8236-R1_MSA_January2023

MSA Club News

clubhouse. Also, had a buffet style breakfast, which was very well attended. Thanks to all who made that possible.

Hello everyone, During the last storm, we got a lot of wet snow causing power outages in our area. But, on top of that, debris is now littering thetrails we recently cleaned out. If you are lucky enough to have snow on the trails, be prepared to do some clean up when you head out to ride. Congratulations to all the winners of the MSA super raffle. Enjoy your prizes! We are excited to have our new Polaris Titan in our Club’s possession. After a few safety modifications for visibility, the sled is ready to work! A big THANK YOU to Eric Plourde at One Rig Design in Poland for gra ciously donating some very nice scratcher mounting parts to keep our new Polaris cool and lubricated! Be safe on the trails, Jim LaPointe Hello Everyone, The sno-crawlers continue to be very busy repairing the trails and setting them up for the season while we wait for snow. At the time you ready this it will be January and we wel come you to the new year. We had Richard Bravoco and Gaby Cooley out on the trails in South Waldoboro, cutting trees and clear ing brush, and assessing the areas where log jams have made the trail area flooded and impassable. We also had Tony Lash using his excavator to fix several culverts that washed out, and Ben Scott and Fred Libby working on re-planking a bridge, along with Eric hunt and Carl Gushee who were putting up snow-fenc ing. The weekend before we had Ben Scott, David Neubig, Tony Lash, Donna Wallace, Carl Gushee out fixing the bridges on the powerline trails behind R&S Auto. Several new planks were milled and installed by Tony and Dave and many trail signs were put up. WALDOBORO SNO-CRAWLERS Waldoboro, ME

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Porter, ME Join us on Facebook: Sacopee Valley Snow Drifters

our equipment in their yard trailside while we worked though all of this. It’s been a long time coming but we are on our way now! The new Park N’ Ride is opened up and cleared out with direct access to the 111 on the north side of US Route 11. Thank you to our landowner Wagner for allowing us to open this up. Mike and Chelsea Ireland of the Remax Collaborative have very generously donated a large sign to be placed at the entrance so it is clearly marked fromUS Route 11. This should alleviate the parking issues up there. Also noteworthy is that the section of the 111 south of US Route 111 is one of the trail closures due to a logging operation. The landowner felt it would be unsafe to share that stretch of trail since it is narrower. They have assured us that we can continue to use our Schoodic Mountain trail to do a reroute/detour. This will allow riders to continue to access Wild woods and points south, as well as, of course the 111 north! Phew! The other major trail closure is from the three-way intersection by our side of Gauntlett Falls to the KI area. We will not be able to open and groom that sec tion. The Merther Road will be a plowed road this season. We will continue to groom out the Wilke Road to the Gauntlett Falls. This is personally, one of my favorite trails. Look for the custom Dave Silvia signs along the way. He’s always with us when we are out there! Dave Sullivan has generously donated a picnic table to the club. It has been placed at the lookout on Ebeemee Mountain for all to stop and enjoy! Speaking of Ebeemee Moun tain, that is yet another trail closure. We will not be able to groom out to the Merther Road since that will be plowed. We have been given the OK to groom out to the lookout utilizing the lake access though so that’s something! I know so many of us down on the pond love to ride up through there. I am told that there is a trail from Ebeemee Mountain trail over to the Wilke trail and that “someone” has already brushed it out and reopened it. If this is the case then we fully intend to keep that groomed as well and many, many thanks to that special “someone”! Thank you to Gary Pelletier for brushing out the old back trail to Wildwoods! As I under stand, he got as far as the tracks. Once we get some coverage and good ice, we will be sending out a notification for a work day for the other side of that trail so keep those saws sharpened! Thank you to those that showed up for the workday to get the Schoodic Mountain trail widened out to allow for the increase in traffic. This is an old trail that typically just gets local traffic. Pete felt that safety wise we needed to widen it in case of sleds meeting up with the groomer! Great thought for sure! He also had Mike Washburn go up through there with his super-duper brushing machine so it should be pretty great once we get some snow! Speaking of snow… It’s officially time… START THOSE SNOW DANCES! I know a lot of people with new sleds this year who are thinking that they have jinxed us all. I have assured them, to quote Dave Siliva, “It’s com ing, it always comes”! So, get out your gear, service those sleds and do those snow dances! It’s going to be a GREAT WINTER! Join a club and sup port your local businesses. We are all in this together! Laurie Plourde, Ebeemee Snowmobile Club As I write this, I look out upon the brown, frozen lawn. No Snow here. Let’s all do our best snow dances! We must have snow for Christmas. Millinocket recently hosted the Marathon & Half which brings a great feeling of cele bration to our little town. We had porta potties as well as drinks and snacks available for run ners/walkers at the road as they passed by the NORTHERN TIMBER CRUISERS Millinocket, ME

