7566_MSA_May2021_MaineSnowmobiler

Special Edition Season Wrap Up

President’s Award – Mike Grass, Sr. • Presented by Mike Grass, Jr.

but she also spent time in the barn. We always made sure we got our chores done quick so we had time to have fun. During the summer, horses took up most of my time but I still had a dirt bike to enjoy but every winter, my dad and I would go out back and uncover my favorite thing to do. My 1974 Ski-doo Elan he had bought me when he sold the dealership. We’d uncover it and get it started up and bring it in the garage and make sure the mice hadn’t gotten in it, grease the boogies and clutch, fill it with gas and I was good to go all win- ter. Dad and I rode together as much as we could but his back didn’t like snowmobiles and their rough ride back then. I had trails all over and flattened the pasture every winter. He even put a hitch on my Elan for me so I could haul the pipe drag around my trails. My snowmobile love was at full speed by now. Now we go to basketball, bas- ketball, why basketball? Well, in fourth grade, all us “Newport” boys started playing basketball. Well, it ended up, my dad volun- teered to coach and for travel reasons, he was my coach. As my basketball coach, he taught me the proper way to be a leader. He taught me skills I didn’t know he was teaching the whole time learning new skills, techniques and enjoying the game of bas- ketball. Did I grow up to be a big basketball star, no, but bas- ketball and my dad taught me a lot about life, interacting with people and respecting people. My favorite basketball story is when my dad coached our all-

star team. His team was down by 13 points with a minute and a half to go. We won the game by 6 points. Not because he was the best coach. Not because we were the best team but because he coached right until the end and never gave up. He told us what to do and we did it and we won. It showed me that if you put in the work, it will pay off. I had a lot of success in High School Sports because of the lessons learned from my dad in our basketball days. The whole time I’ve been talking about my dad and what he and I were doing and he was teaching me, he was also vol- unteering for the Maine Appa- loosa Horse Club as President. I attended many meetings he presided over and watched how parliamentary procedure worked and how club business was conducted. I admired his leadership skills and ability to make the Horse Club successful. Fast forward a little. I Finished High School and Went to EMVTI. After that, I started working with dad in the family business, actu- ally, I started helping him when I was 13. Anyhow, I sold my Elan and bought an 89 Ski-doo MXLT. Dad had also been wanting to get back into the sport and thought the newer suspensions wouldn’t kill his back, so he bought a touring sled. He rode that some and then a 92 Mach 1. He liked it but didn’t really get into riding like I was. He didn’t get into trail riding until a tripwith me to Aroostook County. Follow- ing that trip he came home and bought a 2003 Legend and he’s

been riding with me ever since. He was the one who thought we should take a week every winter and spend it in Frenchville riding together. Another lesson taught without me knowing it. In 2007, I started working on the Trails Committee, inspecting trails in my area. My wingman on these inspections was always my dad, so now at every stop on the trail, I get the “there is an arrow missing or hazard marker missing back there”. I love to hear him say that because he takes pride in his “newest jobs” as “ITS Sign guy” and “Golf Scramble Chef” and volunteer- ing for MSA. In 1988 he brought me into his business as a partner. A rela- tionship that still goes on today 33 years later. In Business he taught me the importance of being 5 minutes early, working hard, producing a quality prod- uct at a fair price but also taking time to recreate and enjoy life and family along the way. Every one of these things my dad did with me taught me something. From sweeping the floor of the shop, lugging pails of water to horses, riding the trails on snowmobiles, building houses and barns to spending time with family at camp on 4th of July. My dad taught me how to be many things but mostly, he taught me to work hard, enjoy family and give back to the things you enjoy. I wouldn’t be MSA President today if it weren’t for his life lessons. Thanks, Dad

T he 2021 MSA Presidents Award wasn’t a hard choice for me as it was started many years ago. Little did I know get- ting dropped off the bus after kindergarten in 1972 would have such effect on my life. Where did I get dropped off you ask. Well, it was Mike and Pat’s Ski-doo in East Newport, ME. Mike was my dad and Pat was my mom. They didn’t end up keeping the shop but the introduction to snowmo- biling had done it’s damage. My dad showed me a lot about snowmobiles in that little shop, from rebuilding engines to installing windshields. Stocking the parts room and cleaning the shop were all chores that had to be done. It showed me how a business works and how my dad took care of business. With all the competition with snowmobile dealers virtu-

ally everywhere, dad had also worked as a carpenter during the slower summer months and in 1974 closed up Mike and Pat’s Ski-doo to start Mike Grass Builder, Inc. as a full time business. As I grew up, I knew little about his business, only that he left early every morning and came home every night to do chores. I guess I should clar- ify that a little. We also had a horse farm. We showed horses, boarded horses and took care of horses. We did our own hay- ing too. Mom and Dad worked all day so after school and all summer my sister and I took care of “the chores”. I was in charge of mowing grass, fixing fences, mucking stalls, lugging water and occasionally feeding horses. My sister did the house stuff like laundry and vacuuming

An Off-Season Special Publication of the Maine Snowmobile Association May 2021 • Vol. 52 • No. 8 MSA, PO Box 80, Augusta ME 04332

