8257-R1_MSA_February2023_Singles
MSA Club News
As always use caution with early riding, we still have some water bogs in our area. Be safe and enjoy the trails. Lori Nunes
number or taking a photograph of the offender. Unlike most other states, Maine operates under an implied permission structure, mean ing that if land is not posted, it is legal to use the land. Those laws protect the landowner unless he or she does something egregious to endanger others. Sometimes new landowners will close down their newly purchased prop erty because they don’t know the law. This is where Corporal MacCabe comes in to help settle this kind of dispute. MSA holds the master policy for V&V Insurance and clubs can purchase additional landowner and club liability insurance from V&V. Members of the Bridgton Easy Riders had the opportunity to ask questions of our Guest Speaker. By the end of the evening we had learned some very useful information and had made an important connection with MacCabe, who asked to be called Kris. After Corporal McCabe had completed his presentation, Club President Blaine Chap man called the Business Meeting to order at 7:57PM. He reported that BER sold the sec ond highest number of Super Raffle Tickets in the entire state! Congratulations to all the Club members who helped to set that record. Blaine also reported progress on various trail changes in Bridgton: Dunkin Donuts trail rerouted, Harrison Marina trail moved closer to La Mexicana restaurant, Naples Marina moved boats to allow trail, Brill Lumber trail rerouted and signed. The railroad bridge near W. Bridgton washed out and was staked. ITS 80 was cleared from Lovell to Sweden, and ITS 89 from Rt 107 to Brill Lumber. It took 6 days to clean up storm debris. All this work would not have been possible without the help of BER volunteers who showed up for work parties at Walgreens at 8AM. The annual BER Rally will take place on Saturday, February 18 th at 9AM at the Bridg ton Community Center. A sheet was passed around so members could sign up to cook, sell 50-50 tickets, man the checkpoints etc. Jackie Barber will head the quest for Chinese auction donations, aided by Kathy Hendrix and Steve Emery. Steve Emery reported that both Club Trips to Millinocket and Caribou are on track, and many special events are scheduled. Bob Corthell reported some progress on the 501C3 and will report more at the February meeting. Thanks again to Andy Merrill for building several new trail Kiosks (see photo) for the new 2023 trail map.
Island Falls. March 4 th -Big Valley Snow Club meeting 6pm. March 11 th -Tame the Track Race Series race 3 at Island Falls 10am to 4pm 142 Walker Set tlement Road or trail 60. We kicked off another great meeting with a great crowd! Once we filled our bellies with some delicious food, we were able to get to the important stuff. Our Treasure gave his report and was sure to report that our adopt a mile program is still showing to be successful- very grateful for that. We also let the group know that we are in the process of updating out bylaws, these should be available shortly. We will be hosting our Groomer Day on 2/11 10am-3pm. There will be food offered at donation, along with many other surprises, this should be a fun day for all. We want to remind everyone that we have paper membership forms as well as an online option www.rockabemasnowrangers.org. We are trying to get our memberships up this year. As always let’s make sure we are doing our snow dances, to bring on the SNOW!! CENTRAL REGION All trails to be opened have been cleared of obstacles. The trail from East Shore Road to the rail bed (ITS 84) by the bridge to Solon will remain closed for the season. The access to the rail bed can be gained by using the trail near the town salt/sand shed around Sandy and Fahi Ponds. There has seen some major exca vation work in the Sandy Pond area to pro vide a “highway” through some rocky terrain. All trails will need grooming with drags. The snows at the end of January have been hard to keep up with. Our Snow Fest is a go for February 18th. We are partnered with the Embden Pond Associ ation to provide activities and food offerings from Noon to 3 PM. The location is the public boat landing for Embden Pond. Snowmobile in, ski or snowshoe in or drive in to share some outdoor fun. Please access our Facebook page for updates to the trails, meetings and hours for the Braaap Shack. Travel safe. Although insured, remember, kiddo, they don’t pay you, they pay your widow. Your Cub Reporter Hi y’all, Finally, the snow Gods are listening to our dances. As I write this newsletter, we are expecting 8”-12” this evening (1/25) into tomorrow (1/26). The guys have been brushing and grooming all the trails. We also have a new drag the guys built for our new side by side, that now has its tracks on, so we can groom even when the big groomers can’t go out! We have some GREAT NEWS! for all you snowmobilers that come through out Town ship of Lexington- we will now be selling non- ethanol fuel at the club house. It will be CASH ONLY and SATURDAYS TO START, but there will be phone numbers listed in case of an emergency. Now you’ll be able to ride farther and get to some new trails, being that the Carrabassett Trail is still closed and the Bingham trail is still having issues. Our club has quite a few events on our Feb ruary calendar, weather permitting, so please check into out Facebook page regularly for a list of events and any changes due to weather or trail conditions. EMBDEN TRAVELERS sc Embden, ME Find Us On Facebook LEXINGTON HIGHLANDERS sc Lexington Township, ME ROCKABEMA SNOW RANGERS Patten, ME
for the folks that love to snowmobile!! Nordic Lakers has got a new Mascot this year our “Dala Horse”. We are hoping people enjoy seeing the horse and will take pictures with it and share on our Facebook page.
