8595-R1_MSA_January2024_Newsletter

From The Executive Board

From the President

but rather rolling their sleeves up and taking care of business. It has been very difficult for clubs to stay positive and look at the glass half full when most of them had just finished up or in some cases were still working on reconstructing trails that were devastated from storms earlier this year. We all saw many areas within the State that had seen total devastation to the trail system, one of which was the Western mountains and surrounding region.I mention this because I witnessed firsthand clubs come together. On December 28th an outdoor recreational conservation group from the Farmington area, along with several prominent area club members quickly put together an emergency meeting to discuss immediate club issues and to form a plan of direction to rebuild their trail system. This meeting brought to a small town hall in Strong, Maine close to 100 people, 20 plus clubs, members from the Maine Legislatures, the Dept. of ACF, and several members of the MSA including our MSA state house lobbyist. I witnessed 20 clubs come together, share each one’s issues facing them, offer up materials, machinery and labor to one another. I saw our legislators that night vow to do everything in their power to get more money back in the hands of the clubs. I can tell you for certain that the Snowmobile Division of the Dept. of ACF is pulling all strings to try and do the same. The MSA has put a letter on the Governor’s desk pleading the case for the clubs and getting our place in the front of the line, should there be any disaster relief money. Our lobbyist is trying hard to set up the MSA for a face to face with the governor; our hope is that by the time you are reading this it will On the positive side of the MSA, the Super Raffle prizes were all delivered and Liz mailed out the gift certificates. Many happy folks, its a great feeling seeing their faces light up with joy. The club’s once again came through selling a great amount of tickets. The Western Region Fryeburg Area Snowmobile Association #came in first place selling the most tickets. Also, in the Western Region The Pleasant Mountain SC came in second and the Bouncing Bogies came in third! The Northern Region: Washburn Trail Runner’s #1 Caribou #2 and The Easton Trailbreakers #3 The Eastern Region was lead by the Wassookeag Sc 2nd Were the Moosehead Riders SC and #3 Quad County Central Region Lexington Highlanders came in 1st Anson North Anson was second and Town and Country SC was 3rd Coastal: Southern Maine Sno-Goers came in first, Ossipee Mountaineers was second and a tie for 3rd Moonlite Snow Skimmers and The Saco Pathriders. Thanks to every club who made this another successful super raffle. to be brought in front of the 2025 ses sion to better finance our clubs trail maintenance & equipment funding. In late December, we met and put together a letter to the Governor, Com missioners & legislators in a plea for funding and support for our clubs after the devastating storm Dec 17 th & 18 th . This fast-forwarded a planned conver sation with them and have heard back preliminary statements from them as of the time of my writing this article. The committee has had three virtual meetings and one in person meeting since beginning. An e-mail blast has been sent out to clubs asking for ideas. We need all your help to get ideas from folks who are in the trenches working everyday to keep the clubs going. We have gathered information from neighboring provinces & states. We have received information from Joe at the Snowmobile Program office on past years reported club expenses, grant payouts & registration numbers. know it’s hard to be patient but that’s what he suggested he’s a professional with these situations so I take his comments and wisdom with great respect.

have happened. Everyone that night walked into that room with their heads held high, it was a positive and constructive meeting and I can say that I was proud to be in the room. I know that a lot of you may be thinking that we are fighting an uphill battle and that with time we will fall on the back burner but I would disagree with that. We need to keep fighting and keep letting our voices be heard. Snowmobiling is one of the biggest recreational industries in the State of Maine and a huge asset to its economy and is respected for it. My hope moving forward is that there are more meetings like this one in other affected areas; if our sport is going to continue to thrive, we are all going to have to work together with our neighbors and use each other’s resources. Positive things that I have seen come out of this is the amount of support from Joe Snowmobiler that might not have helped ordinarily. By and large clubs have used social media to share to the snowmobiling community what they are dealing with in terms of the amount of devastation and work that needs to happen before any of us can ride. The thousands of pictures that I have seen on social media has to pull on the heart strings of everyone and how can anyone with a clear conscience not help in some way, sit back, not be a part of the solution and expect to ride the trails once the work is done and the trails are flat! As always, if anyone would like to talk about anything snowmobile related or would like me to attend an event or meeting, please reach out to me, my door is always open! Thank You, Mark We have a great team but the success of a great team is that we have to stick together. I’ve been around long enough now to see what happens when folks go out on their own. Unfortunately, they fail. Communication and being transparent is vital to be successful, we have been. I will do whatever it takes to make sure the MSA clubs get what is coming to them. We work hard to protect the club’s with a new Lobbyist to keep us informed what of what is happening in Augusta. We have lots of respect from the IF&W folks that work with us and protect are well-being. Please let me know how I/we can help. I know it’s a challenge with new landowners and folks with new ideas but we will succeed. You made snowmobiling in Maine the third best destination point in the USA! The whole state not just a little corner of it, you did it! We have the best supporting business, the best landowners and the best volunteers! Hopefully this month the weather will change, we have lots of events coming up. Hang in there! AL Sifting through the data to make sure we completely understand it will take some time. There is a lot of data to work though & understand! We still need ideas from our mem bership so we can begin to sort them into categories to deep dive into how they could/would work. Work through your club at the next meeting to have this as an agenda topic then get your ideas to us. Email your regional VP at the link below: David Watson - dwatson6841@gmail.com Eileen Lafland - L.andE.lafland525476@gmail.com Jack Lord - jacklord5256@gmail.com Jerry Major - mrfun101jem@gmail.com Matt Stedman – stedman.matt@jdirving.com Matt Stedman This is the easiest way for you the clubs to make money.