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From the President

Super Raffle, like fairs, lobster bakes and the like, making it harder to sell tickets. But clubs dug in and sold almost as many tickets as a normal year. Thank you to all the clubs who sold tickets. The holidays were fast approaching and the beginning of snowmobile season was being impatiently awaited. Luckily while we waited, Debbie Gould and Outdoor Women approached MSA with another fundraiser. Just like that, the MSA Virtual Snowcross Race was underway with clubs from all over the state getting involved. Yes, we had a few hiccups and glitches, but for our first virtual race, it ended up pretty good. February 1st, we got decent snow and riding over a good part of the state. Clubs sprang into action as always and made beautiful trails with minimal snow. Registrations were off almost 12,000 sleds at the end of January only to have them bounce back to the highest number of registrations in 6 years. A terrific February school vacation week and no snow in southern New England brought sledders flocking to Maine to enjoy our fantastic product, services and hospitality. day and night producing snowmobile trailers. Wow who would have thought in a pandemic this would happen. Hopefully we can pull off the show this fall. Things are lining up well but keep in touch with the webpage for updates. There has been lots of interest from the past vendors. The raffle is taking shape too, we’re planning on three snowmobiles this year along with a Alcom trailer! Hint.. working on another trailer too from Nitro! I want to thank Eileen and Larry Lafland for their hard work they go above and beyond at the meetings and other events we have. Eileen is the Eastern Region’s go to person as Vice President she goes to parts unknown to visit with clubs and hosts meetings for her territory. Thank You! The Northern VP is my buddy Matt Stedman. This young man gets it done, what a work ethic he has. With his son in tow, they light up a room with their positive outlook for life and snowmobiling. Thank you for everything! My old buddy Jack Lord is the Central Region’s main man. He travels anywhere and everywhere! Last year he delivered a whole lot of membership kits all over the central region from one end to the other. He attends many of the regions meetings and is always at the MSA Zoom or call in’s. Thanks Jack The Coastal VP is David Watson he’s a Cat man…that’s OK! Another traveler he has a great personality along with some southern charm and gets the job done! By southern I mean southern Executive VP Report

Market of Holden each receiving the award. Lori Hemmerdinger was named MSA Snowmobiler of the Year for her outstanding work in the MSA office and more. MSA Dealer of the Year went to Reggie’s Ski-Doo in Leeds. The MSA Hall of Fame gained two new members in Eugene Richie and Aleta Rioux. Many accolades for years of hard work from those two volunteers. Many MSA snowmobile clubs were awarded membership awards for their high number of members with the Rangeley Lakes Snowmobile Club taking home the Number 1 MSA club again this year with over 1100 members. Congratulations to all of this year’s winners! We enjoyed sharing the day with you all. The MSA Golf Scramble is coming right up June 26th. Super Raffle tickets should be available around the 4th of July and we are planning the MSA Snowmobile Show Oct. 22, 23 & 24. A lot going on at MSA and we hope to see you all soon at one or all our events. Thank you all for a successful 2020- 2021 season. MSA President, Mike Grass Jr. season 183 to be exact. Six of those were fatalities: In January, we had three a 32 y/o from New Hampshire lost his young life in Eus- tis. On January 25th another young man, from Caribou went off the trail in Stock- holm and stuck some trees he was just 25. The end of January we lost a 66 y/o from Wells (ME) in Dennistown near Jackman. The first month of the season is always the worst. In February, a 33y/o from CT hit a power line pole in Dallas Plantation between Stratton and Rangeley. On the 18th of February we lost a 66y/o near Pleasant Pond from a heart attack while waiting for his group near an inter- section. He was from Penn. vacationing with his family. February 20th came to a halt when a Mass man died in Madrid after going off the trail he was just 34. I’m sorry these folks passed doing what they love to do. My heartfelt sorrow goes out to their loved ones. The accidents were way up to, I contribute that to a lot of first time rider’s, they don’t have the expe- rience to ride and how to operate in bad situations. Hopefully this safety team can spread the message so next season will be a safer one. With that said, Maine registered lots of sleds this past season as of May 1st it was over 86,000. We all know what PPE is by now, wear it this year ear plugs, safety glasses, good boots, gloves, chaps, face shields, and just use common sense while you tackle your project at home driving or at your workplace. Stay safe! And God Bless, Al

And then it was gone.Almost as fast, as it hit in February, trails were lost in most of Maine by the second or third week of March. While it was a short season, the trail quality during that time was the best I’ve seen in all my years riding. Hats off to all the clubs, their groomers and trail workers. Job well done. March saw a fantastic MSA Showcase ride with the Limestone Snow Hawks. Club President Chris King and MSA Northern Region Matt Stedman put on a great ride and the Nordic Lakers put on a wonderful trailside meal for the group. March also had MSA introduce a bill to the legislature for a registration increase. Our bill as introduced and out of committee states that all of the increase goes to the Snowmobile Trail Fund (trail grants) and Capital Equipment Fund (groomer grants) except for a small portion of the non-resident 3 and 10 day going to IF&W. Increase: Resident: $10 ($5 Trail Fund, $5 CEG) Non-Res 3-day: $25 ($10 TF, $10 CEG, $5 IF&W) Non-Res 10-day: $25 ($10 TF, $10 coastal Maine! He worked hard with Aleta this year on the silent auction in which had a record-breaking day. Hopefully this year I get to ride more with him. Thank you Dave Talk about a hard worker here’s Jim Boyce from the large Western region. He’s up at 4am collecting trash on the trail and removing nasty signs before the landowners get out of bed. He has a big area with lots of clubs and the largest membership club (RLSC 1144 members) That region is becoming a bigtime destination point, lots of good food joints easy gas stops and scenic wonderlands Thanks Jim The regional directors do a gear job the unknown heroes I’ll call them: The East: Paul Bolstridge - Lincoln, Larry Lafland - Dedham, Gary Dowling - East Machias John Monk - Newburg and Craig Lemieux The North: Gary Marquis - Caribou, Lendell Buckingham - Garfield, Jeff Brooks - Island Falls The Western: Gary Okenquist - Bethel, Roland Bowie - Mechanic Falls, Paul Gallant - Fryeburg, Jon Wakefield – Oquossoc The Coastal: Rodney Berry - Lincolnville, Eric Perreault – Hollis The Central: David Cogley - W. Gardiner, Alan Dugus – Yarmouth, Jack Lord – Bingha Thank you to Lori Hemmerdinger for all she does Thanks to Mark Chinnock for all his trail work Thanks to Gail Ryan for mailing out cards! Beth Bowie for a great job doing Hall

