8843-R6_MSA_September2024_Newsletter

From The Executive Board

Coastal Region VP

region VP. I also would like to take a time and thank Dave Watson for passing his torch and showing me exactly all the things that need to be done. I assure everybody that the people involved in the Maine snowmobile association have dedicated many hours into making snowmobiling in Maine one of the most enjoyable sports. Everybody has opened their arms with a warm welcome to me. The dedication that they have for Maine snowmobiling is something I have never seen before. I just want to introduce myself. My name is Matthew Baron. I reside in Limerick with my wife Michelle our two daughters Molly, Maggie, and my brother Patrick. I for three years have been the President of the route 11 Streakers Snowmobile Club. I work every day at our family business Precision Equipment Coatings and we are the weather early with lots of snow all over the state so we can get out and ride, ride, ride! We are sure due for it after last year. Even though it is only September, clubs are out assessing trails, checking with landown ers, and holding club events to get the season going. All clubs should have by now or in the near future their club packets with member ship info, MSA show info, club handbook and other information for this season. Please take a few minutes to review the club handbook and make it available to your club members so everyone can see what MSA does for clubs and snowmobiling in the state. We get asked what we do, so the handbook is a sample of what MSA does. Since the last edition of this paper, MSA directors and officers have been working to move the association forward. In June, we held an informal roundtable discussion meet ing to bring everyone together to start the new season. We have some new regional VP’s and is aging. But we all love snowmobiling and getting together. It’s a little early to do a snow dance, but I’ll let you know when we need it! Hope you had a great summer. Sue Maynard, Secretary BENEDICTA SNOW GANG Benedicta, ME Hey Gang, It is that time again isn’t it!! Well, the Snow gang never stopped, or even slowed down, all summer long. Municipal Trail #70, Benedicta to Whetstone Falls, was 99% completely redone, with only one bridge left to be reset and redecked. This trail has had two big reroutes at the request of the landowners involved, and Colby McDonald has had his excavator on this seventeen mile section of trail several times to get everything ready, and done a tremendous job. Club President Randy Bates worked tire lessly to get extra funding from the State and County to make this project happen ~~ great work my friend!! So, the good news is Trail #70 will be open this Winter!! Moving on a bit, our membership pack ets have been sent out and I would ask that you rejoin the club as soon as you are able to help with internal costs. Even the cost of postage has gone right through the roof, just like everything else! Your club ended up in the top 30, membership wise in the State, with 289 clubs involved ~~~ pretty darn good. We ended up with 102 members last season ~~ lets crush that this year!! Remember that this issue of the Maine Snowmobiler is going out to everyone who registered a machine last year, so lets get to it!! If you would like to join the Benedicta Snowgang you can go to www. benedictasnowgang.com to download our application, you can find us on Facebook at The Benedicta Snowgang, or you can call me at 207.365.7276 and I can assist you. Lets talk cruise tickets for a minute::: 7 day cruise to the Caribbean OR $2500.00 cash !!!! Only 100 tickets available at $50.00 per ticket!! YES, they are out and for sale!! This is our 33rd annual raffle ~~~ and it has SOLD OUT every year!! Buy one or two, give me a

home of the T-bone Trail. I’ve been an avid snowmobile ever since I was able to get on one. Snowmobiling was always my break free from all of life stressors. I was honored when I was asked to be nominated for this position. I look at the MSA as being a very important part of being able to run any club in Maine. I know the past year or two it’s been a struggle getting good riding snow down here in the coastal region, but I assure everybody that it always comes back around and we always get dumped on eventually. I’ve always thought of a snowmobile club as being more than just a bunch of people snowmobiling. Having a club is about fundraising, bringing community, youngsters and families together and having a great time. Whether it be summertime cookouts, or Group rides in the winter, it’s bringing people together, enjoying what Maine has to offer. I can’t stress to any of regional directors this year as well as some new committee chairs and a new MSA pres ident and vice president. The meeting was a successful one and all left with a handbook and some great ideas moving forward. Also, the snowmobile advisory council met and awarded Capital Equipment grants to approx imately 30 plus clubs for this season. Our lobbyist, James Cote, has been keeping tabs on things at the state level for us which has been a tremendous help. In August directors met for the first time since April to distribute club packets, get super raffle tickets and hear all the latest news. Eastern region clubs are already hard at work getting membership info out, setting schedules for the year and holding club meetings and landowner events. The eastern regional direc tors: Craig Lemieux, Barry Ryan, Paul Bol stridge, Gary Dowling, Charlie Hannington and Larry Lafland have been delivering club packets and making contact with clubs in their call and I will point you in the right direction. The drawing is 12/8/24 so get one soon! So, will close for now, got some mowing to do. Just an observation ~~~~ your club is doing well, we have a strong core group, great leadership, and an end goal to be the best club we can be!! Have a great Fall, and be safe! Jim Splan, Reporter @ Large P.S.~~ Great food Reid! PORTAGE LAKERS sc Portage Lake, ME Hello Fellow Snowmobile Enthusiasts! Summer has been a blur in Portage! We have been busy to say the least… The Groomer “Shed”-I will probably always call it that, even though it is a beautiful brand-new building, is shaping up nicely. We are hoping to have an official Grand Opening in the Fall, so keep your eyes open for that. As you all know, the Portage Lakers know how to celebrate! Big Woods Grass Drags preparations are in full swing. The track is looking great. The guys have been prepping, planning, think ing, living, and breathing grass racing! And the ladies have been doing all the hard work! Posters are hanging everywhere we can think to hang them, posts are being blasted on Face book, sponsorships are flowing in, Barry has the grounds looking as beautiful as ever, Ven dors have their spaces reserved, and I’m sure the racers are tuning their sleds up to WIN! This year is a 2-day event. Saturday & Sun day September 14th and 15th. If you haven’t already made your plan to come to Ashland, you have a few days left to do so! If you have a camper or a tent, there is ‘primitive/dry camp ing’ available in the back field by the track, or across the road at the Trotting Park for $20 a night. By ‘primitive/dry camping’, I mean there is no water or electricity hook ups, so you must be self-contained and have a gener ator. Also, while we all love to travel with our furry loved ones, we do ask that please, NO dogs are permitted on the Track grounds due to liability issues. Payment for camping can be made at the gate shack right at the track when you arrive. We look forward to seeing racers

