9147-R2_MSA_September2025_Newsletter

r The SnMowaimneobiler An Official Publication of the Maine Snowmobile Association r

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Vol. 57 • No. 1 September 2025 MSA, PO Box 80 Augusta ME 04332 www.mainesnowmobileassociation.com

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☛ United we trail, divided we fail!

MSA Scramble Delivers Fun and Big Swings at Hermon Meadows H ERMON, June 28 th – While Mother Nature decided to add gized, ribbed each other, and gener ally made the best of a damp day.

a “water feature” to Hermon Mead ows Golf Club, the hardy partici pants of the 9th Annual MSA Golf Scramble proved that a little rain is no match for good company, friendly competition, and a chance to win some seriously epic prizes! Snowmobile friends from across the region donned their rain gear and brought their A-game (or at least their enthusiastic swings) for a day of fun on the fairways. You see, these aren’t fair-weather friends – they’re snowmobile enthu siasts, practically immune to a little precipitation! Despite the persistent rain, spirits remained as high as a fresh-fallen snowdrift (figuratively, of course, it was June). Laughter echoed across the greens as teams strate

And why wouldn’t they be in high spirits?The prize lineup was enough to make any gearhead’s heart race! Up for grabs for a lucky hole-in-one were two brand new snowmobiles from ChaseToys and Bangor Motor Sports, a powerful 2025 Mahindra 1120 HST Tractor from Coops Truck & Equipment, and even a 2025 Bronco from Darlings. While no one managed to ace their way to a new ride this year (better luck next time, folks!), the excitement was palpa ble. The putting contest also prom ised a sweet reward: a new set of clubs, a Bluetooth speaker, and a rangefinder – perfect for upping anyone’s golf game.

Continues on Page 2 & 3

MSA Scramble at Hermon Meadows

W hen the last putt was sunk and the scorecards tallied, the leaderboard show cased some truly impressive play: Overall Gross Winners: • 1 st Place Gross (63): Cooper Marden, Colby Snell, Steven Marden, and Patrick Engdahl dominated the course with

an outstanding performance. • 2 nd Place Gross (MC) (64): Jason Peasley, John Wick enden, Wes Butler, and Kyle Peterson narrowly edged out the competition. • 3 rd Place Gross (MC) (64): Nick Chmid, Craig Marden, Craig Lemieux, and Ben Mor rill claimed the bronze in a tight finish.

Gross Club Cup Champions: • 1 st Place Gross Club Cup (65): Paul McCarty, Mark Bedard, Mark Blanchet, and Dillon Blanchet proved their club’s prowess. • 2 nd Place Gross Club Cup (72): Cory MacDonald, Jake Howlett, Bernie Howlett, and Josh Howlett showed great teamwork.

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MSA Scramble at Hermon Meadows

weather to make the 9 th Annual Golf Scramble a resounding success. It was a day filled with camaraderie, a few splashes, and plenty of big swings. We’re already looking forward to see ing everyone (and hopefully some drier fairways!) at the 10 th anniversary event on June 27, 2026!

• 3 rd Place Gross Club Cup (74): Ron Nunes, Joshua Nunes, Darrell Nix, and Mike Atwood rounded out the top three. Individual Honors: • Most Accurate Drive: Holly Taylor showcased precision personified, proving that accuracy trumps distance.

• Putting Contest Champion: John Wickenden, already part of a winning team, demonstrated his mastery of the short game. The MSA would like to extend a huge thank you to all the spon sors, volunteers, and especially the golfers who braved the

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MAINE PARK & RIDE LOCATIONS

Attention MSA Clubs if you would like to add your local Park & Ride please visit: mainesnowmobileassociation.com and fill out the form under MSA Forms.

REGION CLUB

ADDRESS

TOWN Madison

ADDITIONAL DETAILS

Central Central Central Central Central Central Central Coastal Coastal Coastal Coastal Coastal Eastern Eastern Eastern Eastern Eastern Eastern Eastern Eastern

Abnaki Sno-Riders Anson-North Anson SC Lexington Hilanders SC Minnehonk Ridge Riders

1463 Lakewood Rd 18 High Street

Club house parking lot

North Anson Lexington Norridgewock Smithfield

1453 Long Falls Dam Road

Corner of North Rd & Bean Road Mount Vernon

Park & Ride trail connects to the Mount Vernon trail system Trail maps are posted at Park & Ride parking lot and all trail intersections.

Norridge Sportsmen Alliance 444-328 Martin Stream Road

Ashley Wing Memorial Park Direct Access to Kennebec Valley Railtrail KVT

Smithfield Moonshiners SC

1232 Village Road

The park in ride is the paved parking lot directly in front of the ball field. Please do not block the driveway/parking area in front of the salt/sand shed. Thank you About 3/4 a mile south from Rt 25, Vacant lot and Approx 7 miles North of Limerick on Rt #5 Rachels on the green - breakfast- lunch - dinner - large parking lot for the Val Halla Parking lot. 15 minute drive from Portland with direct access to main trail system leading to destinations west and north of Cumberland. Parking lot of Town and Country Trailriders snowmobile club.