CEG, $5 IF&W) Non Res Season: $20 ($10 TF, $10 CEG) Note: This is the first increase in funding to the CEG since its inception in 1995. Please support this bill, LD-280, by contacting your State Senators and Representatives. This is how we increase our grooming grants and the ability to buy groomers, which have gotten tremendously more expensive. That brings us to April, actually, May 1st and the annual MSAAwards Banquet and awards. It was a great day with over 100 people attending at Jeff’s Catering in Brewer. It was their first event since Covid 19 shut them down over a year ago and they hit it out of the ballpark. The meal and staff were fantastic and a great prelude to our awards presentation. I had the honor of presenting my father with the MSA President’s Award for all he’s taught me over the years and his involvement with MSA. Got a little choked up but managed to get through it and continue on. MSA Club of the Year went to the Norway Trackers and Business of the Year was a tie, with R&M Market of Eagle Lake and G&M of Fame Thank you! Thanks to Harvey Chesley for chairing the scholarship committee. And Thanks to John Monk for the steering committee. Thanks to Brad Barker for taking notes! Thanks to Barry Ryan for also giving a helping hand. Bob Flagg thanks for always being there for me! Thank you Joe Higgins for always helping me out when I have a question. Mike Sawyer from IF&W for your support. Thanks to all the clubs large and small, you all make snowmobiling in Maine the best in the Northeast! Aleta and Jerry Major and everyone else who made another successful silent auction Thanks to Mike Grass for steering the sled done the trail! Have a great off-season, stay well. Al Chair Report H we’re turning the corner with snowmobile safety. Things are not the best but we’ve had in many years in the past that were much worst. Next year we’ll be making our way across the state with safety pro- grams working with the State’s IF &W Division to promote the safe operations of snowmobiles. Everything from getting geared up to riding on the trail. We had several reported accidents last i Folks. Last season is behind us. It was quite a challenge but I think Safety Committee

MSA 2020-2021 is officially in the books. Saturday May 1st, we rewarded some very deserving people and businesses for the outstanding contributions to snowmobiling in Maine. Congratulations to all our award recipients. Our season started last fall with the cancellation of our MSA Snowmobile Show. Luckily, we were able to have our Super Raffle. Most clubs were unable to have their normal fundraisers for the Mike Grass, Jr., 207-368-2316 249 Condon Rd, Plymouth ME 04969 mgrassjr@gmail.com From the Executive VP & Safety Committee Chair

Alan Swett, 207-872-7282 234 County Rd, Waterville ME 04901 snowtraveler@roadrunner.com H ello!What a year, we’ve done things people said could not be done! I’m proud of every one of you. The season started late and ended quickly. I got to ride a little but spent most of my time in the MSA office meeting most of you by phone and email. What an awesome learning experience and I’ve made new friends that will last a lifetime. Yeah, what a year Zoom meetings, group phone calls more emails than ever. Last year we had a successful Raffle even though two of the biggest clubs could not sell like they wanted too. Everybody loved the calendars we sold out of those along with the facemasks. The State registered over 86,000 sleds and that number is not complete and could go over 88,000! The dealers sold out of sleds, the two big trailer manufacturer’s located right here in Maine could not keep up working

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between the committee members and the clubs to note these changes that would transfer over to the map. With this com- plete and many steps to follow, the map was created and off to print. What followed was many hours spent over the next couple of months assisting the clubs with any issues, information or maybe just lending a hand navigating a project. With snow now on the way, the real fruits of our labor begins with the boots on the ground or more appropri- ately tracks on the trail work, assisting clubs with signing and inspecting ITS trails. The MSA Trails Committee is composed of roughly 40 like-minded dedicated snowmobilers who logged in nearly 300 hours on the trails alone and realized over 3,000 miles inspecting these trails. This to some may sound like “work” but to most of us here it is a passion for the sport and can be a very rewarding experience. I know I have said this many times before but I would like to thank every- one on the committee for their hard work this past season, and yes I do like all the seasons that Maine has to offer, but in a weird kind of way I can’t wait for it to start back up again! Thank you to all snowmobilers out there that make it happen and I look forward to seeing and talking to you all very soon. Mark Chinnock Eastern Region VP the entire Eastern Region weren’t ready. Trails were cleared, brushed, re-routed, signed and marked waiting for the snow. Many, many thanks to ALL EASTERN REGION CLUBS for the work you put in each and every year to get the trails ready. One of these years it will be our turn to have snow, snow and more snow throughout the entire region. We are due for it, so keep doing all the great things you do as we appreciate it. I also want to thank the five regional directors who cover this region. Paul Bolstridge from Lincoln, Gary Dowling of East Machias, John Monk of Hermon/ Newburg, Craig Lemieux of Guilford and Larry Lafland of Dedham. Paul, Gary and Larry have been in this position for many years with John and Craig being the newbies to regional director posi- tions. With the gathering restrictions in place this past year we couldn’t hold regional meetings like we have in the past, but hopefully that will change in 2021-22 and each one of these guys will be hosting a meeting in their area. Thank you to all five of you for what you bring to snowmobiling and the eastern region. The Eastern Region placed second this year in membership totals and for that I applaud ALL the clubs in this region. In my mind you are number one because you all work hard at getting members to

ital equipment grant). Let’s be realis- tic folks! This bill is not enormous, but rather just keeping pace with the industry. The IFW committee worked the bill and MSA Reps had to tone it down from the committee’s added amendments on words heard directly from active clubs. Thanks for voicing your concerns so speedy! While there were some very intense moments, right now, we are still on track. PLEASE, reach out and tell your reps or senators to support LD-280 as all of resident and most of Non-resident will go to the clubs as written. And to silence the big rumor… NONE to the general fund. While we can’t seem to get a true voting date, good chances are that it will be May 13th. LD 944 is a bill to simplify a dual registration for snowmobile/ATV with tracks. MSA was not in favor of it primarily due to the perspective of the landowner getting confused on the vehicles purpose. While we don’t want to tell anyone they can’t do this, if there is a procedure, MSA wishes to continue it the same way. LD-1033 is one MSA felt we should be “Not for Nor Against”. This one allows Sun- day hunting on privately owned land or with written permission. In speak- ing with landowners small and large, we got a smattering of all answers of

