Class of 2026

Ruth Hayes is an amazing woman who has been a beacon for Nordic skiing in the Monroe County area. Ruth has worked tirelessly to make Nordic skiing and racing accessible to our community.

Ruth Hayes is a longtime resident of the town of Honeoye Falls where she settled after graduating from the University of Vermont.  In addition to being a mother of six and a school teacher she has volunteered for many groups including the boy scouts, the girl scouts, and the Honeoye Falls Presbyterian.  As if all of that is not enough, she was also the founder of the local chapter of the Bill Koch League Ski Club which is known today as the RXCSF Youth Program. 

Ruth started a Bill Koch Youth program chapter in the late 70’s.  At that time, she was already offering ski instruction to students at the (HFL) middle school, and also at the elementary school. While travelling to New England with her own children who were participating in USSA ski events, she became aware of a program which was named Bill Koch Youth Skiing. This was named in honor of Bill Koch, a Vermont native who was awarded the United States’ first Olympic medal in the '76 Olympics. The Bill Koch program seemed ideal for children in this area and complemented the work Ruth was already doing and by 1980, she had created an official group here in Wester, NY.  This group remain active today- almost 40 years later

Over the years, Ruth has mentored many children in skiing- including a young Bernie Gardner (who has coached the HFL High School team for over 40 years), and 1992 and 1994 Olympian Joan Smith-Miller.  She was known for filling her car with skiers in need of transportation, chaperoning kids on ski trips and generously giving ski equipment to children who could not afford to buy their own.

Ruth has been active in NYSSRA (New York State Ski Racing Association) where she served as the Secretary of NYSSRA and she volunteered to officiate/time at high school races for many years. She is also credited with helping to start the Honeoye Falls Ski Swap. 

All of this energy and passion is packed into an amazing woman who is likely all of 5 feet tall. It is easy to see why Honeoye Falls named her the Outstanding Citizen of the Year in 2011.

If you ever have the opportunity to meet this person, please thank her for all she has done for the Nordic community. It may seem overwhelming to think about “living the Nordic life” the way Ruth has but all of us can challenge ourselves to have even a small piece of her passion and generosity, the world would be better for it.