7909-R2_MSA_Mar2022_MaineSnowmobiler

From The Executive Board

Director’s Meeting 572 - Northern Timber Cruisers- Clubhouse, Millinocket - February 12, 2022 A t 6:30 Mike Grass Jr. called the meeting to order. Pledge of Allegiance. Secretary’s report for December, M/S/C and placed on file at the office. Central Region V.P.: Jack Lord- ITS 87 got moved 4 times this year, so read the signs. Things are going along pretty well.

heavy snow. We had radios to communicate and to converse, pointing out trail issues and brainstorming different ideas. We are currently watching two bills. LD-1813 ATV bill to increase the weight from 2000 lbs. to 2500 lbs and LD 538 Sunday hunting. Working on getting the Executive Director’s position filled. Hospitality: Gail Ryan- Contact me for your request to acknowledge anyone’s birthday, anniversary, illness, birth, death, or celebration with the address. Membership: Eileen Lafland- Western Region still number one. Rangeley is almost a thousand. We will recognize the top ten clubs at the annual meeting. Old Business: Northern Region showcase ride and directors meeting Saturday March 12 th will be meeting at the Big Valley S.C. on route 2 in Island Falls. New Business: Annual meeting is April 30 th at Jeff’s Catering in Brewer. Need nominations for dealer of the year, groomer of the year, club of the year, snowmobiler of the year and so on. Get your nominations in by the end of February. 2022-2023 MSA Officers Slate President-Alan Swett Coastal Region VP- Dave Watson Eastern Region VP- Eileen Lafland Northern Region VP- Matt Stedman Western Region VP- Jim Boyce Regional Directors: Coastal Region- Rodney Berry, Eric Perreault Central Region- David Cogley, Alan Dugas Eastern Region- Paul Bolstridge, Larry Lafland, Gary Dowling, John Monk, Craig Lemieux Northern Region-Nick Morrill, Denise Duperre, Lendall Buckingham, Jeff Brooks Western Region-Gary Okenquist, Paul Gallant, Jon Wakefield, Roland Bowie No other nominations from the floor. (X3) Executive V.P.- Mark Chinnock Treasurer- Lori Hemmerdinger Secretary- Brad Barker Central Region VP- Jack Lord

A s the crazy weather season continues it is finally starting to look like winter. Here in Kingfield 65 three days ago to -17 this morning. Hopefully we all have a great March it could be the new February. A lot of clubs took advantage of the mild weather and had trailside cook outs and if you haven’t yet always donate your time or drop a couple bucks in the donation box we could all use it. Another thing I’ve been seeing a lot of up this way is more and more family’s out enjoying please set good examples of how to right safe and respect for our great landowners. It’s up to us to pass this on. There is still great riding to be had but Mother Nature is going to catch up to us. The view of Katahdin was spectacular. He observed 4 snowmobilers that had crossed the ditch and had run over some fir trees. When asked why they did this? Their response was, “ They knew the land owner.” Which happened to be Irving. (Again an example of education.) We also need to educate the new generation of landowners. Pot of Gold- Oakland Sno-Goers. No director present, $400. forfeited. Meeting adjourned 8:15 Respectfully submitted, Brad Barker, Secretary. Brad Barker-President of the Leeds Stump Thumpers S.C.: Our challenges of off trail riders. One recent rider in Leeds went off a clearly marked trail onto a landowners woods road, drove up over his woodpile and hit his wood splitter. Upsetting the landowner to say the least. What can we do about this? Which lead to a lengthy discussion of education, going to the schools with virtual teaching and linking it to our website. We have one of the best safety directors ever, that connects with the students. Have him do a safety video. This is how we can get the word out across the state. What does MSA stands for? Why are here? What it’s like to go ask permission from a landowner, go blaze a trail through the woods, clear a path for snowmobiles and groomers, what happens when someone goes on the wrong side of the snow fence and puts all of this at risk. What it’s like to approach a landowner after there has been trespass, which the landowner either gives us one more chance or permanently closes their land to us, and we have to start all over again. MAYBE. What it is like to put a bill through legislature. Respect our privilege to use the trails. The consequences of breaking the law. What MSA stands for. Have contest for the students make to make their own video and get rewarded for the best ones. Eileen- Kids will watch kid’s videos. Get support from BRP, Polaris, BIW or others. Maybe require juveniles (and new out of state renters) to watch these videos. Mike enjoyed the scenic ride today. Here I sit, it’s February 11th and it’s 42 degrees in Bingham. The snow is melting, I check every morning and we are losing it at a rate of about 1 to 1 1/2 inches per day, it is not making me Happy. Even with that we have loads of people out riding and most of the clubs in the region are grooming regularly. So with the conditions and the traffic, Ride Safe, Be Careful and know what’s around the next bend or corner. We have had reports of small ponds and boggy areas that are spring fed having open areas or thin ice. So have fun and be careful. Keep Smiling, Stay Safe ENJOY THE RIDE AND STAY SAFE. Jim H i Everyone,