either direction. As snowmobiling is primarily a land user group, we could not willingly pin our great trail sup- porters against each other on a battle that could affect trail systems. Some landowners love it, while others not so much. Many clubs have appreci- ated the chance to do trail maintenance without orange as well, but again, we need to demonstrate that we truly are appreciative of what we have and all our landowners. LD 1370 is the exten- sion of rail trail (primarily on the Sun- rise Trail) and that at last check was still yet to be heard. Of course, we would encourage for this to happen but did show concerns of the additional workload to clubs maintaining their sections and financial adds. We’ll keep ya’all posted. What came out of this is we have some very vocal clubs and we could not be prouder of your impressive quick fancy footwork! YOU are the voice of MSA and if your club is not involved, your missing your chance. See you all June 26 at the 5thAnnual Golf Scramble where we get to smash the snot out of white balls. If we smash enough of them, the ground may be white for an early season next year! Challenge accepted… Be Well Everyone! John Monk very long, temps, rain, huge warmup in early March cut our season down. What did continue was the strength of our snowmobile clubs. Thank you to all Coastal region clubs for staying positive and staying focused.. I applaud you!! I would also like to say a very well deserved Thank you to the MSA Officers, Executive board, MSA Directors from across the state, Zoom meetings, moving forward with our goals, keeping our office running as proficient as possible with all the changes taking place. I just left the MSA Annual Banquet & Awards ceremony. Congratulations to all who received an award today. Congratulations to the newest inductees to the Hall of Fame! Listening to the stories told makes me proud to be a member of this Family. It’s never too early start your snow dance! Enjoy your summer, THINK SNOW!!! Dave

Trails Committee Chair Report

Steering Committee Chair Report

John Monk Chairman of Steering Committee monksdoomopars@hermon.net H ello Maine Snowmobilers, The season for riding may not have been what we all wished for but the work behind the scenes didn’t seem to let up any. Phew! Hopefully a break is near. Well maybe not…. The legislative session is in full swing as we speak. By now, if you have not heard of LD-280, you clearly have been hiding under your cover with your sled. This is the bill MSA has presented with strong feedback from over 50 clubs that responded asking for additional revenues via reg- istration to go DIRECTLY to the STF (snowmobile trail fund) and CEG (cap- join and to get others to return to your club year after year. Of the ten top clubs in the state, four of them were Eastern region clubs. Congratulations to Penob- scot SC, Largest Eastern region club, closely followed by Moosehead Riders, Blue Ridge Riders and Northern Timber Cruisers. These four clubs had a com- bined membership total of over 700! Way to go! There were also two other winners in the Eastern Region this year. Congrat- ulations to G&M Market of Holden for being awarded the MSA Business of the Year award. They tied with R&M Coun- try Store in Eagle Lake for this award. Also, congratulations to Jeff Bourassa from Jo- Mary Riders for winning the Photo Contest this year. As you can see even though we lacked snow in many places, the Eastern Region once again came on strong and finished just as strong. Enjoy what little time off we have before the next season starts. You all deserve it. Why not come play a little golf on the 26th of June in Palmyra and support MSA while competing for a chance at the Club Cup Championship. All the details are on the MSA website, so check it out an sign up today. Enjoy the summer everyone! See you in September! Eileen

Mark Chinnock,Trails Committee Chair 207-754-9874 435 Poland Corner Rd, Poland ME 04274 napadude66@hotmail.com S ome of the saddest words spoken by a true snowmobiler are “well another season has come and gone” but we all know that all good things must come to an end. With that being said, we also know that this also means that another season is going to be upon us before we know it. Let’s take a quick look back at last season. For the Trails Committee the real season started in August in prepara- tion for the new ITS map, with changes being inevitable within the trail system the lines of communication opened up

Coastal Region VP

David Watson, 207-205-1558 412 Roberts Ridge Rd East Waterboro ME 04030 dwatson6841@gmail.com

S leds are put away, summer toys are being cleaned and ready to go!! Boat goes in the water soon, Harley is ready to ride, Summer is fast approaching and I am ready!!! But this is about “Snowmobile Season wrap up”. So.... let’s take a look back at 2020 “The season that Was and Wasn’t “ Covid was the headline for the year, then we didn’t get snow until late. Finally Snow Gods blessed us with the white gold!! Clubs across the state jumped into action, grooming ramped up then it rained or got warm groomers went back to sleep.... Snow started again and although it was much later than normal, we finally had some riding. Our season “WAS” upon us. The problem is it “WASN’T”

Eileen Lafland, 207-843-7813 PO Box 733, Holden ME 04429 llafland@midmaine.com W hat a season it has been! COVID still dominated the state but snow- mobilers took advantage of snow when and where they could find it and put on as many miles as they could. Once again Mother Nature and Ole Man Win- ter decided to bless parts of the Eastern Region and “punish” other parts but not giving them any snow! The northern and western parts of the region had good to great riding with plenty of snow while once again Downeast and southern por- tions of the region had little to no riding. That doesn’t mean the clubs throughout

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Central Region VP

Northern Region VP without you we’d all be sick of riding loops around our houses. It is amazing how people open their land for others to recreate on. We are very fortunate to have gracious owners who let us ride. * 2nd are the clubs & their volunteers. There is an endless amount of work that goes into making those trail rides all possible. It seems to be a year ‘round job for most of us. To all those who help out, THANK YOU. Each hour you put into the sport pays dividends to your local club & economy. * 3rd supporting businesses and supporting members. Not everyone can show up for a trail workday or spend countless nights in the groomer, but those of you who contribute in any way make a difference. Everyone out there who contributes is a huge asset to snowmobiling in Maine. * Last, but certainly not least is the MSA steering committee. This is a group of highly dedicated folks who have been running the MSA the past 2 seasons. Without their countless hours of traveling & meetings we would not be where we are today. They have carried the load for the organization and made sacrifices of personal time and days out of their lives

to make sure the MSA is moving forward. This winter between folks who couldn’t travel across the border and an increase in snowmobile sales and rentals meant more riders staying here & coming here. This is great for the local economy, but a challenge for most clubs. It meant traffic all week long and the need for additional grooming shifts taxing many clubs. The other concern I experienced and heard about was a decrease in trail courtesy. If you see this, please don’t assume someone else will deal with it, stop and have a civil conversation with the folks. Many have not grown up around the sport and do not fully understand how their actions may impact them, others on the trails and our sport. Enjoy your summer, get out to a club function, help out, meet some new people, bring a new rider to your club. I am looking forward to summer snowmobile events & hope to see some of you there! If you have a question, problem, concern, or idea on snowmobiling in “The County” or Maine, get in touch with me. You can contact me at the phone # or email below my photo. Matt Stedman

