8212_MSA_December2022-R1

MSA Club News

into overdrive. It’s Thanksgiving week and things are freezing down nicely, so trail stakes and signs are being taken care of and hope fully our swamps and wetlands freeze up tight. We are fighting some major beaver problems on ITS#83, and should have them taken care of shortly. I checked with membership chair Randy Bates, and as of this date we have 99 members, which is awesome for this early in the season. If you or someone you know want to join the Snowgang you can find our app. at www.ben edictasnowgang.com and sign up there, or if you prefer you can call me at 207.365.7276 and I can get an application to you. As far as club events go, our Caribbean Cruise Raffle will be drawn on December 3rd, and I will post the winning name in the Janu ary newsletter. This marks the 31st year in a row we have sold out ~~ thanks to you all!!. We do have a new raffle starting in January. This one costs $20 per ticket with 200 tick ets available. Winners are drawn every month until Spring, $300-1st, $200-2nd, $50-3rd ~~~~~~~ and your ticket goes back in if you win --- great odds!!!. Contact any club officer or myself if you want a ticket or two. Just so, you all know, the annual Snowgang Fishing Derby will be back again this year and I will post most in next month’s newsletter. Well, I think that gets us up to speed, and I have it on good authority that Santa is driving a Yamaha this year~~ be on the lookout for him. Merry Christmas to you all from me and the Snowgang ~~~ THINK SNOW!! Jim Splan, Reporter @ Large P.S.~ I Hate beavers!! P.SS.~ Anyone seen Jimmy Qualey!! P.SSS.~ Is Grumpy still grumpy!! P.SSSS.~ He paid more for his sled than his car!! ST. FRANCIS SNOANGELS St. Francis, ME Hi, this month’s newsletter has a bit of a sadness to it. Sometime during our down season, while our groomer was parked in a municipal garage that for the last ten years or so, been a safe, dry home for it, a tragedy for our small club befell us. This fall in preparation for upcoming win ter grooming season, as Roland and Jeff pre pared to do their pre winter preparation, the reality of our current world hit us full force. Stolen from our groomer were the following, l6 and half ton Warn winch, socket sets and our much needed tool box, 10 LED lights, Our Muirs radio and a bone dry fuel tank totaling a little over $6,200.00. Amazing how the actions of three or four thieves, won’t even call them individuals, can make you see red. But in every action, such as this, the good ness of the majority of people are shining bea cons of light to our small club. As word got around, so many people came forward to give us donations, some small, some larger, some in kind donations as well. Didn’t recoup the whole loss but just when our faith in mankind (Thieves aren’t real men) is sorely tested, our faith in the real, honest men and woman of this world is strengthened. You know who you are and we will always remember your support. Did it stop our plans for the upcoming win ter? NEVER HAPPEN! Plans are ongoing to make this winter season one to remember, Last Monday we received 5 inches of snow and Wednesday, the weatherman says we received 13 inches. We are now a winter won derland once again. With Thanksgiving still over a week away, Mother Nature is on our side. This gives us between 16 to 20 weeks of winter riding. (Don’t rain our parade, Mom) (Nature, that is). Maybe because we had our faith shaken a bit, we are even more grateful to the individu als and businesses who go above and beyond for us. Let me Thank a few of them here. There are many others to thank, but for today here are just a few: Mr. John Gibbs, for getting the sad news

