8988-R3_MSA_March2025_Newsletter

MSA Club News

Remember everyone that we have a Park N Ride 1.3 miles north of our groomer lot. It is located just off the ITS 111 and can be found using Google maps! Our B-Me Snack Shack is open every Sat urday now and will be until “The Fat Lady Sings”! It is so great to see you all again. Ms. Susan is there manning the window, Erica, our Baker Extraordinaire, is providing us with some amazing desserts and I am wan dering around talking to everyone! Go Figure! Thank you to Dan for getting our card reader up and running for us. It has worked out fan tastic! Thank you to all who have stepped up to show their appreciation and support this great little club. We have had a very interest ing menu and it looks like the trend will con tinue. Remember, the B-Me Snack Shack is located at our groomer lot on US route 11 in Ebeemee Township and just off the ITS 111 connector between Brownville and Jo-Mary. You can get there by car or by sled. Come find us every Saturday between 11 and 3. You’ll know you are in the right spot if you see a lot of happy folks! We are posting our trail reports on the Katahdin Area Snowmobile Trails KAST page as well as are usual updates on our Facebook page. Great job on the snow dances! Let’s not get complacent though! We need more snow! Get out there and make some memories! Laurie As of the end of February our grooming crew of three has put in 123 hours of groom ing. Our trails looked the best they have in years, maybe ever. Our new tractor has made a few trips out and is proving to be a great addition to the club’s grooming equipment. We also were able to open up every single trail this year wide and flat. BALD MOUNTAIN SNOW RIDERS Dedham, ME

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GRAND LAKE sc Grand Lake Stream, ME

STREAKED MOUNTAINEERS sc Buckfield, ME

and gals welcome as there are plenty of tasks to be done to make that fine ribbon of white. We appreciate it when we receive a message that our trails were great. We try hard to give you a great rider experience! Carol Bourque Secretary / Treasurer Our trails are open and very well groomed, thanks to everyone that has assisted in the care. Those of you who help with the brush ing, grooming, and signing it has and always will be in the best interest of the club. At last, the snow has arrived. The weather has been perfect for riding. There are those of us that thought it was never going to be a good season. Mother Nature has once again come through to show her support for the snowmo bile industry. Our club has been through many changes in the last year. We moved our meeting out of the Carthage Town Office building and into our own facility at 55 Shanie Lane, Carthage ME 04224. Our meetings are the 2 nd and 4 th Thursday of each month at 6PM. There is still a lot of work to do our building. We have been trying to raise money so we can insulate it but do to repairs on our groomer we are short of funds. Donations are very welcome. You can send them to WRVSC at 55 Shanie Lane, Carthage. ME 04224. New members are welcome. If you need a membership application, please send for it to the address above ATTN: Tiffani Vashon she will be more than happy to assist you. Remember always to respect the landown er’s property and if you bring it with you, PLEASE take it with you. Don’t leave it on the trail. Ride with care, remember you are not Wow. Clubs are busy doing all they can with the snow that we have! It’s fun seeing the activity on social media, watching the interac tion between clubs and the public asking ques tions regarding open trails and such. It is sad to see people abusing the trails and landowners that we all work so hard to main tain. I know that I am preaching to the choir, but I want to give a shout out to the clubs that respectfully post issues with trail use. Shar ing the information and struggles in order get the word out and gain support, I think, is essential. The public riders that are not part of clubs don’t want the trails shut down either and when we communicate issues carefully it brings in the support of people we would not reach otherwise. I have to say that I’m a bit jealous. Our club has not been able to do a club ride this year. I’m seeing posts of other groups nearby (Sabattus Mountaineers and maybe Monmouth Coch newagan Trailblazers) that are getting together and promoting their public activities. Kudos!! Great work having fun! Brad and I were able to go to Medway for the MSA ride and directors meeting. Thank you all so much for taking me in. I feel like a late comer to the party but you all make me feel so welcome. I look forward to seeing all of you and riding, visiting, and eating together. We are currently (finally) exploring Ride Command. We don’t know what we’re doing but thankfully we know people that do. It is pretty cool to look at the route we just traveled and add the pictures that I took along the way. It even indicates on the recorded trail where the picture was taken! I know I’m saying things that most of you already know but… this is pretty cool! We are all hoping for more snow. Hopefully we will get an amount that we don’t expect and gain more time on the trails but by the time this is published we will probably be turning our eyes towards spring. Enjoy every minute we have left of the season. Marie Doucette Stump Thumpers Club Secretary WEBB RIVER VALLEY sc Carthage, ME the only one on the trail. Respectfully A. Weston LEEDS STUMP THUMPERS Leeds, ME