The reasons the clubs invite all the visitors and non-club members to join the clubs, is for the support and the dues to help maintain the machines, fuel for grooming and repairs and reroutes so we can continue to enjoy the trails. There are donation jars at most all businesses for people to help. All that is asked is to throw a little in the jar to help. If you cannot please stop one of the club members or the groomer and say thank you. As fall approaches this year, think about safety courses for the young people in your area. Start them out right. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO MAKES THIS TRAIL SYSTEM POSSIBLE. Fair warning I will be back next season, until then……….. Keep Smiling, Be Safe, and know I’m here if I can help. Jack Lord

Matt Stedman 207-557-1921 (call or text)

W ell it’s the beginning of May, the snow has been gone for weeks now and another season is in the books. Northern Maine winter was a bit different than the past few years, but we finally got snow mid-January and that brought folks from all around the State up to visit & explore our trails and communities. The snow wasn’t the best quality for the groomers to make stay put, but clubs and their volunteers did a wonderful job keeping up & persevering through increased traffic. I would like to thank a few groups of folks who make all of what we love to do (snowmobile) possible. * 1st & foremost landowners… PO Box 621, Ashland ME 04732 Stedman.matt@jdirving.com

H i Everyone, This season has been the most work intensive I can remember. Lack of snow, increase in traffic on the trails, and more damage. I know clubs had more hours of trail maintenance and grooming. Having said this I would like to thank all and I mean all the club members who do this work so all of the visitors and non-club members can ride and enjoy the trails. Jack Lord Home: (207) 672-3915 / Cell: 207-717-7131 Email: jacklord5256@gmail.com

Western Region VP

State of Maine Snowmobile Program Joe Higgins

Hello Snowmobile Club Members, Candice, Lana and I would like to thank you all for the work that you all do to make snowmobiling in Maine one of the best outdoor winter activities we have. Despite the added challenges of Covid- 19 and the condensed season we had, you still made it happen. I was lucky enough to get out a few times and the riding was extra enjoyable because of all the challenges we’ve had to deal with. I know Candice got out as well and had some great riding. Again, thank you. We want to be sure to thank all those landowners who allow us to have snowmobile trails on their property. They are very generous to give approval that we should never take for granted, be sure to stop by and say thank you this summer as you are driving by. I’m sure they would really appreciate it. As I mentioned it has been a very interesting year for sure, with Covid-19 restrictions, boarders being closed and late start to the riding season, it was very difficult to predict were we would be with snowmobile registrations and funding of the grants. I had con- versations with many of you throughout the season and if we talked about the middle of January, I’m sure you know I was extremely concerned with the low registration numbers. At that time, we were down 12,000 and still waiting for the white stuff. The thought of calling clubs to cut back on spending due to the gas tax revenue loss and low registration numbers was not a comforting thought. I guess if you are patient enough it can end with positive results, and that is what happen. About the middle to end of January, we finally got snow and the many riders did not wait to get their sleds registered and on the trails. Registrations increased, the club vol-

unteers worked overtime to give those riders a good experience and it worked. We had great riding for February school vacation which is a big week for snowmobiling. The final numbers are not in yet but at the time of this letter we are looking at 86,948 regis- tered snowmobiles which is over last year’s numbers. Again, a big thanks to all of you who built bridges, trimmed trails and groomed, this would not have happened without you. We are able now to honor the approved grants and look forward to working with a lot of you on next year’s projects. A few dates to remember are, May 15th, 2021 is the deadline for the municipal grant reimbursement requests and June 15th, 2021 is the deadline for the Capital Equipment Grant Applications. If any club has a drag or groomer that they are selling please let our office know and we will get that information out to the other Maine snow- mobile clubs. We continually receive calls with clubs looking for good used equipment and this could help another club. The MSA is moving forward with a Snowmobile Show in October, which is great news, and we’ll keep our fingers crossed that things continue in a positive direction so we can get together at the show. And lastly, I hope you all stay safe and healthy this summer, enjoy your families and friends, laugh a little about the crazy times and look forward to snowmobiling next season, you sure do deserve it. Joe Higgins State of Maine Snowmobile Program 207-287-4957

James Boyce, 207-265-6512 1168 Fosterhill Road Freeman ME 04983 Jboyce1168@gmail.com

H ere we are the end of a short season but great riding when we had enough snow. Once again, the western region lead all with over 3,700 members thank all of you who get these memberships. We also had two awards at the year-end banquet at Jeff’s catering Groomer of the year Travis Roderick from JVWING and the biggest club membership which went to Rangley S.C. congrats to true both of them. So now the real work starts getting machines ready checking bridges and touching base with new landowners. A trick I’ve learned over the years is check in with your local realtor this works well. So let’s hope the snow starts flying in November and goes right into April that would make me happy. If anything I could do reach out and If I don’t have the answer I will point you in the right direction. Until the fall enjoy the ride and stay safe. Jim

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2021 MSA Snowmobiler of the Year – Lori Hemmerdinger Presented by Mike Grass, Jr.

