8595-R1_MSA_January2024_Newsletter

MSA Club News

available as we approach this day and plan accordingly. Follow us on our Facebook “Moosehead Riders Snowmobile Club” for the latest trail news.

best clam cakes on the planet. I wish there were more to write about, but that’s about it for now from sunny Saco Maine! Cheers Doug Doherty, President SEBAGO BRANCH DUCKERS Sebago, ME Like us on Facebook or message us at sebagobranchduckers@gmail.com Hello Everyone! On Monday, December 11th a wind/rain storm caused flooding and many washouts. The storm caused trees and debris to fall onto our trails. On December 18th, we experienced another wind/rain storm resulting in addi tional trail cleanup. We are continuing our work and plan on having the trails cleaned up before snow falls as long as Mother Nature cooperates. As always, we welcome volunteers to help with trail maintenance. We hope everyone enjoys time with family and friends this holiday season! Be safe on the trails! Jim LaPointe WISCASSET SNO-GOERS Wiscasset, ME Greetings and Happy New year from the Wiscasset Sno-Goers, 2024 promises to be a great year and here on the mid-coast we’ve had an exciting holiday season! Let’s get this part over; ok, enough rain, wind, and warmth in December.... Ok, enough of that. Needless to say, the December storms have taken their toll on many areas of the state and clubs all over the state will be busy getting trails cleared and bridges repaired. As with many clubs, much of our trail system was sim ply too wet to get out and complete the bush hogging we had intended. The Sno-goers have been busy! We had a great MSA supper raffle ticket sales event at one of our great business part ners, Ames Supply in Wiscasset. Great sup port from one of our local businesses and the raffle is such a great event for MSA as well as the local clubs. Congratulations to all of the winners of the 2023 raffle! We had a fun holiday party with great food, fun, laughs and fun games. We “might” have a few competitive folks in our group, just sayin’. Some quick updates: • Club officers were nominated, elected, appointed, and voluntold (I should have included that tid-bit in the last newsletter. My club should really give more consid eration to who they give this assignment too:) • Bridge material is on site and ready for installation. • Signage has been placed on all of the trail system. • A re-route of Trail 1 is complete to relo cate around a new home in the area. • One of our groomer sleds is getting a lit tle love and servicing at our local dealer. Some quick reminders: The Sno-goers meet on the 2nd Thursday of each month. Meetings are held at the Wiscas set FD training facility right next door to the clubhouse (AKA – Grooming and Trail Oper ations Central.... just made that up). Meetings begin at 6:00 PM with a pot luck followed by business at 6:30 PM. All are welcome! And.... Let’s not forget “Sunday – Funday” ....Trail grooming and any other trail main tenance will continue on Sunday mornings meeting at the club house around 8:00 AM (ish). Lastly – Always a huge thank you to our members, business partners and most notably our landowners. Without our landowner par ticipation and support, we simply would not have the trail system that we all enjoy!! Jeff Robertson WINDHAM DRIFTERS Windham, ME Happy New Year! We hope Santa brought you presents and left us buried in SNOW!! Are you all doing

