8651-R2_MSA_March2024_Newsletter_Web

MSA Club News

make our friendly little town a stop on your snowmobile adventures. I guarantee you will be back. mikeremillard@mgemaine.com Please take the time to cut out the below lines of information and pack it away with your registration and insurance info. You never know. RESCUE HELOCOPTER LANDING SPOT: Located at the 2nd Elsmore Landing sign (Pocumcus Lake). When the official’s GPS it, I’ll let everyone know. I found out when it snows, we’ll put red lemon aid as a dye to definitely mark the spot for helicopter pilots. HELP NEEDED: Call 796-5027, Les, Brinda, or a store worker. TRAIL PROBLEM: Call 796-5027, Les. He will solve the problem. 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”. NEXT MEETING: Every 2nd Wednesday @ 6:00, usually at the GLS Fire Station. LODGING: Call 796-5027, Les, Brinda, or a store worker. Mike Remillard PAUL BUNYAN sc Bangor, ME Happy March from Paul Bunyan Snowmo bile Club! So far, we’ve had a pretty discour aging winter, snow-wise, unfortunately. We had almost enough snow to make trails barely rideable for a week or two, but ended up with rain and warm temps instead of the extra 6-12 inches of snow we needed! Our volunteers have still been slowly pick ing away at remaining blowdown issues on our trail system. Most of the system is pass able at this point (if we get some snow!), but not perfect yet, as the warm temps softened a lot of areas we need to access, which slowed our progress. We are still keeping our fingers crossed that by the time you read this we may have gotten the snow we need to make things happen here in the Queen City, but only time will tell!! Keep an eye on our Facebook page for any updates, and feel free to drop us an email at paulbunyanscbangor@hotmail.com with any questions! Volunteers are ALWAYS welcome and VERY MUCH appreciated, many hands make light work!! We generally hold our meetings on the second Wednesday of each month during the season, starting in September, and would love to have anyone who is interested join us! We usually post meeting information on our Facebook page ahead of time, but feel free to email or message us on Facebook with any questions! www.facebook.com/ PaulBunyanSnowmobileClub Sincerely, Paul Phillips - President PENOBSCOT sc Hermon, ME Check us out on sledhermon.org This has not been a great snow winter for any of us. So many clubs have done a great job with what little snow that they have got ten. Thank you very much for what you have all done. Your efforts do not go unnoticed. We appreciate your time and effort. The Pine Tree Camp egg ride was a success, with more participation than years past. Mark your calendars now for next year’s ride. It is ALWAYS the first weekend in February. I sure wish we could have had more snow; the grandsons sure do love to ride. They are going to be the next generation (we hope) that are going to take over. I don’t think any snow mobile club would refuse a volunteer. I cannot express enough that if you ride, you should help in some way, volunteer, donate, purchase those raffle tickets even if you don’t want whatever they are raffling. They are doing it as a fund raiser. Stay tuned, as a fundraiser for this summer we will be hosting a truck and tractor pulling event. June 1,2024 is the date for the test and tune for the trucks and tractors to come and see if the changes they have made in their off season is going to be what will put them in that FULL PULL category. You can mark your calendars now for July 20th 2024 for being the

truck and tractor pull date.