on are all grouped, paid and sent to the lay out company. Our newspaper has never had so much read worthy content in all my years here. Then she brought us Form Stack, which is now used for so many things and we keep adding them as she shows us how easy it will work for that application, such as trail inspection forms and registering for our meeting links. Need I say more, sure, why not. This lady also works 40-50 hours a week and raised a teenage boy who likes snowmobiling as much as she does, so how she finds the time and energy to do it all amazes me beyond belief, as she answers her phone any time with words of wisdom and a fix for most any problem. She is an asset to her son, her parents, her local club, a brother of mine and most of all, she is an asset to MSA for all she has done and continues to do above and beyond as with all her Steering Com- mittee team mates. Please join us in congratulating Lori Hemmerdinger for the 2021 MSA Snow- mobiler of the Year.

him I ran into her and he said you’ll be seeing more of her. She started coming to meetings shortly after that and when we had an opening for secretary, I won- dered if she’d be interested in getting more involved with MSA. Of course, I talked to my brother Mark to see if he thought she’d be interested. He said he wasn’t sure, I’d have to talk to her myself. So I gave her a call and she asked a lot of questions about what it entailed and how much of a time commitment it would be. Of course I said it wouldn’t be a lot of work or require much time. Well, she agreed to take on the secretary position and did a heck of a job at it. Move forward to April of 2019. MSA was looking at the task of replacing Bob and Peg Meyers due to retirement. My first job as president was to form a committee to take on that task. I asked John Monk to chair the committee and together we formed the committee, which included this young lady. We hired Susan Carver to work in the office and train with Bob and Peg before they left. After

they left, we found we needed to dig into our finances as we found some unpaid invoices and other places we could save money. This lady dug in and started looking through the MSA finances. Lit- tle did we know she had a background in this area. She started finding places to change to save us money. Next thing I know, she has a preliminary budget for next year. I’m not sure if we would have been able to do that without her. Next, with all the Covid going on, Susan had family medical issues to deal with and had to leave us. We had to figure out how we were going to man the office, get memberships done and pay bills. Well, Al Swett has manned the office, Eileen has done the memberships remotely from home and this lady has done all the book- keeping, mostly spending her Saturdays at the office reconciling the books, pay- ing bills and entering data. That alone is worthy of this nomination but she goes much further. She has also taken on the newspaper, making sure the content, club news, ads, articles and so

Sometimes you never know how a “by chance meeting” will end up later in life. A few years ago, I was “working” on a safety check with Al Swett in Newport when a group of sleds pulled up. The lead sled ended up being a lady that I struck up a conversation with. I asked if she belonged to a club and she said yes, Bog Hooters and I think you know Mark Chin- nock. I said, “yes I do” but she was off on her ride. A short time later, I talked to Mark Chin- nock who explained who she was. I told

2021 MSA Dealer of the Year Reggie’s Kawasaki Ski-doo Written by Mark Chinnock

2021 Groomer of the Year – Travis Roderick Presented by Mark Chinnock

Although I know that this story could be told over and over again, so many clubs with a similar story to tell, which is what makes this award so difficult to choose, so many deserving people. With that being said every year, we set out on the daunting task of trying to weed though and find that one special person that sticks out and who has made a positive impact within a particular club as well as the community. It doesn’t take long when you begin to talk with club members, friends, family and towns people who know that you realize this person has done some extraordinary things for our snowmobiling community over many years. There isn’t a day go by when his goal isn’t to make the best trails that he can possibly make that day, period! Over the last few he has resur- rected and brought back to life, with the help from his family, one of Carrabassett Valley’s most his-

toric buildings and coolest snow- mobiling destinations ever. Rid- ers from a long ways away know that the door is always open, the fire is hot the coffee is on, and you are always guaranteed nothing but good snowmobiling conversation. Oh and of course grooming too! The place that I am speaking about is Bigelow Lodge, the club that is lucky enough to have this man as a groomer / operator is J.V. Wing in Carrabas- sett, and the gentleman that we are honoring as Groomer of the Year is Travis Roderick. The J.V. Wing snowmobile club is very for- tunate to have Travis as an active member of their club. Travis has not only been grooming for the club for many years but has also served as groomer mechanic and Trailmaster and is currently the President. Please join us in congratulat- ing Travis Roderick as the 2021 Groomer of the Year.

2 021 MSA Dealer of the year A big Congratulations is in order for Reggie’s Kawasaki Ski-doo of Leeds Maine, for achieving this most prestigious award offered by the Maine Snowmobile Asso- ciation to one dealer each year who has gone above and beyond in participation and involvement within the snowmobile community during the past season. Not only is Reggies Ski-doo one of the premiere snowmobile deal- ers in Maine. They offer very com- petitive sales and great service and have become a welcomed partner with the MSA this past season. Reaching out to BRP (Ski- doo) and securing an amazing deal on a sled for our Super Raffle, and thus became our feature sponsor for the Raffle and promo poster. In addition to that, given the Covid-19 restrictions that were in place this past December, we were forced to have a virtual drawing for the Super Raffle, which brought with

it a whole host of challenges. At the end of the day when this was all realized by Reggies they opened up their doors and offered their show- room for the MSA to hold the Raffle via live Facebook feed. Reggies was also a supporter and hole sponsor in our MSA Golf Scramble last June which proved to be a huge success. Once again, the MSA cannot thank you enough for stepping up to the plate and CONGRATULATIONS on becoming the 2021 MSA Snow- mobile dealer of the year.

I have a story, a story of a man who’s heart is filled with more passion for the sport of snowmo- biling than you can possibly imag- ine. A man that wakes up every day with the thought “what am I going to do today to make this sport better than it was yester- day. This man lives every day from December to April literally in the groomer, whether he’s grooming or doing trail maintenance, and if he’s not in the groomer he can usually be found somewhere in town at a local business talking snowmobiling or chatting it up with a landowner.

