8988-R3_MSA_March2025_Newsletter

MSA Club News

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storms, however our next scheduled ride is on Sat. March 22 nd . Weather forecast states that its suppose to be warm the week of Feb 23-March 1 st . Our plowed logging roads on ITS 92 to the AK31 may not hold up well however, we do have a park and ride at the Little Black Check point, with a snow-built loading/unloading ramp. Follow us on Facebook or email moose townridersallagash@gmail.com for trail and club updates. Dear Members, We finally have lots of snow!! I guess our snow dances helped. Now that we are nearing the end of the season, we really appreciate the snow. Here’s hoping that the season lasts a bit longer than last year. The crew has been busy due to the lateness of the availability of snow. We were packing/ grooming before this last snowstorm, but now the trails will be so much better. Perhaps we will have a longer season this year. Get out and enjoy the riding! We’ve had small crowds at our meetings, but still held them. Perhaps next year we will do something different. We would appreciate any suggestions about the meetings. In January we held our annual club Bingo and had a great time with very nice prizes. Thanks to Mary Michaud. Breakfast/lunch has been available for a few Saturdays, usually one per month. The last breakfast/lunch will be held on March 8 th , from 7 to 1, courtesy of Suzie Johnson. Wish me luck on a trip to Escourt Station and we’ll see how that turns out! Sue Maynard Secretary The old saying about the month of March coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb generally refers to the entire month . . . not just one day . . . but that’s the forecast today as I sit here writing our monthly club report as the weather prognosticators say we’re supposed to get some snow followed by rain showers. When March rolls around I tend to notice the longer days (well technically the days are still just 24 hours long – it’s just that the sun rises earlier and sets later), warmer temps start making an appearance here and there as evi denced by the tapped sugar maples and folks start talking about town budgets in anticipa tion of the March town meetings. March is also the time of year when it’s not unusual to pull into a gas station to refuel your sled and you spy a guy on a Harley gassing up on the other side of the pump. And of course March is when some color ful characters tend to make an appearance on the trails. I don’t know why, but whenever I see a guy wearing a 1970s-vintage mono suit and a Stars-and-Stripes open-faced motorcy cle helmet bombing down the trail on a 1985 Skidoo Safari with half of the plastic cracked, no windshield and a seat that looked as if a herd of hungry goats thought it was a Chinese Restaurant buffet . . . chances are it’s some time in March. There’s just something about March riding that brings these folks out. In any case, while it’s always possible Ol’ Man Winter may surprise us with one last gasp and we end up with back-to-back blizzards which dump enough snow so that we’re rid ing until April, I suspect by the time you read this report in late-March the riding season here will be toast. Not that it has been much of a riding sea son here in southern Aroostook. We started out with some promising signs with snow that came . . . and then all went away . . . and then more snow came . . . and then it all went away. After that it was a slow process to build up the snow pack until we finally had barely enough to start grooming. While we received a decent snow storm in mid-February which was wel comed due to the timing – right before school vacation week and several special events, it feels a bit like a little-too-little and a little-too late as Spring now seems to be right around the corner. As mentioned we were fortunate however to get a decent snow storm in mid-February as the Smoki Haulers were busy with a num ber of special events ranging from not one, SMOKI HAULERS sc Oakfield, ME CHAPMAN RIDGE RUNNERS sc Chapman, ME

but two Family Fun Nights, a KAST Ride the-Groomer Day and the 2nd Annual KAST Poker Run. While our groomer operators have been smoothing out the trails virtually every night for the past few weeks, many of our other Members have been volunteering to staff the Club House Kitchen which has been open to allow sledders a chance to warm up, get a snack or drink or grab a trail map. Speaking of the KAST Poker Run . . . this year I was able to ride my sled to four of the area clubhouses to draw cards. What made the experience even better was the opportunity to ride with fellow Club Member Bert, his daughter Alyssa/Allison and Liam – a very mature 14-year-old friend of Bert and his wife Laurie. To my knowledge, none of us won any of the prizes, but the riding was fantastic, the weather was great and the chance to meet up and talk with other clubs in the area with club members who have as much passion for this sport as we do made our day . . . not to mention we got to sample Rina’s famous baked beans in Benedicta.

