8236-R1_MSA_January2023

MSA Club News

Trail Crews will continue to meet at The Bridgton Walgreen at 8AM on Sunday morn ings. Work is usually done by noon. This lat est snow storm has downed many trees, big limbs, and branches. Cleaning up this recent damage on the 62 miles of Bridgton trails must be completed before the snowmobile season. Many hands make light work, so we would appreciate any help to get the job done. Blaine Chapman closed the meeting early so we could begin the very popular Yankee Gift Exchange. Each Club member brought a $20 gift marked “male” “female” or “either”, and then drew a number from a bag, that sets the sequence of the gift selections. When your number is called you select a gift and open it. You have a choice to keep the gift or “Go Shopping” to exchange your gift with one already selected. It is amazing how many times some of the more popular items can change hands in one night! A Great Time was had by all! The next meeting of Bridgton Easy Riders is scheduled for Friday, January 13, 2023, and our guest speaker will be Maine Game Warden, Corporal Kris MacCabe, Landowner Relations Specialist. It will start at 6:00PM at The Bridgton Community Center, with the Fabulous Pot Luck Supper, followed by a business meeting at 6:45. Bill Preis BER Club Correspondent This time of year, it’s a little difficult to find much to write about!! Its business as usual now, Mac is busy sending out Christmas cards (by the way, IF you’re a landowner in Dixfield and did NOT receive one, PLEASE contact anyone in the club, it’s an oversite), Marlene is in the middle of membership cards, Dave, Tom and the boys are still working on what ever needs to be done when the white stuff FINALLY arrives, they will be ready. At least its colder so it can stick with us! Hope every one had a great Thanksgiving and now on to the big one! I can tell you from past years, EVERY snowmobiler is just praying for ONE thing, and that’s SNOW! DAMN, it seems it comes later and later every year now. It sure is a luxury here now to own a sled. With the cost compared to the time one can ride, it sure isn’t fair!! Its amazing how much snowmobiling brings to the State of Maine. A recent study shows that over $606 MILLION, yes, that is 606 MILLION dollars coming into the State in the year 2018 and 2019!! All from snow mobile activity!!~ Now THAT is amazing, and to think its mostly ALL VOLUNTEERS that provide the AWESOME trails we enjoy!! We have 14,000 miles of trails and 280 clubs in the Maine. It just amazes me how much time and effort many people put in so we all can ride. One of the BEST things Maine has been the Landowner Liability law. Believe it or not, you are actually better off the HAVE a trail on your land than NOT have a trail!!! You ask WHY?? If you DO have a trail, and someone gets hurt, you are covered by the States insur ance. Unless YOU caused the accident or did something to the trail to cause an accident, the State covers you COMPLETELY!! Yes, they even pay for your lawyer!! So, if someone came on your land and it’s not a snowmobile trail and gets hurt, they can sue you for what ever and of course, now YOU must get a law yer to cover your butt. If it’s a club or State trail, the State steps in and takes over. And NO ONE has EVER won over the State!! I know its difficult to believe it but it’s a FACT. And believe me, people HAVE tried and lost. We all have new landowners come and go and for the “out-of-Staters, its hard to convince them that this IS correct, but it sure is. Recently I heard a man complain about how HIGH the registration cost is now to regis ter a sled in Maine. So, I checked it out, for a resident of Maine, our cost is $56.00, for a N.H resident in their State is $99.00 (plus proof of insurance) and Vermont is residents POODUNCK sc Dixfield, ME

its $130.00!! And our friends in New Bruns wick its $265.00 for the early bird and Que bec is $375.00 for the early bird!! Plus, proof of insurance. So, as you can see, MAINE is still the BEST deal out there. Plus, there is no speed limit, just “common sense”!!! So please “RIDE RIGHT AND RIDE SAFE” Next on the agenda for our club and the Mexico club is the Blessing of the Sleds!! This both clubs’ largest fundraiser and it’s a good one, thank to the generous businesses in our area. A small ad goes for $100.00 and any combination of the money or gift certificates in that amount gets your name on the Sweat shirt and $300.00 gets a larger ad on the top of the shirts. Both clubs have a “list” of area folks that have donated in the past and we are always looking for a new business that would like to advertise on our sweatshirts or long sleeve T’s. (Your choice, sweatshirt with or W/O a hood, or a long sleeve Shirt) We sell the shirts at the actual Blessing and will see that anyone who wants to purchase one, can get it. The Blessing starts around 1030, with the boys cooking burgers, dogs, fresh cur French Fries, and the famous sausage sandwich. Cold drinks are available as well. The Blessing itself starts at exactly noon!! Come line up and get a Blessing sticker for your sled!! If you have any interest on being on the shirt, just let any club member know or if you want to purchase one, same thing!! They are of high quality and people have some from many other years!! Have a great holiday season and yes, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Club reporter, J. H. NORWAY TRACKERS Norway, ME Find us on Facebook norwaytrackerssnowmobileclub@gmail.com Happy New Year, The Norway Trackers sold two winning Super Raffle tickets. Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to all who entered for your support. As I write this, our region got an early Christmas gift of nearly two feet of snow. May this be a prequel to much more to come for a long riding season. Thank you to all of our members for your hard work, time, and money. We have invested in new trail signs this year that are sure to help navigate our trails. We are eager to get out and ride and show off our trail system you. We encourage everyone to come check out our neck of the woods.