came home! We are in the process of changing over our webpage information as we can no longer use the old domain. Our new address is ebee meesnowmobileclub.org. Big thank you to Dan Sullivan for taking this on and making it our very own page! As they say, everything happens for a reason! We will be ordering stickers with the new page address on them to correct any outstanding signs etc. On that same note, all of the QR codes are now defunct as well. We will get through it though! Our Shopify online store will be closing down for the season soon so if there is anything you just have to have, get it ordered soon! Other happenings this winter! Due to log ging changes, we were able to get permission to get approval to reopen the Lone Pine Trail from Ebeemee Mountain to the 59 Road. We also got formal permission to use what is affec tionately called the Trailer Trail which also connects the lower end of Ebeemee Mountain to the 59 Road. Mostly just alternate routes but it does give us some options up here. We also want to thank all of you who sup ported our Adopt-A-Trail program! What a huge help with our fuel bill! Look for them out on the trail and please patronize their businesses every chance you get! They are as follows: In Memory of Michael Ander son, Alcom LLC, the Amari Family, Bangor Motor Sports, Penny Lane, Best Dog Ever, Buckhorn Camps, In Memory of Karen Bur ton, The Looney Bin, C & J Variety, Jami & Ian Champeon, Jim & Krista – Let it Snow, Jim Frechette, North Shore Tech Electric, Hammond Lumber, Harris Lumber, Nolan Hanson – Remax Collaborative, Kittery Trad ing Post, The Lockhart Family, Mcgown/ Ormsby Route 11 Camp, Pires, Pleasant River Guides, Camp Tukumbaktu, Chris & Melissa, A E Robinson Oil Co., Sawmill Bar & Grill, Stress Free Moose, Tradewinds Milo, Remax Collaborative, 5 Lakes Lodge, Northwoods Home Inspections, Sagamore Wanderers, Camp Forever Young, Grove Hill Outfitters, Meet Me At Cathy’s Corner, Bite harder- LJE Products. You know what makes me sad though…? Not once did Pete and I make it over to see our friends at the Stress Free Moose. That is usually a mid-week trip for us but we just couldn’t make it happen this year for odd and various reasons. I guess there is always next year. Maybe it’s time for a road trip over! Doesn’t it seem like we were just talking aout this year? Hard to believe it is already winding down. You know what though, summer is just fine too! Just different! For our spring and summer project we are looking for donations of V Match T & G to finish off the interior of the Snack Shack as well as some decent cabinets and countertop. We also need plywood or ?? to finish off the workshop area. Let us know what you have and we’ll see if we can make it work! Again, thank you all for your continued sup port and help making Ebeemee Snowmobile Club your club and a place you feel like family (that’s a quote)! We love the Smileage! Laurie Plourde, President Ebeemee Snow mobile Club ebeemeeavk@gmail.com NARROW GAUGE sc Monson, ME Hello Fellow Riders, Hope you have gotten some riding in as it has been pretty sparse. If you have been lucky, you have found some good trails. Here in Monson, we have tried to keep our trails groomed with our North Trail being an excel lent ride and the Pole Line pretty thin, espe cially on the southern end. We finally have both our big groomers up and running...just waiting for some decent snow. Thanks to everyone who has ridden in and supported our local member businesses, Turning Page Farm, Lakeshore House Pub, A.E. Robinson Mobil Mart, and Spring Creek Bar-B-Q. Ride Safe and hope for more snow! Sue Killam, Secretary COASTAL REGION

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there to keep the ice thin. We have had lots of discussions about where, when, and how many warnings we can put out to warn people about dangerous con ditions. As someone said at a meeting, “We can’t ‘bubblewrap’ the lake”. So please use caution, Follow the warnings that are there and don’t take chances. Pittston Farms held their annual Veterans ride to Jackman on Friday, February 16th. The officers and several members of the Blue Ridge Riders club met the veterans on the trail. They waved American flags and a banner honoring the Vets. We would like to thank all Veterans for their service and a “Well done!” to the Pittston farm! We have a lot of winter left and with a little help from Mother Nature we may have a lot of good riding also. Think Snow! Mike