After a relatively quiet March we’re ending our year in April with a combination Pie Sale and Easter Egg Hunt on April 19 th . . . I hear Frank is spray painting rocks in lieu of using Easter eggs due to the high cost of eggs in the supermarket. And then on April 26th we finish up the year with our Spring Breakfast. This riding season was not one for the record books . . . but never forget the Maine Sledder’s Mantra – “Next year . . . the riding has got to be better next year!” Irreverently submitted, Jason Johnson, Secretary CENTRAL REGION A number of nearly back-to-back storms in February have teased us. Unfortunately, some of the 3”-6” and 4”-8” predictions only brought us 2”. We got a decent amount in the last big storm which enabled us to groom and open all our trails with limited hazards. We were able to keep the east side trails groomed with adequate equipment and oper ators. The west side crew experienced a bro ken hitch on the Polaris groomer and a dead battery on the Skandic groomer. Both of these have been corrected and we will be ready to operate two groomers on the west side for the remainder of the season. Special thanks to Lincoln for his repair on the Polaris. He did a great job fabricating a stronger trailer hitch assembly which we need for pulling heavier drags. We are one step closer to our end goal for grooming equipment; we received both of the 75” drags ordered from Snow Buggy last year. The first will be operational and ready to fin ish the 2025 season. The second will be ready for next year unless we get continued snow and cold into March. The regional C4 map will be available from participating clubs and at the Rome Town Hall. The map is centered on the Read field-Belgrade-Manchester area and covers 25 different clubs. Our meetings are the second Tuesday of the month September to April, 7:00 PM at the Rome Town Hall. All are welcome. Greetings Trailblazers, We finally have some snow! I hope every one has been able to take advantage of this white stuff, because we never know how long it will last. I rode around Cochnewagan Lake this past Saturday while ice fishing with my grandson and the rest of my family. Then on Sunday, we were all able to get together again and go for a small ride around town. This was my 3-year-old grandson’s first trail ride. A 20-mile ride around town with a stop up to Mt. Pisgah. Of course we had to climb the fire tower! This is a tradition for our family, as it was for both my family and my husband’s family when we were growing up. Scott actu ally has slides, pictures you show in a projec tor onto a screen for those of you too young to remember those, of his family on the back side of the mountain, on Nancy’s Bog. Rides up north where you can do 100-200 miles a day is fun and adventurous, but to me having these traditions and getting the 4th generation of our family started on these traditions is what riding is all about. Yes, the trails need more snow, but compliments go out to the crews that have been grooming them. They put in several hours to make the trails enjoy able to ride. Thank you! This week our club is going to be involved in a training session with our rescue boggan. We started these training sessions a few years ago to better prepare everyone in the unfortunate event that some one may need it. We do this training in con junction with the Monmouth Fire Department and Winthrop Ambulance. Each year we try to reenact a more realistic situation in order to be better prepared and work out any necessary flaws in the system. A big thank you goes out to T.J. Siderio for organizing this training each year. We are fortunate to have him as a mem ber of all three entities which makes for easier coordination of this training. Even though the thought of spring does sound nice, I’m sure I am not the only one that hopes for some more COCHNEWAGAN TRAILBLAZERS Monmouth, ME ROME RUFF RIDERS Rome, ME

friendly reminders. On to the club news - February was Pizza Night - the pizza was fantastic and purchased at Debbie’s Deli. Thanks Deb and the Deli crew. Our memorial ride was a success! With over 60 people attending, the profit to the club for trail repair was a much-needed donation. Thank you, Matt and friends. I would like to remind everyone that the Rockabema Snow Rangers Raffle has begun. The prizes are: first draw $3,000.00, second draw is $1500.00, and final draw will be $500.00. You can purchase your tickets on the Rockabema web page, or our members will be out and about selling tickets at $50.00 per ticket. Make sure you get yours!!! The SPONSOR A MILE on our trails is in full swing! Please contact me, Carilynn Han son – 203-687-6403 - to sponsor a mile for your business. You may not think this adver tisement benefits your income, but the number of sledders looking for a great place to eat or rest is right on the trail. Finally, I would like to say thank you to a donor, who contacted me after following my MSA report in the monthly magazine. Some times, when you wonder if anyone is even reading what you spend time on writing, a phone call saying I enjoy your writing and I would like to help your club means a lot. That is what happened for me this month. So, Bob - thank you for your kind words, but mostly, thank you for caring about the Rockabema Snow Rangers as much as I do. Well, that is about it for now - Happy Trails Everyone! Carilynn Hanson As I sit and write this it’s 6 degrees and very windy but we have about 2 feet of white gold on the ground. February was a busy month for us as we repaired groomers, drags and so on we are blessed to have the crew we have! Also, the MVSD Poker RUN was successful even with other area clubs moving theirs to our day (it’s called working together) thank you to all our members and area businesses who sup port us. We are very grateful. ThanksDeb & Heather for collecting them also Rick A. GOT 1 & Linda GOT 1 Thank You! The groomer guys even had 1 from Pennsylvania helping. Thanks Keith Stoltz, Rusty Springer, Chad Lane, Rick Allen, Shawn Southard and Rick Long we appreciate all you guys do! The meal again was delicious chop suey, chili, desserts, corn bread and rolls. Grill cooks Steve, Roger & John Cummings out of Presque Isle who always jumps in to save us with the hands! The youngest one to attend this year was Baylen Cummings from Presque Isle! We also had our very own Snow Queen & MVSD Club President Deb Long & her dog Moxie Mae interviewed by WABI 5. Lots of great comments if u missed it they have it on their web! all in fun. For those of you wanting to know Yes there is a trail to New Restaurant Salted Butter Farm off Puds Trail Follow Signs n Stop by n Meet Them! New members always welcome there are no strangers only friends you haven’t met! Until next time Keep on Keeping On! Deb Long (MVSD Club President SNOW, SNOW, and more SNOW!!!! Old Man Winter has indeed arrived in full force. These past back-to-back snowstorms have definitely kept us and our neighboring clubs quite busy. No, we are not complaining, this is what we all hope and pray for. The amount of traffic up our way has kept the groomer out and about almost daily. A huge shout out to our many groomer operators who are always willing to jump in that seat along with Moose lini and lay the white carpet for all to enjoy. Thank you to all who volunteer with the ins and outs of running the club. Thanks also to all whom have joined and supported our club. Thanks to all the members, businesses, mone tary donations and last but not least to all who have commented and shared words of affirma tion and appreciation. Unfortunately, we had to cancel our first Rideorama due to the snow- MOLUNKUS VALLEY SNO-DRIFTERS Sherman, ME MOOSETOWN RIDERS Allagash, ME

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