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MSA Club News Club Raffle Tickets need all 300 sold by end of October. Discussed another way to sell the tickets in the future if having issues by asking each member to buy or sell 2-3 themselves and will put less pressure on the few currently selling. Discussed taking Credit Cards & charge a minimal fee to cover the company’s fee. We currently have a Square Account that we can take a Credit Card. Discussed a QR Code as well for donations. The one we previ- ously had took people to the website. We no longer have the website. November 14, In Person Meeting with Distancing. No Quorum discus- sion only. Agreed to dragging the trail for the kids to the Middle and High School trail access using a pipe drag that a couple members will take care of. More discussion on the areas of logging for ITS81, Bowlin Mattag- amon Shin Pond’s Trail 64 and Trail 114. First raffle drawn and winners announced and posted on Facebook. December 12, Zoom meeting due to COVID numbers increasing. Trail talk again. Trails are overwhelmed with the debris from the most recent storm. Looking into some relief to help with the work. A lot needs to be done with bigger pieces of machinery vs. men with saws. There has been some activity on the Ackley Pond Road and Owlsboro Road. Plowing on Ackley Pond Road may make it difficult to get to Wilderness Variety this year. Travis has a couple culverts available, if needed anywhere for the Club. Discussed a few things on groomer maintenance and the garage storage area. We will continue to split the cost with another tenant, which makes it more feasible for the club. Discussed scheduling work weekends and making a calendar, but nothing was decided. Travis will make some sign backers for the club. The Army National Guard has contacted us about doing a couple signs for the club that advertises the town and club. They will get those done and up to the club. No longer doing the Pot of Gold drawing at the end of the season for attendees as we are not meeting in person. Raffle Winners were drawn, announced and posted on Facebook. That’s it in a nut shell. Pray we can get the trails cleared up and we have a good riding season. I feel people need to get out in the fresh air and enjoy themselves a little. Join the clubs in the areas you ride. Charlene Fraser Club Secretary St. Francis Sno-Angels St. Francis, ME We have snow! Had it, lost it and

Carroll, Ian Rafford and Creed& Rochelle Chasse. Thank you to Reid for donating $300.00 of his winnings to the club and for Judy and Tadishi for donating their winnings back to the club. Your generosity is much appreciated! The Ashland Snowmobilers would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and safe new year. May 2021 be a better year for all of us. Mary Ellen Chasse, representing the Ashland Snowmobile Club Just couple of notes: (1) Janell Grant from Island Falls is the win- ner of our Caribbean Cruise raffle. (2) A bad sleet storm has set us back at least 2 weeks. (3) Groomers are ready to go. (4) Zoom meetings seem to be a hit, thanks Keith Sanford. (5) Membership 99 & counting. (6) Will update more next month!!Happy New Year!! ~ Jim Splan Reporter @ Large ROCKABEMA SNOW RANGERS Patten, ME FB: Patten - Rockabema Snow Rangers Email: rockabemasnowrangers.com Well, what a year we are having so far. I was hoping this COVID issue would be over by now and not rearing its ugly head again! I’m going to play a little catch up as I haven’t submitted this fall. In Sep- tember we decided to forego the land- owners dinner due to State Restric- tions. We tried out a Zoom Meeting/ Discussion on September 12th with only six of us in attendance. Most of the talk was about trails and the areas we know they will be harvesting. It all changes this time of year for us. A grant is in the process. There is a need for a new trail near the Carver Road but that is still in the works of where and how. Some talk about what needs to be done with the groomers to start the season. Memberships will be mailed with Super Raffle Tickets next week. October 10, we held an in-person meeting at the clubhouse and kept our distance. More trail talk and the logging areas on ITS 81 and BMSP area of 64. Still discussing the trail near Libby’s Lodge & Canty’s look- ing for landowner permission and if feasible. Trail 62 W was brushed by a few members. We had a donation of a Stihl Brush Cutter by one of the land- owners in the area that owns a busi- ness. Update on the Memberships. BENEDICTA SNOWGANG Benedicta, ME

