8722_MSA_Here&Back_SpecialEdition

Smoki Groomer

These days Island Falls is perhaps less known for its famous presidential visit and more for their Fishing Derby, Spaghetti Dinners and local racing and radar runs on the lake which helps raise funds for grooming. Unlike many other clubs Big Valley does not own their own groomers, but instead contract the work out to groom ers who own a Tucker 1000, 2000 and Bombardier. A large club with over 200 members, Botting says those numbers are a bit misleading as all but approximately 15 of those members are not local mem bers which means there is a very small pool of volunteers responsible for put ting up signs, brushing, etc. My last stop of the day is the Club I joined when I moved to Smyrna two years previously – the Smoki Haulers in Oakfield with their distinctive log cabin club house. My first question for President Brent Stover is one which has perplexed me since joining the club. What is the meaning behind the Smoki Haul er’s name? The club’s patch shows a stylized bear wearing a military cam paign hat which bears a slight passing resemblance to the more famous wild fire preventing bear if you squint just right at the logo. I wonder out loud if the spelling was done to avoid copy right infringement or if the reference is to the early two-stroke snowmobiles which could often leave a trail of blue gray two stroke smoke in the wake of their exhaust? Nope. Nothing so fanciful. It turns out the original founders who formed the club back in the 1970s lived on Smoki Hauler Road in Smyrna. While the name of the Club may not be super imaginative, the club itself has never strayed far from its commit ment to being a part of the community. Besides sponsoring a Family Fun Day in the Winter, the club provides free rental snow shoes, ice skates and cross

country skis to local residents. I pull my last card of the day . . . a 6 of Hearts. At this point I am 99% positive this hand is a losing hand . . . although I didn’t realize just how bad until later. I chat with Brent and some other Club members for a bit and then decide after a little more than 10 hours and 225 miles it’s time to head home. Could I have done this run faster? Most defi nitely, but then again if I had elected to just show up to each stop, draw a card and move on I would have missed out on making a personal connection with over a dozen different people – men and women, folks in their 70s and one particularly witty 13-year-old, folks who have lived here their entire lives and folks who only later in life found their slice of heaven in the shadow of The Mountain . . . and of course I would have missed out on petting Fiona. I started the day wondering why I was doing this . . . what was I thinking . . . but as I drove north, a view of Mt. Katah din fading away in my rear view mir ror, I now had my answer. Well-signed, freshly groomed trails are great, but what makes riding in this special cor ner of Maine isn’t really the views or even the trails as good as they are – it’s the men and women responsible for those trails and for the first time I was able to meet just a few of those folks in person to commiserate with them, joke with them, but most of all simply thank them for volunteering their time to make the riding great and for this reason alone I can honestly say I was almost glad my Renegade was out of commission for the day. Epilogue: As predicted the author had no winning hands in this Poker Run. In fact, one hand was so bad that he finished in the absolute last place . . . which came with a cash prize. The author reportedly is using the prize money to repair his Renegade so he can do the KAST Poker Run by sled next year.

Smoki Haulers

Founded: 1970’s

Members: 90

Miles of Trail: 56

Groomers: None owned by the Club

Best Tip: Prinoth Husky, Bombardier 160 and Bombardier 180 Why volunteer? “I see a lot of value in a snowmobile club. I love the sport and it’s great to have a good trail system, but it’s also great when a club can raise funds for local charities as well.”

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