabond president.

"They come and find this club and it just embodies them," he said. "Then they start doing things they haven't done in 20 to 30 years."

If its early years hinted that the Vagabonds needed a support group, its current members provide one.

Its membership list is now filled by people who want to try something, who want to stay active and need a gentle nudge and nod of encouragement.

"If you do something that you're interested in, you meet other people who are interested in the same thing," said Marcia Northouse, 69.

The retired Northwestern Mutual office worker joined the Vagabonds 20 years ago, seeking some social activity after a midlife divorce.

She found like-minded people who eventually inspired her to hike Glacier National Park, Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.

"It's been very enriching," Northouse said. "It's brought me much joy."

Shortage of young blood

As the club itself moves toward the senior citizen status enjoyed by the members, the demographics worry some of the charter members.

John Mack, still an avid and proficient skier at 74, sees the club suffering a bit from a social trend - 20- and 30-somethings are disinclined to join groups, preferring to ski or hike or bike on their own.

"We're not attracting new, young skiers and consequently we're not attracting young people at all," he said. "Those of us who started this thing are still there, and of course the sands of time never stop running."

Those older members, though, remain a strong foundation for the group, as does its original purpose to enjoy skiing all over the world.

The group that built ski jumps on the streets in downtown Milwaukee in 1963 and 1964 still skis and travels well. Trips this year include adventures to Sestriere, Italy; Vail; Sun Valley; and Lake Tahoe.

And 50 years is worth a celebratory glass or two.

Other Milwaukee ski clubs

Sitzmark Ski Club

Milwaukee club has trips scheduled this season to Vail, Big Sky, Brule and Marquette. www.sitzmark.org

Nordic Ski Club of Milwaukee

Focus on cross-country skiers and related outdoor activities - hiking, biking and paddling. The group organizes bus trips to Nordic ski areas in northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. www.nordicskiclub.org

Downhillers Ski Club

Includes coed softball among its activities, but the main mission is organizing ski trips to the Western mountains. This season the group has pegged Lake Tahoe as its destination. www.downhillers.org

Milwaukee Ski Club

The forerunner of the Vagabond Ski Club operates the Fox Hill Ski Area north of Slinger and its members are active downhill and Nordic skiers. www.foxhill.org