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Show U.S. Sid Team to suspend annual Celebrity Classic benefit event by CHRISTOPHER SMART Record staff writer In an effort to climb out of a financial finan-cial valley during a post-Olympic year, the U.S. Ski Team has called off this year's Celebrity Classic fundraiser fun-draiser because the event has J become "tired." U.S. Ski Team Executive Director Allan Ross said the organization is going back to the drawing board to analyze the Celebrity Classic and may bring it back. "We are going to take a hiatus of one year." The classic is a benefit ski race attended at-tended by film and television stars. Ross added the classic, which would have been 11 years old this spring, is not necessarily a thing of the past. But, Ross said, the organization needs to take a "business look" at the event. "We aren't in a position of financial finan-cial latitude to try it again without evaluation," said Ross. Without commenting specifically on the indebtedness in-debtedness of the U.S. Ski Team, the director said the organization "can't afford to make a mistake" regarding regar-ding the fundraiser. Ski team sponsors are beginning to question the value of the classic, Ross said. The event has been run in a similar way for its duration. For example, Ross said Subaru, one of the ski team's largest supporters, sup-porters, "isn't sure the value (of the Celebrity Classic) is there." Ross is a former vice president of corporate communications for Subaru. "There is no question that we will get out of the (financial) valley we're in now," Ross said. He said the ski team has been successful in its fundraising efforts this season. He added, however, that it is difficult dif-ficult to raise funds for the organization organiza-tion during non-Olympic years a fact he hopes to change. Ross said the classic may be integrated in-tegrated into the Winter Carnival now being planned by the Park City Chamber of CommerceConvention & Visitors Bureau. |