Meany Ski Hut - Nashie's 20th Anniversary

By Bob Cram - The Mountaineer Annual 1955

The jacket of "You Can't Eat Mount Rainier" by Willian C Speidel Jr., says this about the illustrator: "Bob Cram at 29 years has already established himself as a top-flight cartoonist. For some years he has been turning his witty hand toward enlivening the advertisements of advertising agencies and a leading Seattle department store. He is also a partner in Combo Cards, a young greeting card business. His family consists of himself, wife Martha and daughter Robin--all three of whom eat, a fact which seemed to qualify Bob to Illustrate this book." -- Ed.

It goes without saying that the past season at Meany was another outstanding year of sliding. No person has ever been heard to dispute the fact that Meany has the finest slopes ever to be serviced by a single rope tow in the entire Northwest nor has anyone disputed the fact that the conviviality of the assembled multitudes is surpassed by none.

The popularity of the place is somewhat evident when you start turning people away from the work parties. As If these things weren't enough, the crowning glory to the whole place, the frosting on the cake, the queen of the kitchen, the girl of our dreams, is, of course, Nashie Iverson who reigns each weekend by her stove, ladling out equal amounts of steaming chow and good homecooked advice to the lovelorn. She has done thusly for 20 years and is now shooting for 40.

It seemed only right, then, for us to show some sort of appreciation for the unrelenting pounding that Nashie has undergone these past two decades in her never ending pursuit of satiating the monstrous appetites of skiers. So last March we all got together to pay tribute and there were people who hadn't seen Nashie in years that came to say "howdy" and pass the time of day in the kitchen. The hut was filled to capacity and we had a big banquet, giving Nashie the place of honor and an orchid corsage, and there was a big decorated cake and a marvelous roast beef dinner that Nashie, naturally, had prepared.

After dinner, the Meany Players, direct from a successful run at the Snoqualmie Pass Warming Hut, presented a stirring dramatization of "Through the Years at Meany, Its Sights and Sounds." This giant epic portrayed the grim struggle against the wilderness that took place in the establishing of Meany as a ski and cultural center and the big part that Nashie played in its growth. It was real corny but some people will laugh at anything and Meanyites are among them.

Then we gave Nashie some gifts as a small token of everyone's appreciation for all the things she had done for us--like listen to our troubles and sort of help get people together and cook meals and show us how to fix sweet potatoes just right and tell us what she might do if it was her who was trying to make some feller pay attention to her and about 40 mIllIOn other things she has done. You don't just get it all off your chest in one evening after a gal has given you 20 of the best years of her life, but we at Meany believe Nashie wouldn't keep coming back year after year if she didn't like us just about one-tenth as much as we love her.

Bob Cram



Webmaster note: The following page are illustrations by Bob Cram of life at Meany - Enjoy !!