Town and Country Trailriders 35 Clubhouse Road

Clinton Cornish

Cornish Sno-Cruisers Moonlite Sno-Skimmers Westbrook Trail Blazers Westbrook Trail Blazers Westbrook Trail Blazers

Rt #5 (Sokokis Trail) 60 Val Halla Road 429 Bridge Street 771 Cumberland Street

Cumberland

Westbrook Westbrook Westbrook

Westbrook Little League Parking lot Sunset Ridge Golf Course parking lot

235 Pride Street

Prides Corner Congregational Church Parking lot will be busy Sunday mornings till about noon time. EMSC is located directly in Connector Trail 107. The yard has ample parking and an unloading ramp. Located just north of the road crossing on ITS 111 North (Wildwoods trail) Located just north of the Jo Mary Trail on the left 1.5 miles north of Ebeemee Club House

Eastern Maine Snowmobilers EMSC clubhouse , 263 Levenseller Rd Holden

Ebeemee SC Ebeemee SC

US Route 11, ITS 111 Intersection Ebeemee Twp

US Route 11

Ebeemee Twp

East Branch Sno-Rovers & ATV 6 Clubhouse Drive East Branch Sno-Rovers & ATV 6 Clubhouse Drive

Medway Medway

Lots of room for parking. Lunches usually served on weekends.

The club has a large parking area at their clubhouse that is plowed for trailer parking. Trailers can be parked for a day or an extended period.

LA Sledders

Club House, 3346 Bennoch Road Alton

Also the Rail Trail Parking lot off Bennoch Rd in Lagrange as well as Lagrange General Store Also, 2 miles down East Shore Rd, Lakeville, ME 04487 Large Parking Lot next to ITS 105

Quad County SC Inc. Sebasticook Valley SC

976 Lee Rd (Rt 6) 238 Moosehead Trail Sherman Citgo 1160 Crystal Road 478 Houlton Road 10 Otter Street

Springfield Newport Sherman Island Falls

Very Large parking lot with direct ITS 85 trail access. Located right on RT. 7 just 1 mile from I-95. Food/Gas services available in both directions. Great take off spot for day or overnight trips. Contact Sebasticook Valley SC Facebook page for the latest grooming information. Immediately off I-95 northbound exit. Located at Brooks Equipment Service . Direct access to ITS 83 Oils, parts, and services available at this site, as well as 2 gas stations located within 900’ of park and ride location (one of which has 24 hr. card service with non-ethanol gas also) As your leaving Caribou on Rt.89 heading east towards Limestone Otter St. will be on your left just before you reach the underpass. Drive all the way straight in and that is where the Park n Ride will be. As you come into Stockholm off 161 turn left onto Main St. and go across the bridge. Right after the bridge on the left you’ll see a sign for a public boat landing. Turn left into there and that in the parkn ride. There is a small maintained trail that will lead you thru the ballpark up to ITS 83 or you can ride the shoulder of Main St. from the park n ride and get on ITS 83 next to Eureka Hall. This is the location of our clubhouse. The clubhouse is not open to the general public w/o notice. There is lots of room for parking, but Located right at the I-95 Sherman exit

Northern Benedicta Snow Gang Northern Big Valley Sno Club Northern Big Valley Sno Club Northern Caribou SC

Island Falls

Caribou

Northern Caribou SC

Main Street

Stockholm

Northern Chapman Ridge Runners

94 Town Hall Road

Chapman

Snowmobile & ATV Club

please not in front of our groomer barn, “The Bullpen.”

Northern Dwinal Pond 4-Seasons Club 174 Springfield Road

East Winn

Parking lot across the road from the clubhouse (If space is filled please use clubhouse circle driveway)

Northern Madawaska SC Northern Madawaska SC Northern Moosetown Riders Northern Portage Lake SC Northern Portage Lakers Northern Smoki Haulers SC

19 Fournier Road 195 Dufour Road 20 Little Black Road

St. David (Madawaska) Ramp available for truckbed sleds. Please do not block garage overhead door where groomer is parked, or park in front of it. Free parking.

Madawaska Allagash Portage Lake

This is a private driveway located on trail ITS 81. Call 207.316.9118 for permission to park (limited space)

Park Ride behind the Little Black Checkpoint.

Station Road

This is a dirt road that connects east and west cottage road in Portage. There will be available parking on the west side of this road and will be marked with signs. Exit 286 on I-95. Heading North: take Exit 286 and take a right off the ramp. Take the first driveway on the right - big sign board out front. The driveway snakes between two homes - our log cabin Clubhouse is located in the back. Unload and you’re off and running on ITS 83! Parking is alongside Station Rd in downtown Portage. There is room for approximately 12 rigs.

Station Road

Portage Oakfield

317 Oakfield Smyrna Road

Northern Washburn Trail Runners SC

48 Station Road

Washburn

Western Western Western Western Western Western Western Western Western Western Western Western Western

Bog Hooters SC Crooked River SC

Rte 11

Mechanic Falls

Fireman’s field next to the little Androscoggin River.