COBBOSSEECONTEE sc West Gardiner, ME
www.cobbosseeconteesnowmobileclub.com Trails have really had a tough time this year. First the rain, beaver dams and wild wind storms causing havoc with the trails and bridges. Trail crews have had their hands full this year. As I write this the end of January finally we have snow. Unfortunately as with most first storms, people are not staying on marked trails, thus landowner issues. We have an awesome trail crew who have met almost every Sunday since September preparing for this season. They do not get the recognition they deserve, so a huge THANK YOU! Congrats to member, Melissa Rhoten, on having a winning MSA ticket. New C4 maps which covers Norridgewock to Farmington and down to Richmond are available for $6 each and can be purchased from Chuck. Annual Christmas party was well attended with great food and hand warmers seemed to the theme for gifts this year. Definitely will need them once we get on the trails. Reminder to respect the trail you ride, a landowner has given permission for us to use it not abuse it. They can easily shut it down for misuse. Slow down as never know what is around the next corner, groomer, snowmobile, deer or people walking on the trails. Club meets 1st & 3rd Tuesdays of each month at 7 p.m., 3rd Tuesday potluck supper is held at 6:15 p.m. with meeting to follow. Charlene McFarland Club Secretary WESTERN REGION The Bridgton Easy Riders welcomed Cor poral Kris MacCabe, of the Maine Warden Service, to its monthly Pot-Luck Supper and Business Meeting on January 13, 2023. Club President, Blaine Chapman, intro duced him (see photo of Corporal Kris Mac Cabe with BER President Blaine Chapman), and explained that he specializes in Land owner Relations. Corporal MacCabe, has a Bachelor’s Degree in Wildlife Ecology from U. Maine, has worked for the State of Maine Department of Marine Resources and the USDA Wildlife Services, and has also appeared on the very popular TV series North Woods Law. BRIDGTON EASY RIDERS sc Bridgton, ME Bridgtoneasyriders.com See us on Facebook.
The club is starting their weekly club rides with emails being sent to those that would like to join in on the rides. The membership drive is still ongoing. Information has been sent out to current mem bers and we encourage individuals that use our trail system and want to become members to please contact us. Applications are available located near the “Dala Horse” or you can con tact us through our FB page and we will gladly send you an application. 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. Ride safe and enjoy the trails!! Barbara McKeen Club Reporter The Meduxnekeag Ramblers held their meeting on Tuesday night with good atten dance, good food and fun at Yankee gift swap. Well we received a little over 15 inches of snow last weekend. But rain in forecast upwards of 2 inches. The club members are working to clear the trails of brush from the storm. Many hands make light work so all help is accepted with gratitude. Our Breakfasts will be starting JANUARY 7th, serving from 6am to 10 am every Satur day until the end of March. $10.00 per person or $8.00 for kids under 10. We can be reached by sled, walk, snowshoe, drive or cross-coun try ski. We are on the Wiley Rd in Littleton, overlooking Cary Lake. Clubhouse rentals are available; please call 207-538-8048 for more information. Judy Big Valley has a lot of events planned for the 2023 season! Mark your calendars and book your stay. We have several options in the area. We will also have a park and ride just off the Island Falls exit, Brooks Park and Ride - right off trail 83 with gas across the street. If you are not a member of our club yet, please reach out to join. We can easily email you an application! drop us a message on Facebook or email us. You can pay in person by cash, check or PayPal, by QR code or mail it in. $15 for club and $30 with MSA, Business mem bership is $38.00! February 4 th -Big Valley Snow Club meeting 6pm February 18 th - Tame the Track Race Series race 2 at Island Falls 10am to 4pm 142 Walker Settlement Road or trail 60 February 18 & 19 th - Island Falls Lake Fish ing Derby February 19 th - Big Valley Snow Club Trail BBQ at Junction of trails ITS 83 and 112 in MEDUXNEKEAG RAMBLERS Meduxnekeag, ME BIG VALLEY SNO CLUB Island Falls, Maine
The next meeting of Bridgton Easy Riders is scheduled for Friday, February 10th, 2023 at The Bridgton Community Center: 6:00 PM Fabulous Pot Luck Supper, followed by a business meeting at 6:45. Hope to see you there, Bill Preis BER Club Correspondent
Corporal MacCabe spoke about the tremen dous influx of new landowners all around the state who are frequently “From Away”, and may not be familiar with the Maine Tort Law system that protects the landowner when any one uses their property. 94% of Maine land is in private hands. The most frequent land owner complaints are about excess noise from snowmobiles, and off trail riding. These are best handled by getting the sled’s registration
STUMP THUMPERS sc Leeds, ME
Well, we have snow for a minute. Hopefully it won’t all be gone by the weekend. We did
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