WSI buy-out is now complete

Congratulations. The task has been accomplished. With one stroke as sure and precise as a surgeon's hand, the last of the small investors have been culled from the shareholders roll of Winter Sports Incorporated.

Since 2004, through the process of reverse stock splits, the number of stockholders has been reduced from 900 to 150 to 50 (approximate numbers). In the recent decision, more than a dozen of the 100 or so cashed-out stockholders were members of my immediate family alone. In order to "stay in the game," due to the size of the reverse stock split, my two daughters and I would have needed to invest an additional total of $123,000.

I did not appreciate being reminded at least five times in the annual report and subsequent articles that the decision was "virtually assured" since the board of directors owned a controlling percentage of the stock.

I did not appreciate that the annual meeting was held not in the evening, as it has been for decades, but at 9 a.m. on a Tuesday when many small shareholders would be working or in school.

The buy out was at a fair price, but it's not about the money. It's about memories. It's about history. It's about legacy. Many of the bought-out shareholders have held the stock for more than 50 years, passing from generation to generation. We didn't bail out even though in leaner years, the stock sat dormant in our portfolios. Were we that big of a burden or threat that we needed to be "streamlined"?

The small investors may have been forced from the rolls, but the guardians of the mountain remain. The spirits of Ed Schenck, George Prentice, Brad Seely, Roy Duff, Carolee Kurtz, Danny On, Shannon Tallman, Toni Matt, Mully Muldown and other Big Mountain pioneers — young and old — continue to inhabit and protect its slopes. They are the true snow ghosts.

I do truly wish you good luck in your future planning. In your pursuit of bigger buildings and bigger profits, please take care of our community's mountain. She is our heart. She is our soul.

Tina Solberg Gemignani

Whitefish