8178-R1_MSA_November2022_MaineSnowmobiler

MSA Club News

This fund raiser is to help with the purchase of our groomer. Good luck to all that purchase tickets. Our prizes are fantastic! Heart of Gold Snowmobile Club

well as those providing financial assistance and more work is scheduled to keep improv ing our system. If you haven’t discovered New Vineyard, you’re missing out! Happy trails! PEJEPSCOT SNO-CHIEFS Lisbon Falls, ME Find us on Facebook Happy Thanksgiving from Pejepscot Sno-Chiefs! It’s almost that most wonderful time of year- have you got your sled ready? Your sur vival pack updated? It’s not too early! We started up our regular club meetings on Oct. 11th, with a chili dinner and a decent turn out. We had lots of trail discussion: groomers were getting check-ups, there was multiple bridge work needed, including helping the Bowdoin Club with a large, double bridge, and signage had begun. Old &NewBus.: We enjoyed a great lobster/ steak dinner for our annual pay your member ship dues dinner; Camp Capella received our fundraiser donation from our World’s Greatest Sleigh Ride; this year’s Sleigh Ride will be Feb. 19th, we plan to honor Gordon during the ride; and we discussed dedicating a section of trail in Gordon’s memory. We decided to combine with the Bowdoin Club at our Christmas dinner and Yankee swap, lobster stew is on the menu! This should be a fun meeting, so join us at the clubhouse! Our next club meeting is Tuesday, Nov. 8th. 6pm, at the clubhouse. Thanks to the Randall family for volunteering to bring dinner. All are welcome, the more, the merrier! Trail work is still in session, until the snow flies, your help is needed, lots to get done in a short time. Everyone in the club wants to wish Cheryl a speedy recovery from her recent knee surgery, we miss you at the meetings! Until next time, stay positive, look ahead to the Holidays, and think snow! Respectfully submitted, Libby Nilsen, club reporter STUMP THUMPERS Leeds, ME The club is now in full swing. There is so much to be done before snow even begins to fall. Trails to be checked and cleared, signs to be put up, landowners to be contacted, bridges to be repaired or built, equipment to check, grants to be turned in… the list goes on and on. Kinda like the small but mighty army that voluntarily takes on the monumental task of keeping our snowmobiling industry safe and prospering in our little area. Adrienne Rollo Club Secretary

teamwork, comradely, and community. And the season has only just started. Last month a new trail sign was put up, just down the road from the Leeds Central School, on Rte 106. This sign is to recognize the Buck ley family. They have worked with our club and allowed snowmobiling on their property for at least three generations and we appre ciate this so much. Mike Fazekas and Rick Dion worked to get the Buckley Trail sign up and, in true club fashion, it was done as a joint effort… with the landowner who brought his tractor to help get the sign into place. The Landowners Appreciation Dinner was held at Mel and Gary Deschnbeault’s. This was the first year back to “normal” after the dreaded pandemic and the food was off the chart. There were pulled pork, ribs, chicken, and homemade dishes enough to fill an entire wall of tables. MSA President Alan Swett and his wife Val came and joined our feast and spoke a few words of appreciation to the land owners. It was so good to see everyone again. To say we were excited to be doing this “back in person” is an understatement! Just last week the Stump Thumpers gathered at the cable suspension bridge that crosses the Dead River on the powerlines. Mike and Rick had pulled the tracks the day before so that our little group could lay down 2x6 hemlock along the center of the bridge making it safe for the upcoming season. Watching the singular plan ning and execution of this needed repair was astounding. We are hoping to get some grant writing done in order to widen this bridge or build a new, shorter one beside it. While this one will work for a bit longer, it is not wide enough to get the groomer over it in order to groom the trails to the north. So… the small but mighty army continues… contacting landowners, building bridges, writ ing grants, and so much more. All for the joy of being part of the snowmobiling family. Respectfully submitted, Marie Doucette Club Secretary and Reporter The Landowners Appreciation Dinner was held at Mel and Gary Deschnbeault’s Hello MSAMembers, The October 14th meeting of the Bridgton Easy Riders started off with the usual Fabu lous Pot Luck Supper. At 6:45, Blaine Chap man, President, called the meeting to order with the Pledge of Allegiance. Blaine introduced Al Swett, President of MSA, as our guest speaker. Al spoke infor mally about the growth of MSA and how lead ers have stepped up to keep the organization strong and successful. Two new Landowner Relations Specialists can now be called in to help with trail problems and landowner issues. The Annual Super Raffle has been a huge suc cess with over 10,000 tickets sold so far. Al Swett informed us that this winter there will be a Free Day of riding in Canada and a Recip rocal Free Day with Maine and New Hamp shire. Dates will be announced later. He also reminded us about the Annual Snowmobile Show in Augusta Oct. 21 - 23. We thanked Al Swett for coming to speak to us. We look forward to welcoming Maine Game Warden, Corporal Kris MacCabe, Landowner BRIDGTON EASY RIDERS sc Bridgton, ME Bridgtoneasyriders.com Facebook

