8595-R1_MSA_January2024_Newsletter

MSA Club News

maiden voyage had been run, signs were up and we were revving up to go but let’s call this a bump in the road. Us Mainers are a pretty tough breed and we’ll put our big people underwear on and move ahead. Looking forward to January, we will begin our snow dances (not RAIN) and hope to see you all head north. Our lodge will begin its hot meals on Saturday, January 6th and each Sat urday after till spring. Come visit us and enjoy a hot meal. There are no strangers in Northern Maine, only undiscovered friends. Respectfully yours, Kim M Ouellette, Secretary SMOKI HAULERS Oakfield, ME Hello Snowmobilers! Last time we wrote we were anxiously waiting for snow, and unfortunately that is still the case. We had finally got some snow and then lost it all in our recent rainstorms. These storms have also deteriorated our trail conditions, but we will be hard at work in the upcoming weeks getting them ready for everyone. Our volunteers have been putting in many hours on the trails, in hopes for some enjoyable riding this season. Our clubhouse will be open every week end through January and February, serving food, providing a warm place to stop & we will even have club merchandise available for the first time! Be sure to head to “Smoki Haulers Snowmobile Club” Facebook page to view our menu for the weekend, as well as any other activities that may be happening at the clubhouse. That’s it for this time, we hope to have more for you guys when the snow starts falling (and sticking around.) Be sure to stop in and see us on Saturday and Sunday throughout January and February, as we would love to meet every one and serve up some warm food. Did I men tion that we will be open whether the trails are open or not? Stop by and check us out, we will be there! Until next time folks, and be sure to keep your fingers crossed for snow! MEDUXNEKEAG RAMBLERS Meduxnekeag, ME Well, another month has gone by, no snow on the ground everyone is out checking their trails for washouts and blowdowns. No snow predicted for near future. Groomers are ready to go. Our Breakfasts will be starting on January 6th, serving from 6 AM to 10 AM. Come by car, walk, snowshoe, X-Country Ski or come on your sled. We are just off ITS 83 and tour sign is on the trail. Clubhouse is available for rentals, Please call 207-538-8048 for more information. Judy As I set and write this the wind is howling n it’s a whooping 20 degrees outside snow has melted away n we are waiting for some as we sit here. Well we held our Christmas party n meal put on by Deb, Rick, Heather, Linda, Tim & Trudy. It was delicious as usual great com pany, n food... We don’t exchange gifts we have a donation box and money goes to a member or members that we feel can use a boost .... We also took donations from members so we could participate in KES Festival Trees (our 2 nd yr) Deb & Rick donated the tree n ornaments n lights. Trudy made wool socks n mittens, Secret Santa donated mittens, sock n hats. The tree was awsome! Thank you, Linda, Heather, Trudy & Deb for decorating it. We also want to Thank Benedicta Snow Gang for participating and donating their prize back! Rockabeama Snow Ranger for partici pating also! They won a prize too and our very own Snow Queen had her float. Thanks goes to Rick Long for decorating it ` We also had our Bombi hauling Santa, Thanks Shawn Southard & Penney Weston for hauling him! So nice to see other clubs take part. Next yr is our 20th Parade HELP ME GET 20 FLOATS! KIDS COLORING CONTEST WAS A HIT & CHILDREN WERE HAPPY WITH MOLUNKUS VALLEY SNO-DRIFTERS Sherman, ME

CENTRAL REGION COCHNEWAGAN TRAILBLAZERS Monmouth ME

Deadlines for club news is the 25 th of the month prior to the publications. Please submit articles to editor@mesnow.com

Here we go again! I’m beginning to sound like a broken record. It seems like we just get our trails ready for use and mother nature throws something wild and crazy our way. Most importantly is that every one stayed safe. I think everyone lost power and we owe a debt of gratitude to the tree companies and the line workers that worked around the clock, some coming far from home to help. At this point, I haven’t heard of any major damage to our structures and bridges. There are several trees crossing our trails, so here we go again to clear the way. By the time you read this, we all hope that the ground and waters have frozen and we have snow on the ground. I am sure everyone wants to enjoy the fruits of their labor, one being the new trail reroute of CT 115 and the other, crossing the new bridge off Cressey Rd. In other news, our snowball raffle drawing is just about to start. Please check to see if there are any tickets that still need to be sold. Also, it is time to start nominations of officers. To put it simply, every position is up for nom inations, except Vice President and Treasurer. Our President and Secretary, Hugh and Doris LeMaster, have been telling us for a year or more that this would be their last term in these positions. We need to know if anyone is inter ested in either of these positions or any other position if there is a shift in positions being held. Roberta Kemp, V.P. and Membership Chair Think Snow Everyone. It’s now the first of the New Year and the holidays are behind us. Now is the time to think snow for the upcoming season. Remember we have non-ethanol gas for sale at our clubhouse and we have the clubhouse open on weekends. Check our Facebook account to find hours of operation. Love to see you. I would like to send a big Thank you to all of the people who make Lexington Highlanders Snowmobile Club work. A special shout out to Paula Huff and Tom Bessie who headed up our raffle tickets sales. Our club came in 1st for sales in the Central Region. Great Job. Remember to ride right of the trail. Your Club Reporter Cathy Horne ROME RUFF RIDERS ROME, ME First, my apologies for missing the deadline for the December issue of the Maine Snow mobiler. We have created a calendar con taining all the important dates for meetings, grant paperwork and other deadlines. To get everyone caught up we had a successful eve ning selling Super Raffle tickets at the MSA snowmobile show in October. Thank you to those volunteers Shawn, Cheryl, Barb and Doug. Trail work continued in November and we are in very good shape. We completed trail trimming, bush hogging and the final work on our RTP grant project. Like many clubs we have reached the point where we believe it is beneficial to file for 501(c)(3) status with the IRS. Our application is pending. In early December we took delivery of a new drag. This drag is 75” wide and medium weight which will match up perfectly with our tracked side x side. This drag uses mini-mo tion packages which is an electric-hydraulic actuator that has the motor, hydraulic reser voir and hydraulic piston combined into a sealed assembly. We have been working the maintenance of our equipment and modifying our wiring slightly to accommodate the mini motion packages and getting excited for the season. Then the rain came. So, we are evaluating the damage like everyone else. So far, we (Continued on Page 22) LEXINGTON HIGHLANDERS sc Lexington Twp, ME

