Two Saranac Lake institutions, Doty’s barbecue and the Dewey Mountain Ski Center, unite 3–8 p.m. Sunday, July 29 for a Summer Ski Jam & BBQ at Mount Pisgah. The idea of a Summer Ski Jam originated with some of the musicians who play Dewey Mountain Recreation Center’s little log cabin on winter Friday nights. They decided to get together in warm weather and put on an outdoor concert to benefit the campaign to build a new base lodge for Dewey Mountain. Performers include the Barn Cats, Big Slyde, Blind Owl Band, Celia Evans, Steve Langdon, and Roadside Mystic.

The Summer Ski Jam & BBQ also features Doty’s signature marinated beef and chicken with all the sides. Together with his parents and brothers, Derek Doty ran the popular Doty’s Country Road Beef butcher shop for 28 years, and he continues to barbecue on special occasions. The community-supper atmosphere will welcome families as well as summer guests. 

In lieu of skiing, the Summer Ski Jam will offer “Winter Games,” such as wheeled luge rides by USA Luge, ice-ball relay, bocce curling, and more. U.S. Team Biathletes and Dewey alumni Tim Burke and Annelies Cook will be on hand, and U.S. Team Biathlete Lowell Bailey will play mandolin and sing with Big Slyde.

Tickets include music, food and games: $15 adults ($20 at gate), $5 kids 4 –12, free age 3 and under. Tickets go on sale the week of July 2 at Ampersound, Blue Line Sports, the Community Store, and Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, or call (518) 891 -1080. Lake Placid Pub & Brewery will provide libations.

All proceeds go to the Dewey Mountain Friends/Saranac Lake Rotary Foundation capital campaign to improve trails and construct a new base lodge in partnership with the Town of Harrietstown, which opened Dewey Mountain Recreation Center in 1980.

The Harrietstown Board approved plans for the new lodge on June 28, and drawings will be introduced to the public at the Ski Jam. North Woods Engineering provided lodge schematics. The plan addresses the need for an energy-efficient facility to better accommodate youth, school and community programs, and to attract more residents and visitors to mountain sports. Demong Designs is developing a new trail-sign plan to improve access to trails.

“I support Dewey 100 percent because of all the great opportunities it provided me,” Olympian and honorary Dewey trustee Tim Burke said. “This was a place I could come not only to ski but to be with friends, meet new people and live a healthy active lifestyle. That was really important to my childhood, and I’d like to see other kids have that opportunity as well.”

Because Dewey’s current facility is too small to accommodate the event, Mount Pisgah is graciously hosting the Summer Ski Jam, 3 –8 p.m. Sunday, July 29. Pisgah is the Village of Saranac Lake’s alpine ski and tubing hill, located at 92 Mt. Pisgah Lane.

Dewey Mountain Recreation Center complements Mount Pisgah; Dewey is a cross-country-ski and snowshoe center by winter; the trails are a convenient in-town place to mountain bike, walk and hike the rest of the year. The entrance is on State Route 3 one mile west of downtown Saranac Lake. For more information see deweyskicenter.com.

To learn more about the Summer Ski Jam and other events, or to see Dewey Mountain’s lodge and trail plans, or to make a donation, visit deweyskicenter.com. Donations may also be mailed to Saranac Lake Rotary Foundation, PO Box 645, Saranac Lake, NY 12983.