EAST BURKE, Vermont ??” Burke Mountain announced that its parent company, the Ginn Company of Celebration, FL, has purchased the property and business of the Burke Cross Country Ski Center, located on the Pinkham Road in East Burke. Ginn purchased the center from Cherrie and Geoffrey Boone, of West Burke, who have operated it since 2001. The Boones expressed their appreciation to community for its support over the years and hope that the Ginn Company can fulfill the center’s potential. “We’re especially grateful to the landowners who over the years have allowed us to groom trails across their property and make accessible this beautiful landscape to cross country skiers,” said Cherrie Boone.

Charlie Hardiman, general manager of the ski resort indicated that Burke Mountain is committed to ensuring that the cross country center will continue to operate. “I’ve spent time on the trails. They’re exceptional and a magnificent resource for both our business and the community. We’re exploring options for how, or who, will actually operate the ski center. We may do it ourselves as part of our alpine ski operations or there’s the possibility that we’ll have an operating partner.” Operating plans, including who will run it, where the base office will be located and a new phone number for the center, will be finalized over the course of the summer.

Tim McGuire, Vice President of Development for the Ginn Company’s Burke project, expressed his appreciation to the Boone’s throughout the negotiations and noted that during the period they owned it, the Boones had a well run operation on limited resources.