LEBANON — The Lebanon Outing Club — best known for its operation of Storrs Hill Ski Area — will celebrate its centennial anniversary this weekend with a slate of events, including a dinner, raffles and DJs.

The festivities kick off from 6-9 p.m. on Friday with an Italian-style dinner at the Hilton Garden Inn’s Granite Mountain Ballroom, located at 35 N. Labombard Road in Lebanon. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

During the dinner, people will speak about the history of Storrs Hill amid a slide show of historic photographs. There will also be a raffle and a DJ and dancing after the dinner portion of the evening is over. It costs $25 to attend, and advance registration is encouraged at skistorrshill.com. Tickets will also be available at the door.

Both Saturday and Sunday feature free skiing and snowboarding and raffles. From 11 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday, there will be Thai food available for purchase and ski racing. The hill will close for two hours and reopen from 6-9 p.m. for more snow sports, a DJ and food from area restaurants, which coincides with the Lebanon Recreation, Arts and Parks Department’s annual Full Moon Fiesta. From 11 a.m.-6 p.m. on Sunday, there will be tacos available for purchase along with the Ski Jumping Junior National Qualifier Competition.

More information can be found at the nonprofit’s website or Facebook: Lebanon Outing Club at Storrs Hill.

“Storrs Hill isn’t just a ski area: It’s a community,” said Marilyn Smith, of Canaan, who is on the planning committee for the celebration.

Storrs Hill, located just outside downtown Lebanon, is owned by the City of Lebanon and operated by the Lebanon Outing Club. The nonprofit was founded in 1923 by the late Erling Heistad, a Lebanon High School teacher, ski coach and ski jump designer.

“Skiing has been a major part of my life and Storrs Hill has been the focus,” said Heistad’s son, Erling H. Heistad, who continues to volunteer with the nonprofit organization. “It’s not every town that has a ski area right in town that you can have your little kids go over and go skiing. It’s very unique for Lebanon to have that.”

In the 100 years since the outing club was founded, it has stayed true to its role of making snow sports accessible to community members of all ages and economic backgrounds, with a particular emphasis on teaching children to ski.

“It’s by the community for the community,” said Kit Creeger, a member of the board of directors and an Alpine race coach.

In addition to Alpine skiing, Storrs Hill is known for three ski jumps that have provided training opportunities for countless athletes in the region.

“What makes it so special to me is all the kids, all the youth of the Upper Valley, and seeing them come back every year,” said Cory Grant, president of the Lebanon Outing Club and its only full-time employee. “It’s home.”

It is mostly volunteer-run.

“Becoming a volunteer helps you feel included in the fabric of the club,” Heistad, of Lebanon, said.

Adults who volunteer often have children who learned to ski at Storrs Hill, and children who learned to ski there have returned as instructors. That has been the case for the Renninger family.

“We have volunteered since the time they were little, my husband running the lift, teaching and assisting with lessons, me in the kitchen selling concessions,” Jill Renninger, of Hartford, wrote in an email.

All three of the couple’s sons learned to ski and snowboard at Storrs Hill.

“Our two oldest sons have broken bones exploring the ‘back trail’ and ‘terrain park,’ and my husband had a bad break of his collarbone requiring a plate and ten screws,” Renninger wrote. “Despite these injuries, the first thing they ask of the medical staff is, ‘When can I go back to the hill?’ ”

Smith also became involved after her son learned to ski at Storrs Hill and learned to ski there herself a few years later when she was 42. As a parent, Smith feels comfortable with her son being there knowing there are other families around.

“No matter where they are on the hill, someone can see them,” Smith said.

One hallmark of Storrs Hill is its affordability: Daily lift tickets are $10 for children ages 3-15 and $15 for those ages 16 and older. Season passes top out at $270 for a family of four.

“I can’t see raising those prices, and the reason why is we are who we are,” Grant said. “We are a local nonprofit that serves our community, and it’s something our community looks forward to every year.”

Storrs Hill has a surface ski lift, meaning people are pulled up the hill with a cable while standing.

“I think one of its advantages is its size,” said Creeger, whose children learned to ski at Storrs Hill. Storrs Hill is spread over 20 acres. “It’s usually possible to put snow down on it, and the quality of snow is usually pretty high.”

Patrick Swain, of Canaan, started volunteering at Storrs Hill in 2018 and said one of his favorite parts is helping children get over their fear of the ski lift.

“It feels good to go home knowing I did something right, that I made someone’s day,” he said. “You meet good people there.”

Keeping the organization going is not without its challenges, and chief among them is finances, Grant said. The board is always fundraising to meet the needs of the nonprofit. But everyone involved is dedicated to keeping it going.

“This is a safe place. That’s my main goal: to give the kids a safe place to come and play,” Grant said. “I hope it lives on for 100 more years.”

Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.

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