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2021 MSA Club of the Year – Norway Trackers Snowmobile Club Written by John Monk

ues to show their concern of being part of the “big wheel” across the state. Yep! Nailed that one! A big ole giant hurdle unheard of a year ago was the use of technology for company business and communication. Again, this club has not only embraced it but capi- talized on all facets of Facebook, Texting, Zoom and live reporting videos from inside the groomer. They jumped in unknowing like the rest of us of this years “Virtual Snowcross Race” and clearly seized that moment. To put it bluntly, their message is carrying where it needs to be. Please bear in mind, with these new ways of mes- sage sharing, the chance exists that some of the weakest or those choosing tradi- tional platforms could be left behind. Not with this group. One of their posts clearly referenced options for the “Older crew” and an option for the “Newer crew”. Yes folks, this was an outright display showing respect for their forefathers of their club and appreciation to where they had been brought to today. That is not something that comes easy in the volunteer arena. What a concept to embrace in today’s world… Yep! Check in that box! Drama with today’s “my voice every- where mentality” can be open-ended. Not with this club. Clearly, they vet their posts and pages often and silence unwanted input not relevant to their subject. While not knowing all their members person-

ally, from the outside, they clearly show an extremely low tolerance for this part of life. Kudos to you folks! In 2019, MSA was invited to participate with one of their landowner dinners. Not only were ALL the clubs officers present, many additional members were there and shared their sto- ries of how they got in their positions. The night followed an excellent discussion, raf- fle and walk around of the rescue boggan at their local firehouse. We might add that being a landowner’s supper, a sprinkling of landowners often attend. That night, MSA came away with truly an experience of a lifetime with the highly surprising intro- duction and meeting of Bob Chadborne with Chadborne Timberlands. At that very moment, Maine was in a contentious battle outside of snowmobiling, which may have changed our front as a land user forever. We truly believe that night inked an incredi- bly positive chapter in that gentleman’s life. This season, their club was faced with a mid-season, unforeseen trail closure due to logging. The term Mid-Season is used extremely lightly as like the rest of us, there was no beginning or ending of the season, so as you can imagine, a mid-season clo- sure was pretty disappointing. The post went up, strong and concrete and they moved on. We all appreciate the good with the bad. Somehow, some weekend, they even landed some great weather and pulled off a trailside BBQ with incredible

visibility and an onslaught of happy patrons clearly enjoying what their club offers. Nicely Done! Point and simple, a club should not be all work. These people clearly appear to pride themselves in enjoying their sport. Again, from displayed pictures, this season, they clearly exploded beyond their town’s bor- ders and ventured to many different regions of Maine including The Forks, Coburn Sum- mit, Grand Falls and on another trip, the great Kathadin Region. A season ago, six- teen of their members jumped a plane and spent a week riding the Yellowstone area in Montana. That’s a bucket list item often on about every snowmobiler’s list out there! Wow…. One of their members just recently even communicated to us, in their 50 years of snowmobiling, they have never been as proud to be involved with such a great group of people. In follow up, if there is a way, the MSA is not sure how that we could demonstrate a better well rounded club for the State of Maine and the Snow- mobile world to see. While clubs are all still standing after this last year, this one has clearly risen to the top and deserves Top Honors of 2021 MSA Club of the Year! MSA is extremely proud to congratulate the Norway Trackers Snowmobile Club as being 2021 MSA Club of the Year!

I t’s hard to believe that the season is over and we have crowned the MSA Club of the Year. If one reflects back on the past sea- son since last March, It quickly calls out that pretty much any club that has carried on and is still standing deserves mention and to be in the running for this award. It truly has been a world of unknowns that all clubs as well as MSA has faced. “We all Done Good”! To that, we all deserve something. The State of Maine and all the ridership of the industry that came here should be very thankful. However, with that said, one club must prevail! To be recognized by MSA and Club peers, a great first step would be continuing to be active with MSA and actively involved with sharing input as well as output of the organi- zations decisions. After all, the clubs are the voice of the future of this sport. This club readily has member’s active and voicing concerns as well as support for MSA testi- mony and have also been great supporters of our annual meeting. Aligning with that, actively submitting club news and partici- pating with our monthly newsletter contin-

“2021 MSA Picture of the Year Awarded to Jeff Bourassa from Winslow”

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HALL OF FAME

Aleta Rioux Presented by Beth Bowie

Eugene Ritchie Presented by Beth Bowie

Aleta’s contri- butions to snow- mobiling in Maine and the MSA have been invaluable since the 1980’s when she and her husband became involved in the sport. Her hus-

sell that night to make or increase the budgeting income. She always made sure the raffle was a profit to the MSA. Aleta has been part of the MSA Show since the inception over 20 years ago. For the past 10+ years, Aleta has coordinated the MSA merchan- dise at the show. From meeting with the supplier, arriving early on Friday night working the show, and returning on Sunday night to close out the show her dedication was relentless. Due to Rog- er’s health, she had to limit the amount of time at the event but this did not stop her for making sure it was successful. The introduction of the Annual Meeting Silent Auction fundraiser was a fundraising event brought forward by Aleta to have another fund- raising event after the Super Raffle was over. In true Aleta fashion she pulled it together, con- vinced clubs to donate items and this grew from a one or two table event to six tables in 2018 netting over $1K at the that event! As an “ambassador” of the sport and MSA Aleta reached far across the state. Whether Aleta and Roger were riding in the County or in the Western area, they chatted with fellow riders and never missed a chance to talk about snowmobil- ing and to stress what the sport means to the state and how important it is to get involved. Please join us in congratulating Aleta Rioux in being a recipient of the 2020/2021 Hall of Fame!

