7306-R3_SS_Sep2020_MESnowmobiler

8 September 2020 Maine Snowmobiler

MSA Club News

of soda and snacks from our soda and candy machines 24/7/365. In July we purchased an aluminum tow behind frame to use behind our club sled. This unit is 6’2” wide by 6’10” long. We intend to use this unit for trail maintenance, sled recover and with collaboration from the Washburn Fire Department we will utilize it as a res- cue sleigh. This will be built so it can be quickly converted for whatever we need to use it for. We anticipate adding a set of removable axles to it so it can be used during the out of season months as well. Should be a handy item to have around the clubhouse. Also, in July, we installed our secu- rity system that allows us to monitor the clubhouse remotely. As many of you know, the clubhouse was vandal- ized and the culprits attempted to set it on fire multiple times in October of last year. While we don’t think this is some- thing that will happen again, we also recognize the need for a camera system and feel more at ease having it. So, next time you come to or enter the clubhouse you can smile, you’re on camera! I can’t end this newsletter without mentioning a major milestone for the clubhouse. We are very honored and thankful to all that made it possible for Washburn Trail Runners to finish 4th overall in MSA Memberships for the 2019-2020 Season. With 200 MSA members we feel like we accomplished our goal of surpassing our previous year’s membership. This recognition brings us great joy because we know memberships are not mandatory and you join because we have earned your trust to be a member of our club. We are thankful for your faith in us and we hope with your help we will surpass last year’s number! Lastly, club meetings have changed and are the 2nd Wednesday of every month. Pot Luck/Social Hour starts at 6 with the Business Meeting starting at 7 pm. We will be sending out renewal applications soon so be on the lookout for that. In the meantime, stay safe and with any luck we will see you all very soon. Respectfully Submitted Timothy Stitham – Club President 2020-2021 EASTERN REGION

However, as the Fall rolls in, we are optimistic that we can get bingo back up and running. Club meetings have started, and elections will be held during the first meeting of September. We meet every second and fourth Monday of each month at 6:30pm. We are always open to new members joining us and we certainly would never turn down any help offered. We continue with our goals of making our trails system bigger and more enjoyable, and our club house bet- ter as well. Add us on Facebook as that is the best way to see up to date activi- ties and trail conditions. Enjoy the rest of the Summer, stay safe and hopefully we will be seeing you on the trails soon. Sincerely, Vice President Elijah Brazier. Cheers to Fifty Years First, I want to hope that everybody had a great spring and summer despite what is going on in the world! Waiting to find out what the new normal is going to be is starting to get old. With that said sadly it also affects our snowmo- bile club and the MSA. Funds are low and fundraising is almost non-existent because of meeting restrictions, but we will not let that stop us! Our annual lobster feed on August 16 th was a go! We did it while remain- ing within the rules of social distancing! This was our first fundraiser of the sea- son! We sold out of Lobster and also sold 5 hotdog meals for the non-seafood lovers! Thank you to all that helped make this a success! What a great kickoff to our 50 th year! We once again we will ask if club members and friends have paper goods, kitchen supplies or anything they would like to donate to the club to help offset the costs of running the club it would be greatly appreciated. Upcoming events are... September 13th is board of directors meeting at 6 p.m. September 20th will be our annual open house which includes a barbecue lunch which is complementary on your paid new membership or renewal. also on that day we will have snowmobiles and trailers from local area businesses to show off and help get people in the spirit! We are currently working out the logistics and plan for our annual land- owners supper..please be on the lookout on the website or the Facebook page for details and updates on that . We really hope we can make it happen to celebrate these gracious landowners that keep this club a club! We would be nothing with- out them! MSA super raffle tickets are out already and ready for sale. This year it is especially important if you can buy some extra tickets and take some extra Eastern Maine Snowmobilers 263 levenseller road Holden Maine 04429 Find us on Facebook