QUADCOUNTY sc Springfield, ME

Hi to all. February is almost over and I almost forgot my newsletter, again. I think old man winter forgot us also this year. We had over 400 man hours clearing the trails, four times, of down trees of every size and tree type with high winds and ice storms. We have only groomed around 77 hours this season so far. QCSC has been out bush hogging the swamps that are froze up, getting trails back to their original width and get rid of those nasty face slappers! Our breakfasts are still doing good with large turnout of people, but we will welcome our regular snowbirds back in the spring. Our Lobster or Beef stew supper and our Pot Roast supper had good crowd between take-out or eat-in supporters, Thank you! We are having breakfast on the 1st and 3rd Saturday in March and Turkey potpie supper on March 9th. Our Hot dog Roast was disappointing just like our winter has been. I think the 20 people that showed up for hot dogs, chili and campfire pies, enjoyed themselves and we appreciate everyone that shows up to support the Club, by showing up to our meals, to eat or working on meals or trails! Thank you all! Your slow tying reporter, Kevin EBEEMEE sc Ebeemee TWP, ME I’m writing this on 2/26/24… I see snow falling outside my window. Winter, snow, ice, riding, having fun, hot dog cookouts with friends, beautiful scenery, moonlit night rides, squeaky snow, waking up to fresh snow, watching the littles master the art of riding, firing up the 1988 Yamaha Inviter and taking her for a little rip across the pond to visit the neighbors over on the other side, ice fishing, watching the eagles feed on what we caught, the incredible beauty of the area, rain… (yes, the sound of brakes screeching!) This has been yet another crazy winter up here in Ebee mee as well as the rest of the Great State of Maine! Ebeemee is fortunate in that we are in a snow belt and have a great Trailmaster (say hi Pete) and his two fantastic groomers Dan Sullivan and John Troyan. Between the three of them some serious magic happens up here in Ebeemee. I hear so many people say “we don’t know how you have made the trails so good with so little snow”! As Pete’s wife, I can tell you it started a long time ago. Plan for the worst and hope for the best. I guess it truly is… “all about that base”! Do you know that this is the first year since we have had the BR that he has deemed the ice on Upper Ebee mee as unsafe for the machine to cross? That means that every time one of them goes out to do the 111 they must first cross the bridge on US route 11, proceed down the Ebeemee Lake Road and cross over Al’s Alley to get to the 111. That adds about 45 minutes to each trip! The 111 is groomed a minimum of three times a week, Friday, Saturday, and then again mid week. That’s what has helped it to hold but the writing is on the wall. We have had a fantastic winter at our Ebee mee Snack Shack. Thank you to all who showed up and made our days! We had a number of people donate food. I will attempt to list them all here. Cherie at Wildwoods (2 cases of Kayem hot dogs), Susan Bolton, Erica Ciampa – Delicious home baked goods, Kris ten Vilasuso, Vickie Gaylord, Cathy Bergeron, Jessica Harrington, Trudy VanKnowe, Jeff and Diane VanKnowe, Paul and Robin Blanchette, Morgan Buswell, Melissa Reinholt Brown, Peter Plourde. We have raised some good money to go to the groomer shed project com ing up this summer! It was wonderful meet ing all of you and we look forward to seeing you again! Thank you all so much! This year we were also a stop on the KAST Poker Run held on 2/24/24 to benefit the Shri ners. That was a first for us and we were the southernmost stop! Pete was the dealer and handled the task like an expert! Another new (and I hope fun) thing that we did this year was the addition of Chris Moose. Every Saturday (except one warm beach day) Chris would go for a ride and hide, waiting to be picked up and returned to his snack shack. He always

GRAND LAKE sc Grand Lake Stream, ME

Above is Jane with an official Grand Lake Snowmobile Club sweatshirt. Jane does a lot of work for Trail Master Les and the club. She records work and grooming hours and reports them to the state. While Les runs meetings, she and others keep things going in the back ground. She is from England and has been in the states for a while. Now we have her and she is great. We had our club raffle of “Winner Takes All,” ice fishing tent and related equipment. The winner was Amber Arbo. She is a teacher and is from the Princeton area. The drawing was held at our “Pizza Meeting.” We had 30 or more people in attendance and (4) big Party Pizza’s, divided in half or fours, of different toppings, made buy the store. For dessert we had chocolate chip cookies, and a good apple crumb cake. It was a very organized event and I can’t wait for next year. I’m going to wind it down for the season. It’s the middle of February and we have 1” of ice with 1” of snow on top, with no snow storms in the forecast. I have been on two (20) mile round trip snowmobile rides, checking camps. There was snow in the woods. I never had a problem, but I travel only 20-30 MPH most of the time. Of course, there was that time last year when I hit 38 MPH. I was going downhill, on ice, with my eyes closed. Don’t tell Brad. I feel bad for my young snowmobile friends. They do wheelies, jumps, sharp lefts and rights while riding along, safe high speeds, etc. There just is not enough snow for most riders. I also feel bad for Trail Master Les. Some people were born to play football, baseball, etc. Les was born to groom. He can groom for 12 hours or more. If we all say a little prayer, and/or do a snow dance, maybe we will get a few snow storms of 1 FT or more before spring. WORK: I heard that a few of those tree leaners from the December 18, rain/wind storm have come down on a trail or two. That means Les will have a work/bring your lunch detail for a crew, if you are looking for some thing to do. GROOMER TRAINING: Les will train members on our well-equipped, professional groomer, the Snow Rabbit. That way once trained, a 2-person groomer team with food and supplies could be sent out to do important trail work for as long as they want. If you are interested, you know who to talk too. Thank you everyone for taking the time to read about our snowmobile club and our special little town. Please ride our trails and

ALNA sc Alna, ME

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