Riders

Eugene Ritchie actually received 10 nominations and supporting documents, this gentleman like many that have come before him has been involved

Trail Work • Instrumental in the development of the ITS in Maine • Secured over $400K in grants to purchase groomers for the Blue Ridge Riders including: o a Polaris Ranger with Mattracks and a drag – this was one of the first side by side atv with tracks in Maine used for trail grooming o Many additional pieces of equipment over the years including a 1998 tucker Sno- cat and drag Eugene served in several leadership roles at the club level in addition to serving on the MSA Executive Committee in the 1970’s. Additional recognition Eugene has received over the years include • MSA 2006 Groomer of the Year – Blue Ridge Riders • MSA Award for dedication and unselfish and untiring efforts on behalf of all snowmobilers 78/79 • MSA Award for efforts of keeping the clubs in touch with Board of Directors 78 • MSA Membership Award, Blue Ridge Riders 2007/2008 & 2011/2012 Please join us congratulating Eugene Ritchie in being a recipient of the 2020/2021 Hall of Fame! close by, offering non ethanol gas ... and also a kitchen that provides hot food. They stock up on snowmobile oil belt plugs and cold weather gear….” “Ron and Margaret are Eagle Lake winter riders members; both have snow- mobiled their entire lives and are very involved in the club ... Ron is vice president and Margaret treasurer.” “Ron is also the club wrencher, when- ever the groomer is in need of repair, he is on it ... so as not to hold up grooming operations.” When you are in the store there is an Eagle Lake Winter Riders kiosk display- ing & selling club memberships and mer- chandise, also offering a venue to sell raffle tickets and provide updates on trail conditions. R &MCountry store is the perfect exam- ple of a MSA supporting business, and a great example of a small-town Maine business, excellent customer service, dedication to the community, hard-work- ing folks who will do what it takes to get the job done. Congratulations to R & M Country store, Ron &Margaret and your staff and THANK YOU for what you do for snowmobiling in Maine.

in the MSA and Snowmobiling for 50 years. Eugene has been a member of the Winter- sport Riverside Riders and the Blue Ridge Riders. Among his many list of accomplishments over the years include: Bridge Construction • Marsh Stream bridge project, Winterport Riv- erside Riders • Moose River (2005), Blue Ridge Riders – funded by a grant that Eugene worked hard to secure and the project cost was in excess of $100K • South Branch Brassua Stream, Blue Ridge Riders – 90 foot free span bridge and they repur- posed the steel from the old single lane bridge over the Moose River in Rockwood. Eugene was the one who reached out to the contractors to donate the steel beams and transport to the bridge site for the club. • Johnson Brook replacement – Blue Ridge

band Roger, during that time was the MSA legisla- tive representative for the MSA and Aleta jumped in with both feet! Aleta has always been a strong supporter of the clubs in her area and has been a member of the Minot Moonshiners since the late 1980’s. She became actively involved with the MSA at the encouragement of Mary and Roy Tassinari. Some of Aleta’s MSA accomplishments include:

• Western Region VP 90’s/20’s • MSA Executive VP 2001-2004 • MSA President 2004-2006 • MSA Snowmobiler of the Year • Member of the RTP Grant Committee

After her time as President ended Aleta did not slow her involvement by becoming involved with the Super Raffle….with Aleta this meant becom- ing the Super Raffle Chairperson. Aleta would bring tickets to every MSA Director’s The night of the drawing she would bring tickets as well and share with people how many she needed to

2021 SUPPORTING BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

G & M Market, Holden, Maine Written by Eileen Lafland

R & M Country Store, Eagle Lake, Maine Written by Matt Stedman

T h e is pleased to announce that G&M F a m i l y Market in H o l d e n , Maine is the recip- ient of MSA

lakes and ponds and have an ATV raffle with it. When they have done this, they have contacted EMSC and have given the club the proceeds from this raffle. The amount varies, depending on the number of tickets sold, but it is a welcome amount no matter how much. They have even donated when they did not make a profit, stating because the club maintains the trails so well, they want to help. For the first two years of the derby, they also sold 50/50 tick- ets to derby participants and asked the club if they wanted to sell these tickets at the lakes and ponds and at the weigh-in site, giving the club the other 50% of the income. This past year they allowed the club to set up a display advertising MSA Super Raffle tickets and handled the sale of these tickets for the club, helping EMSC raise about $700, half for the club and half for MSA. After the ini- tial display was made and in place, all the club had to do was keep them supplied with tickets! Not only do they support EMSC they also support other local clubs. Being a full-service grocery store,

they have supplied clubs with items for fund raising events, usually food items. They also support the Ded- ham Elementary School with a pro- gram that includes donations for itemized grocery receipts that are turned in to the school. When con- tacted by the local community to support fund raising dinners for local people who have had medical issues, a death in the family, or some other personal disaster David and Greg donate willingly with food items for the benefit suppers. They have even supplied meals to the local schools at times and even “adopted” a family with children who had lost everything to a fire one Christmas to make sure the children had presents! David and his son Greg Hawes and G & M Family Market, live up to their name of being a family orientated business who support their commu- nity and surrounding communities as well. Greg is also an active snow- mobiler and purchases his snowmo- biles locally. Congratulations G&M Family Market from everyone at the Maine Snowmobile Association.

I am proud to have another Aroostook County business as the 2020-2021 MSA supporting business of the year. This years’ winner is R & M Country Store in Eagle Lake Maine. They were nominated by their local club, the Eagle Lake Win- ter Riders for their business & personal dedication to snowmobiling in Aroostook County. Eagle Lake is a small community but is a high traffic snowmobile town all winter long. These small towns, clubs and busi- nesses are crucial to our trails and snow- mobile community. It is truly people like Ron & Margaret (the owners) who make it happen. Not only do they have a store that tailors the business to the winter sport customers, they are also active club members. To quote the club: “the owners not only work and operate a great store that provides many services to the snowmobile community ... groceries for the folks up to ride and renting cabins

the Supporting Business of the Year Award for 2021. G&M Market is owned by Dave Hawes and his son Greg. It is located directly on Trial #RR 25, which connects Brewer to Ellsworth. G&M has been a support- ing business member of the Eastern Maine Snowmobile for many years and displayed the MSA supporting Business decal on their door. Being located directly on the trail, with a place to park sleds and having gas pumps in their yard, it makes it con- venient for snowmobilers to stop and get something to eat. This business does more than just buy a membership though. In past years, they have sponsored an ice fishing derby for Hancock County

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