8906-R1_MSA_November2024_Newsletter

MSA Club News

Just a reminder that club dues are due for the 2024-2025 season. You can contact John Gil lis at j.gillis_sebagobranchduckers@yahoo. com for more information. Maine Snowmobile Association (MSA) super raffle tickets are now available. If you are interested in purchasing or selling tickets, please text Jim LaPointe at 207-393-0017. The Sebago Branch Duckers are always welcoming new members and volunteers to help with trail work. Trail work is vital to an enjoyable snowmobiling season. Please reach

sled, signage and trail work and memberships were some of the topics. We will have election of officers at our next meeting. Going forward meetings will be the First Thursday of each month at 6:30 pm and all our meetings are pot luck. Our annual Christmas Party will be Decem WISCASSET SNO-GOERS Wiscasset, ME Greetings to all from the Wiscasset Sno-Goers, As I write this on this in Mid-October morning, having just turned on the heat in the house for the first time; it’s an exciting time of year! Leaves are changing, EVERYTHING is Pumpkin spice and like most clubs, we here on the mid-coast are gearing up and ever optimis tic for a great winter. Some business to attend to: 1) The Sno Goers held their season open ing pot luck / meeting on Oct 10th. Got some business completed as well as had some great food and some laughs! 2) Some events planned include once again, supporting the MSA (and our club) with MSA Super Raffle tickets. 3) We are planning our annual holiday, ok... CHRISTMAS Party in mid-December. 4) And just a reminder – Last year the Sno Goers developed a partnership with the Wis casset FD and have been provided access to their training building next door to our club house. This facility will give us a bit more space for meetings and other gatherings. The clubhouse will continue to be the hub for trail and grooming operations but this extra space at the training facility is a great addition and we are excited. By the time you read this in late November, we will have voted our officials in... I have some predictions but no sneak peeks from me...you will have to tune into Decembers submittal... The Sno-goers meet on the 2nd Thursday of each Month beginning in October and running through April. The meetings are held at the FD training facility next door to the clubhouse with the meeting starting at 6:00 p.m. with a potluck. Always fun to have guests and new members are always welcomed! Trail work has begun and this will con tinue on Sunday mornings, meeting at the club house at 8:00 a.m.(ish). What better way to spend a fall morning in Maine than to help clear a couple trees, add a few signs and maybe help out an aging bridge? From all of the Wiscasset Sno-Goers, we hope that you and your families have a great Thanksgiving and wishing you all the happiest holiday season. As always, a very appreciative “Thank you” to all of our landowners who allow access for our trail system. One last tip, it’s never too early to start those right thumb exercises to avoid that bit of sore ness after that first ride. Jeff Robertson ber 5. Come and be Merry. Club Reporter: Joel Verney

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COASTAL REGION

safe out there and wear some blaze orange). Thursday, November 14th. -7:00 P.M -next KSRSC Meeting at Dale & Joann’s house on the AMES ROAD/ Kenduskeag (usually Gail sneaks in some tasty snacks) Tuesday, November 19 th . -5:00 P.M. at the Eastern Maine Snowmobile Club/ Holden-will be the next MSA Directors Meeting/ Supper. This will be a return of the long-awaited Pres idents Night. All club presidents will get their meal free (Larry L .is cooking again -always very good). -Please go to the MSA Website and register in with your guest(s) - just trying to get a headcount, or call the MSA Office and make reservations, Thank-You. P.S. -by the time that you this paper, the November elections will be over, hopefully you had a chance to vote yes on Referendum Question # 4 -this will spread 30 Million Dol lars over 4 years to the updates, improvements of Snowmobile, ATV, and Rrcreational Trails. I guess that should wrap it up for now, see you on the trails. Think cold weather snow and enjoy the upcoming holidays ... Not much happening for snowmobil ers yet. The Club has work days planned to remove blowdowns and get the trails ready for grooming. For now, we’re enjoying the beautiful fall weather and hoping for ice-making cold and snow in December. The club meets on the 3rd Saturday of the month at Darren Miliken’s “Megawatt Lounge” on Maynard Rd. Pot luck from 6pm-7pm, meeting starts at 7pm. Everyone is welcome! Mike Hoyt MOOSEHEAD RIDERS sc Greenville, ME Find us on Facebook What trails will be open and which will be closed this winter? Working with our large landowners and discussing their tree cutting operations is part of the annual process. Replacing the Moose Brook bridge is the largest project for this fall. The Moose Mtn. trail parallels Rt. 6/15 (the Rockwood Rd) beginning in Greenville Junction and ending at the North Rd. This 50’ wood bridge was built 30 years ago and has been tilting more each year as the footings have rotten away. It would last another year but a Recreational Trail Fund Grant will allow replacement at this time. We will keep you posted on the status. Thanks for your support and thank a groomer. Bob Ludwig, Secretary raludwig184@gmail.com Barry E. Ryan Club Reporter K.S.R.S.C. BLUE RIDGE RIDERS sc Rockwood, ME

