8576-R1_MSA_December2023_Newsletter

MSA Club News

Trips. The first meeting of the new year will be on January 12 th , 2024. All are welcome! Hope to see you there, Bill Preis BER Club Correspondent 207-647-2847 To See dozens of photos and videos—go to: https://www.facebook.com/bridgtoneasyridersclub/ PEJEPSCOT SNO-CHIEFS Lisbon Falls, ME Find us on Facebook Happy New Year from Pejepscot Sno-Chiefs! Have you got your sled all ready for another season of riding our State’s great trails? Remember, those trails didn’t get great by themselves, and clubs everywhere are in need of more hands on deck to keep trails safe and enjoyable this winter. We held our club dinner meeting Nov. 14th, at the clubhouse, 8 of us enjoyed chili, corn bread, and cookies. Having a meal seems to make us more productive! Trail master report: trail work was well under way, and we could use more help as always; as culvert is needed behind the Settlement trail; Botma bridge needs replacing; several other culverts needed as well, the rain this year did a number on many parts of the trail. The same few guys have been doing the bulk of the trail work, and could use help! New Bus: we received a flyer from Camp Capella; culverts for Rabbit Road; Dec. Christmas dinner/Yankee swap was moved to Saturday, the 9 th , at 5pm, at the clubhouse as usual, several of us bringing dishes/drinks to go with the lobster stew. We eat well in this club! Old Bus: we plan on making a “memory table” in the clubhouse, we’re going to plas ter the top of the wooden table with all kinds of photos from the past 50 years, a great idea from Steve! A nice way to preserve photo memories. Our January meeting will be the 9th, at 6pm, at the clubhouse, and the February meeting will be the 13 th , 6pm. Hope you can join us! If you need more info, get in touch with me. Until next time, stay safe and warm, think snow! I’ll be enjoying my new GSP puppy, Hello everyone, It sure was exciting to get some early snow! Now let’s hope the ground freezes up good to help get things started. I’m really hoping that by the time you’re reading this newsletter that we’re ready to open the trails and have the best season we’ve had in a long time! The club has been busy repairing washed out culverts and filling in wet areas with gravel. The reroute behind the solar farm will be completed in time for this season. We’re doing groomer maintenance every Thursday evening from 6 PM - 8 PM and trail work every Sunday morning from 8 AM to Noon meeting at Watson’s garage for both. Just another reminder that our annual poker rally will be held on Saturday, February 24th, 2024. Poker hands will be sold for $5 each between 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM with winners announced and raffle prizes drawn at 3:00 PM. It will be held at the North Fryeburg Commu nity Chapel located at 1225 West Fryeburg Rd (Intersection of Rt 113 and Fish Street) so bring all your friends and join us for some good food, friends and fun! Thank you to Jon and Bruce at the beauti ful Old Saco Inn for hosting our annual club Christmas Party again this year. You guys are amazing! Please always remember to respect our landowners and don’t ride off trail or head out too early. Make sure all of the trails where you’re headed to are open first! We do our best to keep everyone updated on our club Face book page so feel free to check there before heading out. Sincerely, Merry Christmas to me! Respectfully submitted, Libby Nilsen, club reporter FRYEBURG AREA SNOWMOBILE ASSOCIATION Fryeburg, ME

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NORTH FRANKLIN sc Phillips, ME Find us on Facebook

who have donated a Christmas tree decorated with gift certificates and other items to the Oxford Hills Chamber of Commerce Festival of Trees. We will be hosting the January MSA direc tor’s meeting. We are planning club rides as well as other events and are looking forward to an abundance of snow this year. Let it snow, Dan Trouant, Club Reporter