the snow dance?!!! The Drifters have been very active and our trails system has never been in such good shape before. Our club members continued to work very hard to improve more of the trail system to enable grooming with the larger equipment. The club has a goal to surpass our previous year’s membership count so if you haven’t joined our club yet, please do so, you could win free Drifters merchandise!!! There’s always work to be completed on our trail system. With almost 40 miles of trails, there’s always branches and young growth that can be trimmed. We welcome those who can lend a hand with this task. Please follow our Facebook page and fre quent our website for projects and events dates. If you didn’t receive a membership form in the mail, you can purchase one easily from our website. Lastly, a special Thanks to those dedicated officers and members who work year-round for our club. Follow us on Facebook and visit our web site windhamdrifters . c o m THINK SNOW!!! Ride Right and Ride Safe! BRAAP ON, Hello Everyone, The Sno-Crawlers had a change in their offi cers since our first meeting with David Neubig assuming the role of President, Carl Gushee Vice President, Ben Scott Treasurer and Jimi Hunt Secretary with Richard Bravoco Safety Officer and Tony Lash as Trail Master. The club has been spending most of their time in clearing and maintaining trails after our Summer, Fall and early winter of rain and wind. The warm Winter and wet Summer and Fall left us with work that we just couldn’t get to because of saturated trails. So, this year the club purchased a bush hog to help clear the overgrown brush, and it’s first job cleared the trail to Maritime and CN Brown, and to the river which is now clear. Thanks David Neubig, Eric Hunt, Jimi Hunt, Richard Brav oco , Gabe Cooley ,Ryan Mannisto, and Carl Gushee. The next weekend we had Richard Bravoco and Gabe Cooley out on the trails in south Waldoboro. Fred Libby was working on re-planking a bridge. Tony Lash with his exca vator was fixing culverts and washouts. Ben Scott and Eric Hunt and Carl Gushee contin ued putting up snow fence and signs. We were also joined by Morganne Price who helped clear trails with us. The team then returned to the clubhouse where they washed and ran through the club sleds to make sure they were up and ready for the season. Another good morning working on trails we spent mainly reviewing safety items. This time, using the Argo we dragged a large cul vert that washed away downstream leaving a dangerous situation for the trails. We were able to get it back on the trail so an excava tor can get it reinstalled. Thanks again to Ben Scott, Carl Gushee, Gabe Cooley, Rick Brav oco and Ryan Mannisto. We will be back on the trails this week end after the big windstorm removing all the downed trees and keeping the trails safe for use. Please consider joining the club as it supports many community endeavors, and you get a chance to be out on the trails with some of the finest and hardest working people around. We look forward to a snowy and cold win ter with lots of opportunity to sled to our local restaurants, visit friends and just enjoy the beautiful outdoors. We can’t thank our mem bers, businesses, and landowners enough, as your continued support ensures the legacy of the Waldoboro Sno-Crawlers continues into the next generations. We look forward to see ing you out on the trails. Please be sure to look at our Facebook page for events, club meetings, and work parties. Respectfully, Stephanie Bravoco Club Reporter Shane Spencer Club Reporter WALDOBORO SNO-CRAWLERS Waldoboro, ME

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it away with your registration and insurance info. You never know. There is a rescue helicopter landing pad, close to completion, at the 2nd Elsmore Land ing sign. When the official’s GPS it, I’ll let everyone know. I found out it needs a little fine tuning and then when it snows, we’ll put red lemon aid as a dye to mark the spot for helicopter pilots. NEXT MEETING: Every 2nd Wednesday @ 6:00, usually at the GLS Fire Station PINE TREE STORE: Hours 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM, 796-5027. NON-Ethanol Gas. Always remember, for food, drink, supplies and fun, “You can’t go wrong at The Pine Tree Store”. HELP NEEDED: Call 796-5027, Les, Brinda, or store worker. TRAIL PROBLEM: Call 796-5027, Les. He will solve or assign the problem. LODGING: Call 796-5027, Les, Brinda, or store worker. Please ride our trails and make our friendly little town a stop on your snowmobile adven tures. I guarantee you will be back. mikeremi llard@mgemaine.com Mike Remillard NARROW GAUGE RIDERS Monson, ME Hello Fellow Riders, Here it is already 2024 and everyone is ready to ride!! We just need some snow that will stay with us. Our trails are in great shape and waiting for the sound of our sleds riding across them. We want to send a big SHOUT OUT THANK YOU to Jim French and A.T. Korsman for their donations of time, equip ment use, and materials to help with some of our needed trail maintenance. As we all know, volunteerism and donations keep our clubs and trails alive. Thank you to all our volun teers and club members!! Let’s hope the Maine Trails Bond (LD 1156) will be successful. We continue to meet the second Wed. of the month at 6:00pm in the Monson Town Com munity Meeting room and these meetings are open to all. We appreciate input and feedback. Think Snow Sue Killam, Secretary EAST BRANCH SNO-ROVERS AND ATV CLUB Medway, ME Happy New Year from the East Branch Sno-Rovers! Volunteers have worked on trails and new signs, even through wet conditions. January 27 we’ve scheduled a groomer rodeo and pig roast. February 6 a happy tradition continues as we again welcome Bridgeton club members to the Country Music Jam and Dinner. February 10 we have the Gage Hale snow mobile ride. February 24 Kids Day will have groomer rides, canoe rides, a coin scramble, cupcake decorating, arts and crafts, prizes and more. Work has been done on the Quonset Hut. I thank Pauline Hanley for the information in this report, while I have been ill. Nancy Deschene MOOSEHEAD RIDERS sc Greenville, ME Find us on Facebook This year we are being challenged by the weather in every way. The heavy rains over the summer meant that some areas never dried out enough to adequately make repairs. Nev er-the-less we were able to add wood mats to the wet bog area on the trail near the rail tracks. This was our biggest problem last year. Then came the storm of December 18th with flooding that was record breaking melting our entire snow base. So, we are ending Decem ber with trails that look like it was Labor Day in Maine. Our groomers and drags are ready for action and now the waiting begins. Our thoughts now go to the trail and ice conditions for the weekend ending with the April 8, 2024 total eclipse of the sun with an epicenter directly over Greenville. We wel come all but with the concern at this early time as to the safety of the trails and ice this late in the riding season. Check with the resources