Northern RegionV.P.: Matt Stedman- Thank you for having us. Great ride today. Nice to see Katahdin mountain from a different angle. Got snow early this year and have been grooming since Christmas. Really set up well after this last storm. It has been ridiculously busy doing benefits for trail grooming every weekend. Northern Region showcase ride and directors meeting Saturday March 12 th will be meeting at the Big Valley S.C. on route 2 in Island Falls. Come see a different part of Aroostook County. Safety Committee Chairman: Al Swett: Jim White, past MSA president has Covid and is in the hospital in Bangor. Chris Merrill was out grooming in the Bethel area. Out on a Skandic, took a shortcut home at the end night grooming. He hit a cable went up over the sled and landed on the drag, broke his neck and got a concussion. Another accident in Sidney, a girl missed a corner and broke her back, leg and nose. She is in pretty bad shape. One fatality so far this year, he ran a stop sign and got T-boned. Had some close calls. In Rangeley, I was clipping along on the power lines and three snowmobilers blew past me just off the trail. If they only knew the dangers just beneath the snow cover, rocks and stumps. Luckily it was a miss. All the accidents have a huge effect on the people around you, your family, friends and employer. Stay alert out there. Stay safe. The folks in Brookfield has been so helpful with the safety posters. They did 800 at the cost of $1200. Our friends at BIWwant to help. What do you need? Special signage.- 24/7 Grooming and the curvy arrow signs for twisty trails. Got 100 of each, predrilled and reflectorized. They look great. Let me know what you need for a sign, there is a two day turnaround. 50/50 $97 Brent Spaulding, Eastern Maine S.C. President was drawn. Steering Committee: John Monk- Spoke of his 200 mile ride. Fatigued from the challenging conditions, trees in the trail and has been closed down in other parts. The clubs have done a great job grooming; their dedica- tion to our sport is second to none. They’re the best in the business. We have some incredible business’s that also support us and a big thank you for another season goes out to them. And, of course the landowner’s big and small we’d be out of business if we did not have our generosity, over 90% of our system is on your land - A big thank you to you all. Safety and snowmobiling, we try to get the word out to drive within your means. Next year, I think we should have a bill passed in the legislation that requires young riders to take a safety course and I’d invite their parents along for the morning class! It does not hurt for any one of us to take a refresher course to update the sport we all love to do. As we go into March, please slow down and enjoy what we offer in this beautiful state, scenery that you can only see on a snowmo- bile on a clear blue-sky day. Watch out for the moose this is the month their on the move. Be careful of other wildlife, folks on bicycles, people on snowshoes, cross-country skier’s and the other snowmobilers. We have safety signs available here at the office for your clubs to put up in your club- house and on the trail. We can get them out to you. Eight different ones get the point across from drinking and driving to riding alone. Be safe out there! AL

Treasurer”s report. Read and placed on file at the office. Special event is the virtual race. President’s Comments- Contacted by Joe Higgins, handed a off trail issue to MSA. BRP and Polaris will contribute a monetary value for the MSA trail mapping. A recent 292 mile ride was detailed with Brent and John, clearing birch and maple trees out of the trail. Then it accumulated 15” of snow and then they ended up in the dark. Signage was “some good and some not”. Pattern was perfectly signed. Executive V.P.: Al Swett- Next director’s meeting is unfortunately the same date as the groomer and signage workshop. I’ll be in Millinocket and then come up to Island Falls. Our season was slow to start, but now getting snow to set up a good base, and hopefully we get a lot more snow. Eastern Region V.P.: Eileen Lafland- Thank you to the Northern Timber Cruiser’s kitchen crew. One of the highest memberships in Eastern Region. Thank you to Larry Lafland for escorting us on our 116 mile ride today and making sure everyone made it back to the clubhouse. We hit two feet of slush at White House Landing, but we made it and everyone powered through. Thank you to James Stedman for bringing two plaques in the shape of the state of Maine with the MSA initials which went to the person who came the furthest by sled to this meeting which was Brad Barker for riding 250 miles from Leeds. The other one went to the one who came the furthest by car which was Eric Perreault who drove 175 miles. The Eastern Region is doing the best that we can with the snowfall given. Coastal Region V.P.: Dave Watson- This is my second home. Thank you for the great dinner. In my region trails were opened and everybody was out grooming. Then we got rain and they were closed. We had a short season but a great response.

Western Region VP

Safety Committee

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

Alan Swett, 207-872-7282 234 County Rd, Waterville ME 04901 snowtraveler@roadrunner.com

H ello,Fellow Riders, Well, It’s been a bad month for accidents. Three fatalities this year, two Maine gentle- men and one fromMassachusetts. Heartbreak- ing news for everyone. Serious accidents and injuries that will last a lifetime. As safe as rid- er’s are there could be a point on the trail that challenges even the best riders. One way or another and no matter how safe you think you are you could get hurt. Please use caution. The conditions this year have been record-breaking cold days to record breaking warm days. Snow rain and ice. The trail sys- tem has held up in some areas of the state but

Central Region VP

CLUB MEMBERS Once grooming begins Submit your trail reports to: MSA@MESNOW.COM Please include your name and club affiliation

Jack Lord Home: (207) 672-3915 Cell: 207-717-7131 Email: jacklord5256@gmail.com

6

2 0 2 2 l

h

a r c

M

M a i n e S n o w m o

b i l

e r