Sacopee Valley Snow Drifters (SVSD) of P.O. Box 210 Porter, ME. 04068 and the Maine Bureau of Parks have been working together to get the Northern Division Railroad Trestle that crosses the Saco River in Hiram repaired and prepared for snowmobile travel this 2022/2023 snowmobile season. Today, Sunday (12/11/2022) someone thought that starting at 7AM

We’ve recently updated our street sign to include a 1962 Polaris Sno-Traveler that was donated by Vaughn Waterman of Buxton, Maine, refurbished by Steve Campbell. Steve, along with David Moore and Tim Glidden set the sled up on top of the sign with Tim’s bucket truck assisting. Looks great, thanks guys for your efforts. We will host the 10th annual Snowball Run for Katahdin Area Can cer Care on January 21, 2023 Contact Steve @ 207-447-1435 for more details or to make your donation to this cause. Though we need snow, it’s allowed us to get some great trail work completed. A couple of bridges re-decked/rebuilt. And get signs out/ updated. The Route 11 bridgework continues heading toward JO-Mary, Brownville areas. Watch our Facebook page or website for updated information. Monthly Meetings the 1 st Wednesday @ 7PM Join a club or two, support the area you ride. Happy 2023 DO THE SNOW DANCE

would be a fun thing to do. It was 16F degrees when the eleven (11) of us started and in short order most were complaining about having cold hands, a few even used the exhaust stack on the John Deere tractor to warm their hands. Jack Wadsworth and John Lambert brought hot-coco and fresh-crepes and sweet-rolls and bacon for breaktime, but by breaktime everything was frozen at the job site that was a good way from the vehicles. That did not stop Richard Brunault, Edward LeBorgne, Josh Mudgett, Carlin Berger, Steve Barton and Philip Barsanti with son’s Austin, Owen and Andrew. We laid down and secured with screws over 400 feet of rubber mating that will help the snow to stay on the bridge keeping snowmobiles from riding on the steel rails and the railroad ties. This type of volun teering goes on all over the State of Maine, do you think they do it for a half-cup of coco and a cold breakfast? Join-a-club, lend-a-hand and get out onto the snowmobile trails you enjoy and make a difference. So, by the time that you read this, the SVSD will be in full swing, the landown ers have been contacted, the trails will have been checked and cleared, trail signs will be up, bridges checked, equipment checked with SVSD small but mighty army that volunteer to get the monumental task of safe snowmobile trails to enjoy… John Lambert, club reporter.

Ride Right, Ride Safe Patti Rioux for NTC

EAST BRANCH SNO-ROVERS AND ATV CLUB Medway & East Millinocket, ME

As always, volunteers have spent many hours working on the trails, installing culverts, re-routing where needed and putting up signs. We look forward to a Past Officers and Landowner Appreciation Supper on January 14. The Groomer Rodeo will be held on January 28. Kids Day will be held on February 25. Country Music Jam and Dinners are on Tuesday nights. We’re in need of volunteers to help begin weekend breakfasts and lunches. We had days of cleanup work on the groomer garage, the Quonset hut and the clubhouse. The porta potty is arriving in January.

It goes without saying that if you enjoy walking, skiing, horse riding, biking, or finally snowmobiling please be sure to support your local club where these trails exist. It truly is a labor of love for most of the clubs, and our club is one of the oldest clubs in Maine. With many of the core members generational, and lovingly determined to keep this tradition alive for the next generations to enjoy. Your mem bership, and participation help ensure this leg acy remains. We can’t thank you enough for your continued support. When considering joining a work party we know it looks like tough work, but it is fun to be out in the brisk air, with great friends knowing you just made a trail into a whimsical winter wonderland for a new snow-mobile adventurer. Please be sure to look at our Facebook page for events, club meetings, and work parties. Respectfully, Stephanie Bravoco, Club Reporter SACOPEE VALLEY SNOW DRIFTERS

SACO PATHFINDERS sc Saco, ME Find us on Facebook

Merry Christmas. Nancy Deschene

Hello from sunny Saco Maine. We managed to survive that monster December storm bet ter than most clubs. The massive destruction caused throughout the state is going to draw on the resources of many clubs who hadn’t even opened their trails yet. This is a perfect example why we ask you to join a club and VOLUNTEER. Maine’s 14,000 mile of trails are maintained by people volunteering, and

COASTAL REGION

SEBAGO BRANCH DUCKERS Sebago, ME

Like us on Facebook or message us at sebagobranchduckers@gmail.com.

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