ing in next month’s article. We always have lots of fun and we wonder what the Entertain ment Committee has in store for us all! Our club sold tickets at the MSA show at the Augusta Civic Center (one of the best shows! Good Job Al and crew!) It was a very busy day and ticket sales were very brisk! We had our master team hard at work! Good job to all who helped. The Trunk or Treat at the Wiscasset Speed way was very well attended, we gave out more then 1k pieces of candy to young and old alike. It was a bit brisk but the rain held off! Hope everyone has a festive Holiday Sea son. Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year! Club Reporter – Joel Verney RIPLEY TRAIL RIDERS Ripley, ME The Ripley Trail Riders have had a very busy off-season. Under the capable leader ship of President Jeff Hanson, Vice President Danny Grant, and Trail Masters Chip Wake field and Dan Chainey, many important initia tives have been completed. In September we had a record setting thir ty-third annual auction. The many donors and generous bidders provided critical funds help to finance some aggressive improvement projects. Two important bridges were completely rebuilt, two washed-out culverts were replaced and enlarged, a new access door and two new overhead door openers were installed at our garage, and a used trail groomer and drag were purchased. Plus, in October, our landowners were treated to an awesome dinner. These improvements position the club for a tremen dous 2023-2024 snowmobiling season. All of this is possible due to the dedication of our club members. All of the labor and many of the materials were donated by members who desire to build and maintain the trails which run throughout our small town. Thanks to them, we are ready for the coming snow. Don Gower, RTR Secretary WESTERN REGION norwaytrackerssnowmobileclub@gmail.com Merry Christmas from the Norway Trackers, We are selling raffle tickets for an Eskimo ice auger. Anyone interested in purchasing tickets can contact our club. The drawing is January 2 nd . Thank you to one of our club members for the donation and all proceeds benefit the Norway Trackers trail system. We have had several crews prepping our trails this fall during the week and on week ends. We have repaired several bridges, installed new signs, done some excavation work, and there is always brushing to do. Thank you to everyone who lends a hand. We are fortunate to have a very dedicated crew. Again, this year, thank you to our members NORWAY TRACKERS Norway, ME Find us on Facebook

Hello, The snow gods have blessed us with about a foot of snow yesterday. Unfortunately, the ground is nowhere near frozen. The club vol unteers along with Trail Master Billy have been busy on Sundays this past month, they went back to the newly rebuilt ITS 84 bridge in Freeman and finished cleaning up the old debris that was left from when the bridge was torn up. They have since been brushing on ITS 89 and then the following week went and staked off various fields on the trails. A lot more to be done before actual riding can begin. If you would like to help us we meet every Sunday morning at 8 AM behind George Berry’s garage 132 Miles Square Road Phillips, all are welcomed. That’s about it for now Stay safe and think snow! David Greely Vice President NFSC GREENE DRAGONS sc Greene, ME Hello everyone, It’s that time of the season again for trail work. Such as putting up signs, replacing old ones, cleaning trails, and fixing bridges. Please remember to ask the land owner for permission before doing any work on their land. If we don’t, we could lose that trail. Also, time to pre-season our side by sides and check over our drags. If anybody knows of any trail changes or landowner changes, please let us know. Last year wasn’t the best winter but are hoping for more snow this year. We had a good business and family mem bership count in the 2022-2023 season but are always looking for more members. It takes a lot of members and dedication to make a club run well. We welcome our members to join our meetings on the second Monday of each month at 308 Bull Run Rd. Greene at 6 pm. We are always looking for new ideas. Family membership is $30 and business is $50. For any questions, please feel free to contact Tony Bickford at 312-9186. At the end of last year, we sold our piston bully and bought a used side-by-side to drag its trail 87. This will be a big fuel and mainte nance cost savings. Please remember to follow the signs and stay on the trails. The land is a privilege, not a right. We look forward to see ing you at one of our meetings. Secretary/Membership Chairman Tony Bickford POODUNCK sc Dixfield, ME As I write this, my mind is all over the place! I have been waiting for months to be able to report this news! We finally jumped through all the hoops and received a Govern ment Grant to purchase a new groomer! It’s something the club has worked very hard for. To say I’m a small part of this awesome group of people is an understatement. The amount of time and work is mindboggling to get a grant from them! This is an amazing accom plishment to say the least. Most folks have no idea what it takes to make a club successful. And to think it’s all – volunteer work! Because of Maine’s Capital Equipment Grant program, we also received help from them. Then a gen tleman from down State gave a substantial donation, the groomer is paid for! Mr. Bob Hanson said when he arrives on our trails, it’s always a pleasure. And because Dave Berry received the “Groomer of the Year” award, he wanted to help us out! Thank you Bob! The club is in very good hands and the future is looks bright! Now on to a groomer garage! One lase thing. I sure do miss reading Ani ta’s, Bonnie’s, Nicky, Bob and Louise’s col umns from our surrounding Clubs! Please consider writing them again! Just sayin. Club Reporter, J.H. DENMARK DRAGGERS Denmark, ME We’ve had a couple teaser storms but noth ing sufficient. The storms were promptly fol lowed by rain like most of last year. Looks like the next couple of days will be clear but cold. The crew has been working diligently on