NORTHERN REGION

MVSD - Benedicta Snow Gang

LIMESTONE SNOHAWKS Limestone, ME

Greetings from the County, The Limestone Snow Hawks hold their monthly meetings at the clubhouse on the first Thursday of each month at 6pm. The grant received from the Ski-Doo Snow Pass Program for trail 89 repair is completed. Two signs will be going up – one on ITS 81 the border trail on the turnaround and the other on 100A by the arch hanger. We have a social media page @limestonesnowhawks on Face Book. We keep the page updated with club news, pictures and other newsworthy items. Hoping everyone has a happy holiday and plenty of snow for Christmas. Hi Gang, Well, as you know, this is the Winter............. that WASN’T!! Aroostook County will have a totally green Christmas for only the 8 th time since 1939 ~~~~ useless trivia for sure!! This last storm on December 18th , with wind gusts over 90 miles an hour, could have been a knockout blow to some clubs before the sea son even starts. I am urging ALL sledders to join several clubs to help out monetarily and to donate your time, if you have some, to clean up efforts. According to Snowgang club President Randy Bates, crews are assessing trail and bridge damage at this time but other than downed trees we are expecting so major damage. In other news, we have two reroutes on ITS81/83 in Sherman. The first is the first field after Bear Brook Bridge. Sledders need to keep to the far LEFT side of this field, as the landowner has let the club push back into the woods 30’ to give us a right-of-way. This corridor is well marked to keep riders in the corridor, and there are game cameras in place to catch violators -- you will be summoned if you break the rules. This is a new solar farm!! The second trail change is at the old Sher man Lumber millsite:::: Charlie & Bonnie Lane have given the club a new trail to get away from the swamp. Thanks guys ~~ it’s well marked!! The memberships keep coming in steadily, currently we are at 113, should be pushed 135 by the time you all read this article. Be on the lookout for info on FB about the annual Snow gang Fishing Derby sponsored by Pat/Kim Joyce and family --- coming up soon. Well, with no snow, my work here is done. Hope you have a happy and safe 2024 ~~~~~~~~ SNOW DANCE, PLEASE!!~~~~~~~~~ Jim Splan, Reporter@ Large P.S.~~ They really call him Johnny”Cash”!! P.SS.~~ Way to go Dave Fluett!! P.SSS. ~~ Have you been to the new island, Jeri ?? P.SSSS.~~ BRUINS rock!!!!!!!!!!!!! ST. FRANCIS SNO ANGELS St. Francis, ME Soo, Santa you got your messages crossed. I can’t think of one person in northern Maine who asked for rain for Christmas. As I write this article, many of our southern neigh bors still have no power and are recovering from horrendous rain and high winds. By the time this comes to print, I certainly hope everyone has recovered and the damage has been assessed and is mostly cleaned up. Our thoughts are with all of you. We got a much-reduced version, rain which took the majority of the snow, and a few gusts of high winds, disappointing at best but det rimental to our winter economy. My husband says not to worry, that winter has never missed us yet, and I suspect he’s not wrong. Our Safe and happy sledding, Jo-Ellen Kelley, Secretary BENEDICTA SNOW GANG Sherman, ME

MVSD - Rockabema Snow Rangers

MVSD - Santa in the MVSD groomer

MVSD Members Celina and Patti Bechard with Diamond the dog

MVSD’s one and only the Snow Queen

THIER PRIZES Santa Letters were left in mail box n answered back. Looking forward to MVSD NEW YEARS EVE GATHERING! THE CLUB WHERE THERE R NO STRANGERS ONLY FRIENDS YOU HAV EN’T MET YET! HOPE YOU ALL HAD A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAVE A HAPPY N SAFE NEW YEARS FROM YOUR FRIENDS @ MVSD! KEEP ON KEEPING ON Deb Long (MVSD Club President) Dear Members, Here we are just a few days away from Christmas. I sincerely hope everyone has a magical Christmas and that you are able to be with your families. The only thing that would be better is if we had some snow! Maybe the snow will come a little after Christmas. The crew has been busy, trying to move all of the equipment back to the groomer barn and to get the groomer and drag all ready to go. They accomplished some bulldozing (always more to do!) and some ditching. The rain has just delayed a lot of work. We have begun having meetings and sup pers but will watch the news for covid cases. We hosted our landowners and members with paid dues to a breakfast on December 2nd. Our directors served the meal and we fed many appreciative people. Mary Michaud chaired this event and it was delicious! We had a lovely Christmas potluck and Yankee Swap, our first in three years, with a good size group. In January we will have just a business meet ing on Wednesday, January 10 at 6:00. Janu ary’s weather can often be rainy and icy which makes it hard for people to get around. We will talk about having a scavenger hunt scheduled for February. There will also be a potluck sup per/meeting on Saturday, February 24 at 6:00. In March we will be hosting a luncheon for the MSA Directors and are looking forward to CHAPMAN RIDGE RUNNERS sc Chapman, ME

having a nice size crowd. Happy New Year to All! Sue Maynard Secretary

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