The Nov. 17, 1976, Vol. 10, No. 3 issue of the Sugarloaf Irregular covered open season for hunting and skiing.

Walter Alden checked in at Ayotte's Country Store the same day hunting season began with a 255-pound buck he bagged on Reddington Ridge. Chuck Bessey, a local game warden, said that the live weight of a deer could be closely estimated by adding 30 percent of the animal's dead weight, which brought Alden's catch to a little more than 330 pounds. This was the biggest deer Alden said he had shot in his 30 years of hunting.

While Sugarloaf was not "officially" open when the newspaper hit the stands (that would occur in three days), skiers got a preview the previous weekend on 12 to 18" of manmade snow on Boardwalk Trail. Only Double Runner chairlift was operational at the time. According to the article, the Saturday car count showed 100 cars —73 from Maine, 13 from Massachusetts and the remainder from other states (employee cars were not counted). "Those skiing were mostly season tickets holders and valley rats," noted the article.

This issue also offered a short feature on Records Hunting Camps, mostly taken from an old brochure brought to the newspaper by Benjy Grant. The camps were located on land owned at the time of the article by Leo Tague, on which he built Chateau des Tagues (in 1976 it was called Narrow Gauge Inn) and several lots he sold off. According to Amos Winter, the camps were originally operated by Will Records in the early 1900s, and subsequently run by his daughter Valerie who later married Ralph Gould. The rates were $2 a day, $10 per week with special rates for parties.

"Touring center goes up in only 5 days," announced a headline in this issue, with the subheading, "Begin's crew heads for Christmas opening." The pre-built panelized building took only five days for assembly, that is after the foundation forms had been poured and the site readied. A 50-foot crane lowered sections into place, next followed the stringers for the roof, then plywood and then roof shingles. Because the center was nearing completion, the Carrabassett Valley Touring Club was starting up and offered seasonal memberships for $20 for an adult, $5 for a student and family rates beginning at $35.

The Kingfield Savings Bank was offering four "beautiful" Currier and Ives serving trays for a $250 deposit in a new or existing savings account "just in time for Thanksgiving." The bank was also offering an HO gauge train set for as little as $15.20 with a $1,000 deposit. For a $200 deposit, the $44.30 train set could be had for $23.20.