8306-R2_MSA_March2023

Barney Robichaud Celebrates His 100th Birthday By BionTolman

I amwriting this article to let everyone who reads the MSA paper what special member the Mattawamkeag Roadrun ners have. In 1970 our club was formed although he was not one of the founders he later joined that year. He and others began dragging trails with their sleds and homemade drags. Later the club was able to get a Municipal Grant to purchase a used Bombi, then a usedTruckTrack and even tually a new one. I guess by then he couldn’t stop and it was on to a New Holland Sure-Trac or two and has been spotted close to a New Holland on a SoucyTrack System. So he has been grooming since 1970 but there is a lot of other work as we all know that goes with trails, he has located new trails, cut brush, signing, bridge building/ rebuilding etc. and he has been there thru it all as a volun teer. He would be the one to seek permission from land owners and work with them if a re-route was needed. He has maintained the trails day after day, year after year as well as the equipment he was running for everybody to have a nice trail to ride.

He always enjoys seeing sledders riding the trails and talking with them if they happen to stop, he never com plains about it being rough from traffic just puts it back into shape with a smile. Over the years he has had help from other members on the trail work and some of them had contributed for years as well but he is still at it as recent as today. In 2001 he was awarded Groomer of the Year. In 2017 He again was Awarded Groomer of the Year and in 2020 inducted intoThe Hall of Fame. In October of 2017 he lost his wife, Norma and later suf fered a stroke himself. Even after that he kept going, built himself back up and back into his groomer on our trails. I have not really even begun to share all his contributions to snowmobiling or all the other areas he has contributed too but there is one thing about him I want to share for 53 years he has been a volunteer to snowmobiling on so many levels and on March 5 2023 Vernon (BARNEY) Robi chaud turned 100 years young and is still doing it.

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