Thanks for your support. Bob Ludwig, Secretary raludwig184@gmail.com

NORTHEAST CARRY sc Northeast Carry, ME

Hello MSA, I would like to report that since May, there are new owners, Aaron and Briar, at Northeast Carry and a new club has been formed. The store is now called Northeast Carry General Store.

They are enthusiastic and eager to meet fellow snowmobilers. Please stop by for coffee, food, gasoline, conversation and to see the regulars. Trail work began in August and has con tinued right up through December. The new Prinoth groomer was delivered at the store December 16 th . Their plan is to continue to feed the deer. COASTAL REGION Hello Everyone! The club has been very busy the past weeks brushing the trails and repairing a number of bridges. Bridges that were repaired include Kendra’s bridge, Bells field bridges and Flor ida Lake. Work has been progressing on moving the Chandler Brook Bridge closer to reality. A construction company is interested in provid ing a bid and the design is being finalized to bring the cost down into budget. Currently the estimated cost for a smaller reconfigured bridge is just above the grant budget. Ber nie Coombs is exploring ways to save addi tional cost by buying materials directly from suppliers. Jason Cass has agreed to provide space on his property for a permanent sled shelter. Work to plan for this and source materials is underway. We are always looking to welcome new members of all ages to the club. Club meet ings are held at the Acacia Lodge on Rt. 136 in Durham, not far from the Get N Go, typically on the first Thursday of the month at 6 PM. Please join us! Our Facebook group page can be found at Tri-Town Penguins Snowmobile Club please check the page for the latest club news, trail reports and updates, there is a link on the page to join the club online, we wel come all to join! My sled is gassed up and ready! Is yours? Let’s hope for a large storm soon. Richard Nadeau Member Hi Folks, We hope the holidays were good to you and you got some snow goodies. I’m writ ing this month’s update in late December and sadly, I’ll be going out shortly to rake the last of the leaves in my yard. The ground is not frozen and there is water everywhere. The mild weather has afforded us to do a lot of trail work, but we could really use some cold weather and some white gold. Speaking of trail work, the guys have been killing it on the new Dayton trail. They have put in hundreds of man hours of labor, hauled about a thousand yards of wood chips, moved tons of boulders, and rebuilt five bridges. The end product is a spectacular four-mile addition to our trail system. Now we just have to get back out and clear all the blow-downs from the December storm. The high-wind events seem to be an annual ritual now. Once we do get some snow, we’ll be open ing our kitchen on weekends for burgers, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, French fries, and the SACO PATHFINDERS sc Saco, ME Find us on Facebook TRI-TOWN PENQUIN Durham, Pownal, Freeport, ME

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