We now have enough snow for grooming trails. Trail Master Les has taken the Snow Rabbit, out twice with Robert and once with Dave. ITS 84 Trail has been groomed. Les wanted it done because he wanted a nice base for the snow due tonight and Sunday night. Snowmobilers spotted a 4WD operating on groomed trails and called in IF&W. They were nearby and tracked down the vehicle. The 4WD was issued a ticket. Les had to groom over the trails they rutted up. This caused the club and state money and hopes are the tick eted vehicle will have to pay for any damage done. Other clubs have the same problem and we plan to come up with “No Wheeled Vehi cle Beyond…” language., get several clubs together and have some signs made. The basic rule is once a trail is groomed, all wheel vehicles are to stay off. Well, I’d say it’s the Official Opening Weekend of Snowmobile Season, 2/8/25. We probably only have 6” snow at the most, but it’s nice for snowmobiling. Today, Saturday, the Pine Tree Store was jumping. While I was taking a juice break, ice fishermen came in and gobbled down several bacon cheeseburg ers and a double cheeseburger. Oregano Dick says, “If what you want is not on the menu, but we have it, we will cook it up for you”. I drove by twice and saw 10 or more snowmo biles both times. Les say’s they had 70 sleds. Riders with machines of many colors seemed perfectly lined up, ready to “roar” off. I’m sure at times Brinda and Oregano Dick were out straight, whipping up popular menu foods. I saw riders on town trails all day. More snow falls of 3” and 8” are due. A rider went thru the ice at the Farn Cove pressure ridge, West Grand Lake. The report is he went swimming. I remember maybe 10 years ago now, I slid the Tundra onto the ice near Grand Lake Lodge, and headed out to Junior Bay to visit an ice fishermen friend. Between Munson Is and Columbus Is there is a pressure ridge that runs towards Dwyer Cove. When I spotted it, I stopped and had to run along parallel to it to find the safest spot to cross. I was scared, but up and over I went. Maybe four hours later I came back. The same pressure ridge crossing spot had water all around it. It’s dangerous out there. You got to be careful at all times. Signage: This is a big topic with Maine Dept of Agriculture/Snowmobile Division. Correct signage is major and should give you all kinds of information related to direction, restaurants, lodging, safety, bridge crossing direction sig nage, and more. So, gather some friends. Plan a lunch. Let Les know your available for work. Tree Work: Les needs you. There are 5 trees down on various spots on our trail system. Can you help by clearing 1 away? Groomer Teesting: Les has 3 people inter ested in taken the Maine Trail Groomer Test. When he gets a few more people he will hold a class. Then, when experienced club members go out to groom, these people will then be able to use club grooming equipment and head out with them. If interested, these people can then go grooming with Les in the Snow Rabbit and learn how to operate it and eventually going off on your own with a trained passenger of your choice. This grooming test is not difficult and neither is grooming. Both are actually fun. If your healthy, you can do it. Thank you everyone for taking the time to read about our snowmobile club and our special little town. Please ride our trails and make our town your town and stop on your snowmobile adventure. I guarantee you will be back. mikeremillard42@gmail.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 Helicopter Landing Spot: Located at the second Elsemore Landing sign, near Pocumcus Lake. GPS: N 45° 10.14’, W 67° 53.79’. Help Needed: Call 796-5027, Les, Brinda, or