den, it’s mid-September (or later) and we are scrambling to get all the needed work done before the snow flies. Our club is no different. Mid-September, we had a few trail mainte nance days. We got some trails widened in some places. We installed a steel deck bridge, and cleared much of the trail. When the farm ers are done with their fields, then we will put up stakes, and wait for the white stuff. My wife said Katahdin got its first snowfall of the year today (10-10). This year we have the added burden (only temporary) of the rail trail coming into and through town, and what all that means. This will mean 9 extra miles of trail for us. Sorry friends. The big trestle will not be ready for snowmobiles this year. However, if we can work with the town and the surrounding towns to build one more bridge, we may be able to ride into downtown Norridgewock on sleds this year. There is a new restaurant/pub (The Six Penny Jug) opening soon right on the trail (It may be open by the time you read this). Ainslie’s II (Irving) will have a trail right to the parking lot, and they have great food too. There will be a park and ride on Martin Stream Road, which has already been cleared. Keep an eye on our facebook page for the latest updates. Bob Washburn, Secretary Greetings Trailblazers! I hope this report finds everyone well. I know I have been enjoying the beautiful weather in between the big rain storms. As most people probably have, I have a big “to do” list after playing on many of my free days. Old man winter is just around the corner and hopefully that will also bring snow, enough snow to provide good rid ing on our trails. Some of the items on the “to do” list of many for the Trailblazers include: clearing trails, signing, bridge repair, and equipment maintenance. Speaking of equipment, our new ATV we purchased, with the help of a grant, is being picked up today! Work will need to be done to get it ready to drag. Tracks need to be installed, wiring, hitch, lights, etc. before we can put it into service. So, as you can see, we are busy getting ready for snow! In addition to the new ATV, we are also hav ing our fundraisers. The snowball raffle for February has started. We need help in buying or selling some of the 200 tickets and it would be greatly appreciated. We also have the MSA Super Raffle tickets. Snowmobile trips are being planned. If you are interested in any of these activities, please contact any officer or attend a meeting. We meet the second Tuesday of each month at the Monmouth Center Fire Station at 7:00 p.m. Most meetings last 90 minutes with coffee and sometimes snacks available, a 50/50 is held and along with business we usually share some laughs. Hope to see you there. Roberta Kemp, V.P. and Membership Chair COCHNEWAGAN TRAILBLAZERS Monmouth, ME We have all enjoyed the beautiful colors of fall and now we are anxious for the sparkling white of winter. Not too much going on the last couple months other than the handy work of our secre tary making us another beautiful quilt to raffle. Thanks so much Linda! And a special thank you to the Harmony Regional Ambulance for donating a Jet Sled for our raffle. Our good and faithful vice president has gifted us again with his donation of 20 pounds of fresh Maine lobster to round out our Raffle to be drawn just in time for Christmas. So if you are local, reach out to one of our members or Morrison’s Garage for your ticket purchase. Feel free to contact our secretary via Facebook or our president at 612-8484. HEART OF GOLD Harmony, ME sc

ANSON-NORTH ANSON sc Anson, ME

Hi All, The club trail workers have been busy with trail work, cutting trees and brush, checking bridges and completing a reroute. Trail mark ers will be going in soon, still waiting for dry fields. Very excited about the rail bed. The bridge in North Anson will be a great asset to our trail system. Hope to see you at the craft fair Nov 5th at Carrabec High School. Thank you to all trail workers and Landowners. Happy trails. ANASC Greetings from New Vineyard! We began our season with a kickoff barbe cue at the Forster Ricardo Farm. Frank and Lynne put on a fantastic picnic and it was a great way to start the season. A good time was had by all. Our big news is that our trail system has been through a major overhaul the past couple of years. Due to landowner permission issues, we had to reroute one of our major trails. This resulted in a reroute and a major advantage as a good deal of it is now through farmland which is easy to maintain. Also, a couple of bridges have been rebuilt including the one seen in the photo below on our Taylor Hill trail. New construction by club volunteers shows a 55’ long span over Dead Stream. Also in need of repair was a bridge on Parlin Hill that leads to the Lane Farm. It had previously washed away in heavy rains. A new bridge has been constructed and the road widened to accom modate an 8’ wide groomer. WESTERN REGION NEW VINEYARD NORTH sc New Vineyard, ME

Rebuilt Bridge on Taylor Hill trail Photo courtesy of Frank Duggan

Hi. I’m Marie. I’m new to town, new to snowmobiling, and new to the snowmobiling crowd. In the few months I’ve been involved in this club I have witnessed unparalleled Stump Thumpers gathered at the cable sus pension bridge that crosses the Dead River on the power lines

Many thanks go out to all our volunteers as Volunteers shown in bridge construction pho tos: Sean Cavanuagh, Doug Churchill, Eddie Adams, Bob Rutigliano, David Bliss, Alden Wattles, Duffa Luce and Frank Duggan

(Continued on Page 10)

9

w m

n o

o b

0 2 2 l M a i n e S

i l

e r

N

m b e r 2

o v

e