SEBAGO BRANCH DUCKERS Sebago, ME Like us on Facebook or message us at seba gobranchduckers@gmail.com It’s time to start thinking snow! The club had their kick off meeting recently. Agenda items included club finances and offi cer elections. The following positions have been appointed for the 2024-2025 season.

out if you are interested. Stay Safe on the Trails, Jim LaPointe

President: Chris Anderson Vice President: Tim Smith Treasurer: John Gillis Membership Chair: John Gillis Public Relations: Jim LaPointe Trail Master: Jim LaPointe Assistant Trail Master: Brian Smith

WALDOBORO SNO-CRAWLERS Waldoboro, ME

Hello Everyone, The Sno-Crawlers had their first meeting October 3 and the club officers remain the same as last season with President David Neu big, Vice President Carl, Gushee, Treasurer Ben Scott, Secretary Jimi Hunt, Safety Offi cer Richard Bravoco and Trail Master Tony Lash. During this meeting we discussed old business, new business and established which trails needed the most attention. During the off-season members often walk the trails for inspection and it appears North Waldoboro suffered the most damage therefore trail main tenance started here with a small team con sisting of Carl Gushee, Ben Scott and Richard Bravoco who began brush hogging and clear ing the trails. The next meeting is scheduled for October 17 and will continue to be the first and third Thursday each month. Sundays are slated for trail maintenance and we are always looking for volunteers, so please consider joining a work crew. We are happy to be back together, and look forward to being out on the trails, and espe cially hopeful that we get to ride them this year. Please consider joining the club as it supports many community endeavors, and you get a chance to be out on the trails with some of the finest and hardest working people around. Please be sure to look at our Facebook page for events, club meetings, and work parties. Respectfully, Stephanie Bravoco, Club Reporter Our club had our first of the seasons club meeting Oct. 10th, a week late due to the fair, with 20 members in attendance. Lots of great food and many desserts to choose. It was great seeing everyone back again waiting on snow to arrive! Plan on attending the next meeting. It was voted on to donate to the MSA schol arship fund this year. We will also be at the MSA show at the Civic Center selling MSA tickets all day on Sunday. Tabatha passed out financial statements and John updated us on grants received. Much was discussed: the ongoing CMP power line work, Trick or Trunk at the Wiscasset Speedway, picking the new ALNA sc Alna, ME Hello All Fellow Riders and Readers!

Social Media Coordinator: Keith McCaron Club meetings are held the 1st Wednesday of every month at the old Sebago Town Hall.

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A BIG thank you to those who volunteered to hold club positions and take on the respon sibilities. As of writing this article, we’ve had 2 trail maintenance days in October. We opened up a trail from Folly Road to Tiger Hill. This area was hit hard by storms and required much focus. Thank you to those who volunteered their time to make this a success! Check out future trail work dates on Face book or messagesebagobranchduckers@ gmail.com for more information on how to volunteer.

IWish I KnewThenWhat I Know Now By Carol Bourque

A s I enter my 6 th year as an officer (Secre tary and Treasurer) of the Wild River Riders snowmobile club, I thought I would pass along some knowledge that I have picked up over the years. I hope this shortens the learning curve for those who are new to running a club. To those who are not running a club but paying your membership dues, I hope you’ll step up during the year to help those running a club with the huge number of tasks involved in man aging a club and maintaining trails. Our club was in existence for almost 20 years and run by just a few hard working individu als, who rarely asked for help on the trails. As a local resident, I was not even aware of the

(Continued on Page 26) I recommend bookmarking and reviewing the following websites to get an overview of how the snowmobile program in Maine is managed. Initially, I found confusing the roles of the State of Maine existence of the club and truly did not appre ciate all the hard work that went into main taining a trail network of 30 miles! When the original founders finally had burned out, four of us stepped up to keep the club going and to support the members who remained. I was given the last month’s bank statement and no other documentation to kick off my tenure as Club Secretary. Where to begin? Websites

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