tickets to sell. $1 from every ticket sold goes directly to the selling club! and you have a chance to win some great prizes including a full size snowmobile and a snowmobile trailer. 300 club tickets are also ready to go for the season! Thank you and thanks for supporting our club ! Here’s to another 50 years! Troy G. Trail grunt Greetings from Ellsworth....What a crazy year this has been. What a monkey wrench Covid-19 threw into our 2019- 2020 season. Our thoughts go out to all who have been impacted by the pan- demic. We have been very fortunate in our area and exposure has been limited. Sadly, we lost a member this spring. Mark Webber a member since 2015 died in a car accident in May. Mark was 51. Our heart goes out to Tanya. After a less than stellar snow season along the coast last year, we are gearing up for a better 2020-2021 season. With experienced leadership in place the Ells- worth Snowmobile Club is ready to go! Meetings will be the second Wednes- day of each month starting in October. Social time is at 5:30 with the meeting starting at 6. All are welcome, we are always looking for new members to sup- port snowmobiling in our area. Weekly work bees will start later this fall. Work bees are on Sundays 8-12. Don’t forget to register you sled at City Hall before you hit the trails. Ask for your ITS trail map when you are there. Please renew your membership and join us for our monthly meetings. We always welcome new ideas and enthusiasm! Think Snow!! Pushaw Lake Snowmobile Club has lost a true friend and one of our longest serving members. Dale Pineo passed away August 1, 2020. Dale was always there to help not matter what was needed. He was a Past President, Trail Master as well as the I can make anything happen member. He made the annual Fishing Derby what it is today and was still checking trails for us last season. Dale was instrumental in mak- ing all our fund-raisers successful and could be counted on to be at the club whenever we opened. He was always helping, and it will not be the same without him. We miss you Dale. The club is in Covid-19 mode. We have had to adjust to our Riverfest Fundraiser being cancelled as well as the possibility of cancelling our Hunt- er’s Breakfast. We are still planning trail workdays and getting ready for grooming. Thanks to Jason Durrell for maintaining the grass at the clubhouse Ellsworth Snowmobile Club 160 Bangor Road Ellsworth, ME 04605 PUSHAW LAKE sc Whitmore Landing Road Hudson, ME

Blue Ridge Riders sc Rockwood, ME

NORTHERN REGION

Greetings from Blue Ridge Riders in Rockwood, Maine! 2020 has been an interesting year, and we sincerely hope everyone is safe and healthy. BRR Snowmobile Club had its last meeting for the 2019/2020 season in June. The meeting was delayed for sev- eral months due to COVID-19. Plans are underway for trail improvements as well as increased grooming for the sea- son. We are hopeful to purchase a new groomer as well.

Hi Gang, I hope you are all staying safe through this Covid 19 crap and that things will change for the better real soon. It’s hard to believe that it is time to start to think of snowmobiling when it is 90 degrees out, but here we go again. The Snowgang has completely taken out the canopy on ITS#81 and all of our club trails with the use of an excavator with a buzzsaw head -- what a difference!! Plans are in the works to do the same on ITS#83 to Whetstone Falls in a few weeks. This issue of the Maine Snowmobil- ier is going out to everyone who regis- tered a machine last year, so I hope you will read through it and get some ideas on what the MSA is all about. Please consider joining the MSA and your local club, remember that there is safety in numbers! Until this pandemic subsides there will be challenges for the club, such as holding meetings and events. We are strongly leaning towards virtual meet- ings using Zoom, and limiting events to “outdoors” only. I will keep you all posted as we go. We will hold our annual Caribbean Cruise Raffle, the tickets are out, let me know if you want one! Well, that’s a start, stay safe and enjoy your Fall!! Time for a cold one! Jim Splan, Reporter @ Large P.S.-- GO REDSOX! P.SS -- WHAT ELECTION?? P.SSS -- GRUMPY’S OK!! P.SSSS -- 30 YRS. SNOWGANG!! WASHBURN TRAIL RUNNERS sc Washburn, ME washburntrailrunners.org Like us on Facebook Wow, what a crazy 2020 we are hav- ing! We here at Washburn Trail Runners hope you and your loved ones are doing well during this unprecedented time in our history. We have taken additional precautions to do our part to hopefully slow/end the spread of this horrible virus. This included not renting our clubhouse out over the summer as well as closing down a few weeks early back in March. It was a tough decision and certainly cost us donations, but at the end of the day it was the right thing to do. We did resume monthly meetings in May, but did so with Social Distanc- ing in mind. As the saying goes… “The Show Must Go On.” Over the summer we have added a few new items to the clubhouse to hopefully provide our members with a better experience. In May we purchased a couple vending machines to provide members with a drink/food option when the kitchen is closed. All members can access the clubhouse and purchase cans

Our biggest fundraiser, the Annual Pig Roast, was discussed at length. By the time this goes to print, we’re hopeful that our plans to have the Pig Roast were successful and you were able to join us! We discussed ways to keep guests safe while raising money for our club. This is our 11th year! We’ve seen tremen- dous support for this event from our community and local businesses. We’re grateful for all of them!

BRR is anticipating a great snow sea- son. Please be mindful of riding safe, respecting landowners, and supporting local businesses wherever you ride. We truly are all in this together as we navi- gate a new normal.

Think snow - and safety! Respectfully submitted, Emily Bodemer, Secretary

Carmel sc Find us on Facebook Hello fellow snowmobile riders,

Hard to believe as it is 90 degrees out with a high humidity point, that snow will be on the way soon. The Summer has flown by and with Covid keeping things low key, a Wintertime enjoyment just might be the best thing. Carmel has been pretty quiet this year as we had to close down bingo earlier than expected.