[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 13 (Wednesday, February 9, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1195-S1196]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                         VIRGINIA DAVIS COCHRAN

 Mr. LEAHY. It is with great sadness that I inform the Senate 
that Virginia ``Ginny'' Cochran of Richmond, VT, died this past 
Saturday. She was 76.
  Ginny Cochran was a native Vermonter originally from Hartland Four 
Corners. Like her husband Mickey who died in 1998, she attended the 
University of Vermont. Over the years, the Cochran name became 
synonymous with Vermont skiing. Ginny and Mickey established their own 
ski area where thousands of children learned to ski. They instilled a 
competitive spirit in each of their four children who went on to become 
internationally known ski racers. One daughter, Marilyn, won a World 
Cup race in 1969, and another, Barbara Ann, won an Olympic gold medal 
in 1972. Several of Ginny's grandchildren are already outstanding ski 
racers.
  Ginny Cochran was one of those lifelong Vermonters who personified 
the essence of what it means to be a Vermonter. She loved the four 
seasons, she was loved by her community, and she taught countless 
people how to enjoy freezing weather and beautiful scenery while 
gliding down snow covered mountains with style.
  I ask that a February 6, 2005, article in the Burlington Free Press 
about the extraordinary life of Ginny Cochran be printed in the Recrod.
  The article follows.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

             [From the Burlington Free Press, Feb. 6, 2005]

                  Skiing Matriarch Ginny Cochran Dies


      Mother of Olympians taught thousands to love the sport, and 
                             sportsmanship

                            (By Susan Green)

       Virginia Davis Cochran, whose name has been entwined with 
     Vermont's skiing heritage for more than four decades, died 
     Saturday morning at age 76.
       Cochran, known as Ginny, started the Cochran Ski Area in 
     Richmond with her husband, Mickey, in 1961 and over the years 
     taught more than 10,000 children to ski. She also helped her 
     own four children and 10 grandchildren become top skiers--
     with some joining the U.S. Ski Team and one winning an 
     Olympic gold medal.
       Cochran died at Vermont Respite House in Williston of 
     complications from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Mickey Cochran 
     died in 1998.
       The Cochran Ski Area began as a family affair when the 
     couple moved to a former dairy farm along the Winooski River. 
     They soon constructed a rope tow for their children: son Bob 
     and daughters, Marilyn, Barbara Ann and Lindy.
       Barbara Ann went on to earn the 1972 Olympic gold medal in 
     slalom at Sapporo, Japan. In 1969, Marilyn was the first 
     American to win a World Cup in the giant slalom.
       ``From the start, neighbors wanted to ski their hill,'' 
     said David Healy, a friend of the Cochrans, ``so Ginny opened 
     her back door and welcomed them in. Her kitchen became the 
     lodge.''
       The ski area was a modest business offering affordable 
     access to the sport. ``They ran a small mom-and-pop 
     operation,'' Healy said, ``and it's the nation's first 
     nonprofit ski area.''
       In the winter nowadays, 800 schoolchildren come to ski at 
     Cochran's each week, he said.
       Cochran also ran the town's after-school ski program for 35 
     years as a volunteer, Healy said.
       Ginny Cochran, who hailed from Hartland Four Corners, met 
     Mickey on a ski trip to Stowe while both were UVM students in 
     the late 1940s. They married in 1949 and moved to Windsor, 
     where Mickey taught high school science.
       ``They skied with their kids at Mount Ascutney,'' Healy 
     said, ``but they came back to Burlington in 1958. He worked 
     as an engineer at General Electric.''
       With the purchase of about 190 acres in Richmond, however, 
     the Cochran clan didn't have to stray far from home to 
     indulge their love of the slopes.
       ``The kids were already racing at Smugglers' Notch,'' Healy 
     said. ``Mickey recognized they needed to practice during the 
     week. His goal was to give them a place to train after 
     school.''
       Peggy Farr, who met the Cochrans when they arrived in 
     Richmond, remembers the early years at the ski area.
       ``When the kitchen was still the lodge, one day Ginny had 
     made brownies for her family. My son Chuck spent a lot of 
     time at their house. He and his pals ate them all,'' she 
     recalled with a laugh.
       By way of a belated apology, the now-grown Chuck Farr and 
     his wife made brownies for Ginny Cochran on her 75th birthday 
     in March 2003.
       ``She had a great influence on so many children,'' Peggy 
     Farr said. ``Two of my three kids and all my grandchildren 
     learned to ski there.''
       Ditto for Marvin Carpenter, who grew up nearby on what 
     would later be called Cochran Road.

[[Page S1196]]

       ``There'd be 60 or 70 of us kids waiting in line for their 
     rope tow on a knoll behind the house,'' he said. ``We'd tramp 
     through the kitchen with our ski boots on, open the fridge. 
     If you needed gloves, they gave you gloves. The Cochrans made 
     trampolines we could jump on as part of our ski training. In 
     the summer, Ginny took us swimming. She was a mother to the 
     whole community.''
       Carpenter, who now owns the Bridge Street Cafe in Richmond, 
     boasts that Ginny Cochran ``called me her second son. Of 
     course, there are about nine other guys who make that 
     claim.''
       The Cochran skiing philosophy, Carpenter said, has always 
     been to teach parents who would in turn teach their children. 
     When it came to ski lessons, ``Ginny was a tough 
     taskmaster,'' he said.
       ``Ginny never pulled any punches,'' said her friend Jack 
     Linn, who got to know her in 1978. ``She was direct as all 
     get-out, thanks to her old Vermont stock.''
       As the ski area grew in popularity, the Cochrans added to 
     the property. They bought another 140 acres in 1965. The 
     facility includes eight trails, four lifts and a T-bar. Other 
     lodges were built, allowing the family to reclaim its 
     kitchen; the most recent one went up in 1984.
       Although skiing was central, Ginny Cochran had other 
     interests. ``She was an avid tennis player and loved 
     bridge,'' said Linn, her bridge partner.
       ``Ginny was very competitive at everything she did,'' noted 
     Carpenter, who participated in the regular card games, ``She 
     also bicycled and walked a lot. This was a busy lady. I 
     remember the calendar in her kitchen had activities written 
     down on every day of the week.''
       Linn surmised that her legacy is the kind that endures. 
     ``Ginny was a supercitizen of Richmond.''

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