8722_MSA_Here&Back_SpecialEdition

Ebeemee Snowmobile Club

Founded: 1977

Members: 110

Twin Pines

Miles of Trail: 60

bee working the front desk of NEOC. For David snowmobiling and making a liv ing go hand in hand as NEOC depends on snowmobilers in the winter. “Without the snowmobile trails this place would be nowhere near as suc cessful,” says David, who confesses regrettably the most snowmobiling he has done this year is back off a sled or two from a trailer due to a bad knee and need for knee surgery. NEOC is a decidedly upscale sport ing camp when compared to some of Maine’s more rustic sporting camps. Along with lodging, gas and snow mobile rentals, folks can grab a great meal at the River Drivers Restaurant or micro-brew or wood-fired pizza at Knife Edge Brewing. In short, NEOC looks like a perfect place for a winter time get-away. It was here that I met my “competi tion” . . . who it turned out are prac tically neighbors as the couple stand ing in line behind me came down from Merrill to rent a sled for the day. After some chatting and being told they could also pick up a poker card where they rent the sleds, they left and shortly thereafter I bid adieu to David to head further south. Don’t blink or you might miss see ing the Ebeemee Snowmobile Club’s Snack Shack off Rt. 11 . . . even with their distinctive bright red-and-black checkered plaid colors . . . and this is

not something you want to miss. While some Clubs will list scenic views from high atop a mountain, a unique historical location or a partic ularly pretty trail, for folks riding the Ebeemee trail system the one must see stop is in fact their Snack Shack, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. A growing Club, Ebeemee opened their trail side Snack Shack during the riding season last year and ran it out of an ice fishing shack. This year, thanks to an anonymous $30,000 donation, club members have a much more spa cious, insulated Amish-built camp they are using as their Snack Shack/Club House. Hot cocoa, coffee, chili and other home-made meals are available every Saturday from 11 to 3 during the riding season. It’s easy to see why Ebeemee received MSA’s 2020 Snowmobile Club of the Year. Here you may come as a stranger, but you leave as a friend. Here you get a sense that the Club members believe in the joie de vivre – and their enthusi asm and friendliness is infectious. The Club members almost feel like family . . . and in fact President Laurie Plourde and Trailmaster Pete Plourde are hus band and wife. “But don’t let that make you think we don’t get into some heated debates from time to time,” jokes Laurie. The Plourdes began traveling to the area from Winslow around 2001 and eventu ally joined the club a few years later.

Groomers: BR 275 Bombardier groomer, two Skidoos

Best Tip: Get off the ITS and try the ClubTrails.

Why volunteer? “I love this sport. We’ve been coming up here since 2001 and in 2005 we took the next step and joined the club and became more active.”

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