BRIDGTON EASY RIDERS sc Bridgton, ME Bridgtoneasyriders.com See us on Facebook

The November 10 th meeting of the Bridg ton Easy Riders, at the Bridgton Community Center, started off at 6 PM with 20 members enjoying the usual Fabulous Pot Luck Supper. Blaine Chapman, President, called the busi ness meeting to order at 6:45PM and he led the Pledge of Allegiance. He reported the current membership is 82, plus 26 Business Members. The Landowner Letters have all been sent out. Volunteer work parties have accomplished much: brushed Otter Pond Trail and installed a new culvert; brushed West Bridgton; installed a new Kiosk at So. Bridgton’s Intersection B1. Maintenance work has started on the Tuckers to get them ready for the upcoming season, including new bearings in the front end. Volunteer work crews continue to meet at Bridgton Walgreen’s parking lot on Sundays at 8AM. The work is usually done by noon. Thanks to the many members who show up to help! The Club discussed and approved entering a BER float in Bridgton’s Festival of Lights Parade. The theme will be “Snow Globe.” The Club has achieved 501c3, tax exempt, status under the legal name of Pleasant Moun tain Snowmobile Club, DBA (Doing Business As is Pending) Bridgton Easy Riders. This makes it possible for donations to the Club to be tax exempt. For most purposes we will be still be known as Bridgton Easy Riders - same club, same officers, same great members. Bob Corthell thanked Club members for the cards and well wishes they sent to him. Bill Preis reported that the 2024 Trail Map has been approved and is at the printer and should be ready to distribute at our December meeting. He showed some very early exam ples of trail maps dating back to 1987, which were created using simple 2 color art work (red trails and black roads). That map was laid out horizontally with north to the right instead of the top. Later, ads were added to the back of the map using a word processor printed on paper which was then cut out to be mounted on a piece of white cardboard known as a mechanical. Over the years, the maps got larger, adding 4 color digital reproduction and GPS’d trails. Bill has samples of all the trail maps since 1987 and will soon donate them to the Bridgton Historical Society. Steve Emery reported that 37 Club mem bers have signed up for the Millinockett trip and 27 signed up for the Caribou Trip. The next meeting of Bridgton Easy Rid ers is the annual Christmas Party scheduled for Friday, December 8th, at The Bridgton Community Center on Depot Street, starting at 5:30PM for cheese and crackers, 6PM for the Fabulous Pot Luck Supper, followed by a brief business meeting. The annual Christ mas Party features the ever popular “Yankee Gift Exchange.” Each Club member should bring a gift, valued at up to $20, marked “male” “female” or “either”. Each member then draws 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 then 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! Come learn about our upcoming Club events: including the Club Rally, and Club

Bridget Gorton Club Secretary

Norway Trackers members donated a deco rated tree to the Oxford Hills Chamber of Com merce Festival of Trees.

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