have it again and I believe it is here to stay. Who needs rain in the winter time? And as of this writing they are predicting 3 to 5 inches for us tonight into tomorrow. This means that our trail master, Roland, and his partner in crime, Jeff will be heading out on their maiden voyage this coming week. Our planning for this year has taken a wait and see approach but the one thing we intend to have is our annual Race your Neighbor event. This event has gained popularity from year to year and we all leave there with the smell of Ski Doo on us and a full belly from Faith, Judy and the girls cook- ing. All outside for us to enjoy, even the little ones race. This year’s event will be held February 27th, 2021. Put us on your calendar. Check our web- site for more details. The social aspect of this coming season might be quite a bit different than prior years but for those of you that enjoy the pristine trails northern Maine has to offer the show is on! The endless miles of groomed trails, the unparalleled beauty of our riv- ers and lakes, the occasional sight of our winter creatures from the elu- sive pine martin to our red fox to our white-tailed deer and magnificent moose. We are all still here waiting for your visit. Leave the COVID behind, come breath our fresh air and clear your heads. Don’t you deserve it? . Kim O CHAPMAN RIDGE RUNNERS SNOWMOBILE AND ATV CLUB Mapleton, ME Dear Members, I hope Christmas went well for you and your families. It certainly was the toughest I can remember, with loved ones locked down in nursing homes, others alone for Christmas and tradi- tions long established needing to be changed. But we are resilient and it’s a new year, hopefully with our vac- cines coming! The good news is that we have snow, but the ground is not frozen yet, so we can’t put the heavy groomer over the trails. Rail beds would be okay, but another week or two will make a big difference. In the mean- while, be careful lest you think you can ride anywhere. This is the time of year when snowmobilers cause a lot of damage to their sleds by sled- ding on ungroomed trails, over rocks and whatever else may be under that snow. But I for one, can’t wait to get out there (maybe just a small amount of cabin fever). The work crews have got everything

ready to go, with a lot of changes as to how the grooming crew and schedules will work. Difficult times call for changes and exchanges of ideas and I’m sure all clubs are scrambling to figure out the challenges. We can do it. I just hope we don’t have to take along a peanut butter sandwich to eat on the trail! My personal goal this year is to make it to Escourt Station; we’ll see. Many people are planning on a great year for sledding. The dealerships are selling all the sleds they can get and needing more, but are unable to get them. Used sleds will be a hot com- modity. Keep planning and hopefully I’ll see you on the trails. Check us out on Facebook for the latest news! Sue Maynard Secretary PORTAGE LAKERS sc Portage Lake, ME Contact Us! portagelakersmembership@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/portage.lakers Happy 2021! Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday season! The Portage Lakers are already off to a great start for this snowmobile sea- son! Make sure all your sledding friends have joined a club and if they haven’t, send them our way. Email us at portagelakersmembership@gmail. com or visit www.portagelakers.org ($15 Associate Club Family Member- ship; $30 Family Membership; $50 Business Membership) PLSC mem- ber meetings are held on the first Fri- day of the month, 6:30 PM at Dean’s Motor Lodge. Whether you are trav- eling by car or by sled, plan to join us at one of our coming meetings; Febru- ary 5, March 5 and April 2. Due to COVID19 we’re uncertain at this time whether or not we’ll be able to have our fun-loving events that we hold every year. We still hope to hold our annual events but to be on the safe side please keep an eye on our Facebook page for updates on all our events. With a more positive outlook on COVID19 this is a great winter to spend time with your family and teach them the sport that we all know and love. There’s nothing more enjoyable taking your family out for a ride and it’s also a great way to social distance and still be able to go out and do something! The guys have been busy making our trails the very best. Looking to volunteer? Please contact us at info@ portagelakers.org Club can’t survive (Continued on Page 22) Or visit us on the web: www.portagelakers.org Find us on Facebook!

NORTHERN REGION ASHLAND sc Ashland, ME It doesn’t seem possible that we’re at the end of 2020 and that Christmas is just a week away as I write this. It has been such a trying year for so many, especially our hospitality busi- nesses, restaurants and lodging estab- lishments, and all businesses whose livelihoods depend on snowmobilers. We pray for snow, but most of all we pray that the situation with COVID will allow those businesses to remain open during the winter months. This is one of the times that I’m glad that we live in a remote part of the state, where up until recently we have not been as affected by COVID as others have been. With snowmobilers com- ing to “the county” from out of state and even from down state, we must all remember that COVID is still at the fore front of our lives. Thanks to so many brilliant minds, we now have a vaccine, but it will be months before the majority of us we will be able to receive it. Until then this is a friendly reminder that we must all remain dil- igent and continue with the practices that will help to keep us and those around us safe. Wash your hands, social distance and wear a mask. Now about snowmobiling…. As of today, Dec. 15th, we do have snow on the ground, but not enough for the groomers to be out. Another storm will see them out on the trails to at least get things packed down for a base. Most Sundays in November were work days where our guys were on the trails cutting brush and taking care of general trail maintenance. We had our monthly meeting last night and they said that everything looks to be in great shape. A big THANK YOU to everyone who participated in those Sunday work bees! We had the first drawing for our “snow 300” tickets. As chair of this fundraiser, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who bought tickets. I’d also like to thank all of our club members who sold tickets. We had 300 tickets to sell and as of last night they had all been sold. Our first winners are: $500.00- Reid McLaughlin, $200.00-Melanie Junkins, $100.00 Judy Swanton and $50.00 each-Tadishi Spencer. Chris Deadlines for club news is the 25 th of the month prior to the publications. Please submit articles to editor@mesnow.com

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