around the lake. Also, on February 18th we are hosting an open house on ITS 89. Check us out on Facebook for updates. Bring on the snow Dan Trouant, Club Reporter

naire, reported that 42 members have signed up for the the Club Trip to Millinocket in Feb ruary, and 47 members for the cub trip to Car ibou in March! Bill Preis, Map Coordinator, showed the new 2023 Lakes Region Snowmobile Trail Map to the Club. The Map Project takes about 4 months to complete, and involves coordinat ing information from 9 participating Snow mobile Clubs. Thanks to the 131 advertisers from all 9 towns that make this map possi ble. Thanks to Bob Corthell for all his time and effort in contacting Bridgton businesses. (Bob has done this job for several years, and is hoping someone else will take it over in the future.) Each family membership in our Club receives a map for free, and additional maps are available for purchase. Thanks to Jimmy Barber for distributing our maps to town busi nesses, where they will also be available for sale. We are seeing an unprecedented surge in new building in Maine that is causing many snowmobile trails to be re-routed, and several of these trail changes have occurred since the new 2023 map was printed. The BER trail crew has been busy clearing trees, erecting bridges, and signing many trail changes. Trail Change: 21 members of the BER trail crew worked very hard to build 2 bridges in one day, so a major trail improvement could be made. The Club used a backhoe and many telephone poles to re-route the trail that now goes through Alpine Village at Moose Pond, crosses Rt. 302, (only once) crosses Knights Hill Road and connects to the old trail. (See photos below) When you are in that area, near the Rt. 302 causeway and Moose Pond, be sure to look for the new signs and follow the new trail. Trail Change: The water company road in Bridgton has been closed. The ITS 89 trail that formerly went near it now goes behind Hayes True Value Hardware, and crosses Rt 302. This change occurred after the new map was printed, so be sure to watch for signs. These new trails will be GPS’d in time for next year’s trail map.

FRYEBURG AREA SNOWMOBILE ASSOCIATION Fryeburg, ME

Happy Holidays to everyone, Here’s wishing you all had a great holiday season and that 2023 will bring good health and happiness to you! Our club Christmas party was a hit and it was a great time. Thank you to Jon and Bruce at the Old Saco Inn for hosting us again this year. Your beautiful establishment never ceases to amaze everyone! Mother Nature isn’t cooperating so far and the trails are still closed as I’m writing this let ter. Here’s hoping that changes before this is published. Fingers crossed! If you happen to get out onto the trails and come across any hazards, please let someone in the club know so it can be taken care of. We want everyone to be safe out there. There were several winning tickets drawn at the MSA Super Raffle drawing that were sold by our club. Congrats to all the winners! Ride safe and enjoy the trails if you’re able. PEJEPSCOT SNO-CHIEFS Lisbon Falls, ME Find us on Facebook Happy New Year from Pejepscot Sno- Chiefs! I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday! Since I missed last month, I’ll get right to it…. We shared our annual Christmas dinner and Yankee swap with our friends from the Bow doin club. Lobster stew, biscuits, plenty of cake, and lots of laughs while swapping gifts back and forth! It was a year of all great gifts, too, I snagged an awesome backpack from L.L.Bean! This is a not to be missed event, just saying! From our November meeting: Trail Report- Groomers were ready to go; lots of trail work discussion, which was in full swing. Thank you to everyone who’s been helping, lots of trimming & cutting, bridge work, some sig nage. There will be more trail work until snow stops us, & then I imagine there’ll be still more to do, thanks to Mother Nature! It does require effort, but when you’re cruising down a well maintained trail, you can enjoy the satisfaction you were a part of getting that trail ready. And sometimes, we’re spoiled to a hearty coun try breakfast before we get to work! We can always use more help. We now have a beautiful memorial trail plaque dedicated in the memory of club founders Gordon & Louise Curtis, on their favorite trail. Georgette Kanach of Maine Nature Art did a fabulous job turning the live edge plank Gordon had been working on, into a lovely memorial for two very special people we hold close to our hearts. We are honored to celebrate Gordon & Louise. We are planning on a couple local club rides with the Bowdoin club, January 29, & Feb ruary 12, weather permitting. We will meet at the clubhouse for a dinner post ride, stay tuned for details. Don’t forget our 30 th annual World’s Great est Sleigh Ride fundraiser on Sunday, Febru ary 19th, all hands needed! Let’s make this the best one ever, in memory of its founders, Gor don & Louise! It’s been a fantastic fundraiser over the years, helping many kids & adults with handicaps enjoy a camping experience. So let’s make it fantabulous in 2023!! Please join us at our next dinner club meet ing on Tuesday, January 10 th , 6pm, lots to dis cuss. And again on February 14 th , 6 pm, at the clubhouse, which will be right before our Sleigh Ride. The clubhouse is plenty warm Bridget Gorton Club Secretary

Check out the new trail signs as you ride through.

Meetings are the first Tuesday of the month. On February 4 th we are hosting a light parade on Norway Lake. Everyone is welcome to join us by decorating your sled in lights and riding

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