are selling them, etc. We are looking forward to a fun, safe rid ing season. We will be on the trails grooming as soon as we can possibly get out there! As always, ride right, be courteous, and watch out for others. Follow us on Facebook Portage Lakers for any updates. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all, NORDIC LAKERS Stockholm, New Sweden, Westmanland, ME With November coming to an end and snowmobile season, hopefully, getting under way very soon wanted to share some of the clubs information. General Membership Meetings are sched uled as follows: Tammy Kenney Club Secretary We are hoping for a great winter season 2022/23 for snowmobiling and seeing a lot of people using our trail system. The member ship drive has begun. Information has been sent out to current members and we encourage individuals that use our trail system and want to become members to please contact us. Work on the trails has taken place where needed and all signs have been put up in the fields and at the crossings. Work on the groomer has started in preparation for the sea son. Thanks to those club members that are always there when needed!! The Nordic Lakers is having their annual Christmas Party on December 10, 2022, at The Par & Grill in Caribou with a Yankee Swap after dinner. The Club is having their annual “Overnight Event” on February 18, 2023, at the Aroos took Hospitality Inn in Van Buren, Maine. DJ Dumond will provide music for dancing from 7-11. We hope to see everyone on the trails soon. Happy Holidays and happy snowmobiling!! Barbara McKeen Club Reporter CENTRAL REGION Hi y’all Thanks to the “Little Club That Could!” We have finally finished excavating and brushing the Kingfield trail…….. Wow, What a feat!!!!!!!!!!! A VERY SPECIAL THANKS to Ron Nunes, who spent countless hours racking his brains out in the excavator, to get as many rocks and boulders out of the trail as he could. Some of the boulders were bigger than my side by side!!!! He definitely did a great job! To all my fellow members, who helped brush and cut the rest of the trail to get rid of those Nasty Alders, I can’t thank you enough for all your dedication! And for all of you who ride our trails, when you’re out and you see our crews, give them a great big Thank You, smile or shake their hand. They Definitely Deserve It!!!! Our little club has been extremely busy - We just hosted our first MSA dinner meeting on the 15th of November. We served a full ham dinner with fresh ham from our local farm and all the fixings including a pumpkin crisp for dessert. Our club had 28 MSA members attending with 6 of our members serving. We even had a guest who traveled from Caribou, he won the farthest traveler of the night. On November 24th, we hosted our 2nd annual Thanksgiving Day dinner with 26 guests and WAY Too Much Food as usual! September 9, 2022 October 14, 2022 November 4, 2022 January 13, 2023 February 10, 2023 March 10, 2023 April 14, 2023 May 12, 2023 LEXINGTON HIGHLANDERS sc Lexington Township, ME

of our theft out there. We so appreciate you!! JRS Firewood, J R, we count ourselves for tunate to have your support year after year, For those of you who love our warmth when you stop into the lodge, this man is an integral part of our ability to do this. Taggettville Trucking, Frank Taggett, for allowing us the use of your excavator and truck to make a new improved bypass on our existing trail. (Your amazing!). JD Irving Woodlands, for allowing us to make this bypass on your woodland. You have always been so supportive of our winter pursuits and our little club. Thank You, Bud Soucy, thanks for your part in this. B Charette Logging, Brad, for your dona tion of OSB board. You always manage to find ways to support us just when we need it. Cam Jackson, Your in-kind donation of a radio, due to our theft. We won’t forget what you’ve done. Sooo many other people and businesses to Thank. Thank you to each and every one of you who has helped us. You’re the individuals and businesses we want in our lives. Sincerely, St. Francis Sno-Angels Kim M Ouellette We welcome any and all donations to our club, St. Francis SnoAngels, PO Box 42, St. Francis, Maine 04774 or on our website. Hope to see you all this winter! Happy Holidays! As I am sitting here writing this, we are having our first snowstorm of the season. The roads are slick, the locals are less than impressed, but the Portage Lakers are saying BRING IT ON! By the time this hits the paper, we will have had (at least we are hoping) sev eral snow events. I trust you all filled your bellies with more turkey and fixings than you should have and enjoyed Thanksgiving with your families. Our Groomer Shed Project is winding down for the winter. It’s standing tall and proud, with everything done just enough to get our groomer in. I’m sure Glenn and Bruce will continue to pick away at finishing up inside projects-that’s what they do! Once again, we cannot thank all the volunteers and donors that have made this project possible. All I can say is WOW! Now that snow is flying, we need to get ready to groom trails, because after all, that is something PLSC accelerates at. And since so many of you love our trails, have you remem bered to fill in your membership forms? OR do you need a last-minute Christmas gift for that “hard to buy for person”? We would love to sign them up as a member. Reach out to us at portagelakerstreasurer@gmail.com for a quick gift. Remember, Portage Lakers work hard, and play harder! Our Schedule of Events has been set for the season. As always, our meetings are the first Friday of each month at the Portage Town Hall, unless otherwise stated. 1/21/23 All Day Open House at Groomer Shed-Hot Dogs, Hot Chocolate, Corn Hole Tournament-Fuel Fundraiser. Followed by Chad the Hypnotist at 7pm. (Ticket info will be posted on Facebook). 2/4/23 5:00 pm Supper on the Run. Meet at the Groomer Shed. 2/18/23 7:00pm Pie Auction/Dance Por tage Town Hall. 3/4/23 Time TBA Club ride to Rafford’s Camp to join Ashland Snowmobile Club Hot Dog Roast. 3/18/23 10:00 Club ride & Hot Dog Roast. 8/11-8/13/23 Portage Lake Summer Round Up and Whoopie Pie Festival. 4 pm PLSC Sponsored Pig Roast. 8/26/23 Big Woods Grass Drags 133 Masardis Road Ashland, ME. We have a new website, be sure to check it out! Portagelakers.org. You can join the club, make donations, buy raffle tickets when we PORTAGE LAKERS sc Portage Lake, ME