Greetings all, Well, we finally have some snow in our area to enjoy riding. We would still welcome a little more but at this point we are not complaining. The guys have been very busy all fall working on trails to keep them in good shape and they continue to do so without the winter. They do get to take some of the summer off from trail work to enjoy their other interests. Our small club is very lucky to have a handful of dedicated workers who continue to take pride in this work. The two Tucker groomers, two club snowmobiles, and some personal groom ers have been out in full force grooming the trails. Streaked Mountain trail, a great desti nation with a view and our namesake, is kept groomed when snow amounts allow. If you haven’t been there yet, please check it out. There is a small section where loggers are working and have the trail plowed, but it is still very doable. We are pleased that we have gained a few new family memberships this year. New mem bers bring new ideas and new excitement to the club. That’s all for now. Keep enjoying the snow while it lasts. As I write this, Maine’s February vacation is coming to a close. The week started out very cold and windy which left a lot of folks sitting at camp daydreaming about riding. But boy did that cold make the trails set up great! Our entire system is in overall excellent condition even after the vacation week. Our section of 111 was on an “every night” grooming sched ule in an effort to ensure that there was lots of Smileage to be had. I would say, judging by the feedback we received, that we were successful! Pete was able to get Sagamores Dream up and over Ebeemee Mountain and down to the US Route 11 crossing! Thank you again Mike Carey for taking the lead on getting this trail to the lake opened up enough for the machine! We will be putting some more work into the narrowest part next year to move a few of the rocks. I also want to thank Caroline from AMC for getting the old skid der bridge changed out so we could bring the groomer through safely! Interesting side story. During vacation week, Pete and I took our granddaughter Morgan for an afternoon ride to the top of Saddleback (yes! That’s another story). We stood there looking around mar veling at the view when another sled came up and stopped a short way away. It was a woman with a child. I, being myself, walked over to see where she had started from. I noticed the AMC emblem on her jacket. She said she was just out doing a little inspection for the prop erty owner. I said, “Is your name Caroline”? It was in fact the very person who had helped get that bridge in place so we could pass safely this season! Now back to the Saddle back story. Dan (groomer Dan) was out doing some signs and happened to meet a couple of riders (Hi Bernie, Hi Doug). They asked Dan why the Merthyr Road wasn’t being groomed as one of them had firsthand knowledge that there would be no active logging this winter. Well Dan of course told them that the forester had told us in the fall that it would be logged. Dan let me know and I reached right out to the forester. Yep, no logging! We got it back and it is open and being groomed. Our only request, per our landowner, is no off trail rid ing . Please, please respect their wishes. This is their land, not ours! Pete got the new drag out and put it to work on the old back trail to Wildwoods. In case you forgot, we purchased a beautiful new mini “Mogul Master” style drag manufactured by Maine’s own Outlaw Manufacturing out of Brewer. It works great! Thank you again Troy! Leah Frechette, Club Reporter EASTERN REGION EBEEMEE sc Ebeemee Twp, ME

We held a ride in and cookout followed by a ride around Dedham. It was surprising at the number of people who came out to show support to our club. The ride took us from the club house up Bald Mountain down to Phil lips Lake across Moulton Pond and back to the club. As the lead sled it was such a cool feeling looking back at what seemed like an endless line of snowmobiles behind me. Days like this make everything that goes into run ning a club worth it. Thank you to Orrington Trail Riders for bringing a crew over and to everyone else who came. Our meetings are held on the second Mon day of each month from October to April, starting with a potluck dinner at 6:00 PM, followed by the meeting at 6:30 PM held at 8 Bald Mountain Road, Dedham. Membership forms can be found on our website at https://baldmountainsnowriders. wordpress.com/join-our-club/. Becoming a member is one of the easiest ways to support our efforts. Stehen Kirby BMSR President

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