Lori Hemmerdinger (207) 890-5455 544 Plains Road • Poland, ME 04274 Treasurer@mesnow.com Treasurer’s Report Respectfully Submitted, Lori Hemmerdinger, Treasurer

Alan Swett, 207-872-7282 234 County Rd, Waterville ME 04901 snowtraveler@roadrunner.com

W ell December was a wash out! Total destruction in many areas. Hard work from earlier floods was destroyed once again. Some trails have very deep holes up to 40 feet deep on the Wilton system. We’re asking for help from the State and Federal Government. Joe Higgins called me soon after the devastation and suggested what we do. I From the Executive VP

Monthly Income Monthly Expense

$ 71,377.01 $ 24,089.57 $ 47,287.44 $ 85,600.00 $226,139.13 $127,790.76

Net Revenue

Short Term CD

Checking (12/31/23)

Dedicated Account (12/31/23)

Pay Pal (12/31/23) - Special Events Account (12/31/23) $ 4,987.53 Credit Line (12/31/23) $ - Building Fund (12/31/23) $ 54,074.90 Brian Wass Safety Fund (12/31/23) $ 1,285.59 Scholarship Savings (12/31/23) $ 1,867.44 Scholarship CD (12/31/23) $ 61,022.11 $

From The Membership Corner

Mark Chinnock, Vice President 207-754-9874 544 Plains Road, Poland, ME 04274 napadude66@hotmail.com

Eileen Lafland, 207-843-7813 PO Box 733, Holden ME 04429 L.andE.lafland525476@gmail.com

H ello everyone, I am hoping that you all had a safe and happy Christmas and New Year! With that being said, I know that most of us did not get a whole lot of seat time on our sleds but instead found other activities to occupy our time, most of which were not expected. This holiday season Mother Nature threw us a curveball and instead of setting out to find that first ride of the year most of you headed out to look for blow downs, washed out bridges and missing culverts, not exactly what we had in mind but that was our reality for most. As this all unfolded I was reminded what a resilient, resourceful and passionate group Snowmobilers really are when facing diversity, not throwing their hands up in the air

T hese totals are as of Jan 1 st , 2024. 237 of the 285 clubs across the state have submitted memberships. Great job everyone!! Hopefully those that haven’t sent any in as of this writing, will have by the time you read this. There were twelve clubs with 100 plus memberships on December 17 th . In alphabetical order they are: Blue Ridge Riders, Border Riders, Caribou, Fryeburg Area SC, Moosehead Riders, Northern Timber Cruisers, Penobscot SC, Pleasant Mountain (Bridgton),

Rangeley, Washburn, and Windham. Total Family Memberships 6,439 Total Business Memberships 1,640 Total Memberships 8,079 Counts by region: Central 1,389 Coastal 1,009 Eastern 2,158 Northern 1,660 Western 1,852

Funding Legislation Committee

Remember, you only have a couple months to get those memberships in to be counted for the annual awards.

Matt Stedman 207-557-1921 (call or text) PO Box 621, Ashland ME 04732 Stedman.matt@jdirving.com

D ear MSA snowmobile club members, The MSA has put together a commit tee to determine legislation that needs

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