Deadlines for club news is the 25 th of the month prior to the publications. Please submit articles to editor@mesnow.com

NORTHERN REGION BIG VALLEY SNO-CLUB Island Falls, ME

Big Valley Sno Club is looking forward to a great riding season! Hope you make it to our annual Christmas party December 3rd. See our Facebook page for details. If you haven’t done so already, LIKE us on Facebook for grooming updates during the riding season. We have had several days out on the trails; the signage is looking great and the riding should be impeccable! just need the snow. We have several races planned in Island Falls this season along with trail side BBQ and other activities. Will keep you posted. Happy holidays! What a fantastic turn out we had! Our pot luck dinner was delicious, thank you everyone! We began our meeting with the usual trea surer’s report from Dan as well as a recap from our secretary, Krissy. We did not have an official meeting in October due to not having enough folks present. The board had met earlier and voted to keep Robert (Bob) Howes, Travis Libby, Jon Harvey, Phil Sherman, and Laura Kenney as board members. During our club meeting we were asked to vote on either keeping Char lene Fraser as board member electing Krissy Ruttenberg the new secretary. We resulted in electing Krissy (by vote); the thought was keeping the board member position with the secretary. Rockabema would like to host a groomer show in February with the other local clubs. We would like to offer groomer rides to the children, food, and allow time for the clubs to be together. There is still a lot of work that would need to be done before anything is finalized. We will be reviewing our by- laws at our December meeting and making changes as needed. Jon Harvey wanted to thank all the vol unteers that came out and helped build our bridge, it was very much appreciated!! Well, that wraps up the summary of our meeting. I suspect our next meeting will have a lot more snow on the ground then we already have. Hello Everyone, Hope you had a good Thanksgiving and enjoyed your time with family and friends. We have been busy marking trails and doing some projects this fall. We want to thank all the guys that helped with the bridge decking project on ITS 81 in Westfield. A big THANK YOU goes out to the Grass Boyz and County Farms for their help with a big washout on Rte 70A in T10R3. Their help with gravel and trucking was a huge help. We will be back to having our meetings on the first Thursday of the month for the rest of season unless otherwise posted on our Face book page. There will still be some work to do on trails(brushing/ signs ) if anyone has some time. Contact Nick or Wade about where and what the needs are. So, with that said let’s hope for lower fuel prices and snow to come sooner than later. See you on the trails- Nick ROCKABEMA SNOW RANGERS Patten, ME CENTRAL AROOSTOOK sc Mars Hill, ME

BENEDICTA SNOW GANG Benedicta, ME

Hi Gang, Well, things with the Snowgang are going

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