my clubs enough that I will always be here to help and guide or for you to run things past in a time of need. It’s going to take me some time to meet everybody, but I’m very excited about getting to know everyone and hearing all the great stories that your club has. In this day and age many times it’s a struggle keeping a club together and I encourage everybody to not give up and continue to do all the fun things that bring people together. This year I will be at the Maine snowmobile show and I encourage everybody to come and look me up so I can put a name to your face. I also would like to encourage clubs to help neighboring clubs and work together, have fun together and enjoy the start of our season. I appreciate everybody’s warm wishes and I will see you out on the trails. Matthew Baron areas. I have seen and heard of breakfasts, lob ster dinners, membership drives, ticket sales and other events that have already been held so I know clubs are anxiously looking forward to this season. The plan is to have regional meetings again this year, so clubs please watch your mail and email for news about where and when these will be held. It is VERY IMPORTANT for clubs to go on the MSA website, choose mem bership tab, scroll to MSA forms, and choose Officer Update form and fill that out. That info gives us the correct contact information for your club. making sure the club receives news and updates. Mark your calendars for all the events in October especially the MSA Show. If any Eastern Region club needs Super Raffle tick ets, please contact me as I have some. That’s all for this month everyone! Until October. Eileen from Canada to New York, spectators from near and far, the smell of two stroke smoke in the air, old friends catching up with each other, vendors selling their goods, and most of all, the sun in the sky! Gate Admission is $10 per person, $5 for Kids aged 6-12, Free for Kids under the age of 6. We hope to see you all at the Big Woods Grass Drags. Located on Route 11 just south of Ashland, 133 Masardis Road in Ashland, ME. Visit Facebook.com/thebig woods for more information. That’s it for now. Stay tuned for the Por tage Lakers Open House coming this Fall. As always, follow us on Facebook.com/Por tageLakers for the latest news. We look for ward to seeing you soon! Club Secretary, Tammy Kenney LIMESTONE SNOHAWKS Limestone, ME Greetings from the County, Our big news I’d like to share is the Lime stone Snowhawks was awarded the Snowmo bile Club of the Year for the 2023-2024 snow mobile season. There was a page in the MSA May 2024 Maine Snowmobiler newsletter with a nice write-up and pictures. The plaque was presented during the annual meeting and praise about the forethought of the Snow hawks’ President to put a trail on the historic runway at Loring and how both the Arch han gar and popular Border trail has become some thing people talk about all over the Northeast as well as increased traffic considerably. Something new for the 2024-2025 season will be the use of a 9 ft drag and the club will no longer be doing the double stakes down the middle but instead dual stakes on the sides. The Hicks Bridge on 89 was re-planked on August 23-24 and is ready for the snowmobile sea son. Volunteers from 4 area clubs worked together to get a big job that was badly needed, done. Tim Busse has accepted the role as Vice President of the Limestone Snowhawks and we once again have a full slate of seasoned officers to start the snowmobile season.

Matthew Baron 207-608-3737 msacoastalregion@gmail.com

92 Emery Corner Rd, Limerick, ME 04048 F irst and foremost, I want to say thank you to everybody in the MSA for the warm welcome in taking my position as coastal

Eastern Region VP

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

Welcome to the new season everyone!! Here it is September 2024 and we are back at it getting ready for another snowmobile season. Hopefully this year will bring cold

MSA Club News

Deadlines for club news is the 25 th of the month prior to the publications. Please submit articles to editor@mesnow.com

NORTHERN REGION CHAPMAN RIDGE RUNNERS SNOWMOBILE AND ATV CLUB Chapman, ME

Dear Members, It will soon be that time to get the sleds tuned up, pay your club dues, and watch for any changes on the trails. Here’s hoping this season lasts longer than last year! The club has been very busy with trail work. You will appreciate the work done. The “River Trail,” #74, east to Presque Isle has been bull dozed and ditched in a wet/beaver dam area. This project took many hours of bulldozing and ditching with an excavator. This should help with icy trails in the event of rainstorms. The “Sewer Plant Trail,” #105, is also being dozed and ditched. We may not complete all that needs to be done but it will definitely be a good start. We continue to improve our trails, hoping to also improve your ride. We have such a good crew! We are also fortunate to have crewmembers that are good equipment operators. Over the years, we have acquired a bulldozer, mini-excavator, tractor and a mower, which makes it easier to get our trail improvements completed on our schedule. We are planning on having a few workdays for planking bridges and other trail work that can only be done by crews of workers. If you can help, let us know by calling Mickey May nard at 764-1236 or 227-6365. Look for your membership packet in Sep tember or early October. It will include a membership form and a tentative calendar of events. If you would like to see a certain event held, email me at sue.maynard1236@gmail. com. Better yet, volunteer to work that event! As with most other clubs, our core group

(Continued on Page 28)

8

b e r 2

e m

0 2 4 l M a i n e S n o w m o b i l e r

p t

e

S