661 Meadow Road Vacationland Road 219 North Main Street

Casco

Harrison Friendly Riders Narrow Gauge SC Norway Trackers SC

Harrison Strong Norway Bridgton Rumford Rumford

Take Vacationland Rd, Follow Signs.

Look for sign at entrance, indicating parking area for Narrow Gauge Snowmobile Club Park & Ride

95 Lake Road

Located at the Lake Pennesseewassee Boat Launch/ Parking Area.

Pleasant Mountain SC (Formaly Brag Way

Parking lot is across from the Ham Athletic Fields at 40 Brag Way. 2/10 of a mile from the intersection of Brag Way and Route 302. Easy

Bridgton Easy Riders)

access to ITS 89.

Rumford Polar Bears Rumford Polar Bears Snow Valley Sno-Goers

Route 2

Located at the top of Falls Hill at the corner of Route 2 and South Rumford Road across from Adley’s Auto Next to Sherwin Williams at the parking lot of the old bowling alley site. McDonald’s is 3 properties away

1019 Route, Rt 2

120 Just East of Andover Village Andover

Take a right at Andover Village (Rt. 120) just down over the hill on right Parking lot holds 30 plus trailers and direct access to ITS115.

Sno Wanderers

171 Main Street 1771 US Rt 201

Kingfield

The Forks Area Trail Club

The Forks PLT

FREE PARK & RIDE LOT at Northern Outdoors on Route 201. Lot is located 1/4 mile south of Northern Outdoors and marked with a sign. The lot is large, well plowed and has plenty of room for trailers. This lot opens as soon as groomers have been able to hit the trails! Ample space for whatever trailer you might be hauling. P&R is directly across from WRVSC grooming hut. Open every day. Located on the right hand side of Route 2 after entering Gilead from the west and passing the rest area or on the left side of the highway if coming in from the Bethel area. Long, thin parking lot for about 4 trucks with trailers. Kiosk and map in parking lot.

Webb River Valley S.C. Wild River Riders

55 Shanie Lane

Carthage

Route 2

Gilead

DIRECT ACCESS

Writers Wanted We’re looking for newspaper articles. Topics of interest.... All things snowmobiling!

ITS 82 & 89

Do you have a favorite ride that you’d like to share? Grooming or trail work tips. Product reviews. Stories of your adventures. Club events. A member who goes above & beyond. If possible, please send along pictures for your articles. This paper is created for Snowmobilers and you are the

experts - we’d love to have your input! Please submit articles to editor@mesnow.com

Comfort Inn Wilton 1026 US Route 2 East Wilton, ME 04294 (207) 645-5155

FREE BREAKFAST - FREE WI-FI - INDOOR POOL - BEER & WINE

choicehotels.com/me056

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From The Executive Board

as groomer maintenance. Clubs statewide need new active members to keep this all going. You do not have to be able to cut trees & brush or operate a groomer to be able to help your local club. There are a lot of different skills needed within the snowmobile clubs… you may just be the person they have been looking for! With ever increasing snowmobile traffic and more folks travelling for consistent snow there is a lot of work which the same folks end up doing. Please reach out and join a club. It’s quite rewarding to help and then take a ride on the trail you have helped with. The need for new people to step up does not stop at the local club level, the Maine Snowmobile Association is always in need of folks to step out of the sidelines and take on a larger role to help keep our sport moving forward. If something piques your interest, please ask one of our members how you could help. Over the summer there has been a lot of work done within the MSA, you will see and hear about online sales of super raffle tickets, a new MapGears app for trails, changed show line-up and many more. These are all changes based on conversations had with clubs and riders to help improve the association and engage with people in a new way. Last spring the bill the MSA submitted for more trail funding did not pass but was carried over so we can continue discussions this fall within the agriculture, conservation and forestry committee within the legislature. We understand the great need for more maintenance funding for clubs and will continue to work until we get more funding available. We also helped promote and educate folks on the Maine Trails Program grant process, This year’s Super Raffle brings more prizes to the table than ever before. Combined with the new on-line ability means potentially more of those dollars coming back into the hands of the Clubs, which is the whole idea in the you as a Club who choose to participate in on line Membership MUST go to the association web page and fill out the “Officer Update Form” which will give the MSA individual club membership fees so that the correct membership dues can then be remitted back to the Club. The reason for this is because each Snowmobile Club may charge different amounts for membership dues and we want to make sure that your club gets the same amount from an on-line membership as they would on an in house sign up. So PLEASE take a minute and fill that form out for us, otherwise it will automatically default to a $30.00 membership, $15.00 to the MSA and $15.00 would go back to the chosen club. Super Raffle: This year’s Super Raffle has a couple of exciting changes as well, in that we now have an “on-line” way for anyone to purchase tickets if they may not have the opportunity to connect with a club or association member to buy them in person. In order to do this the purchaser must either go to the MSA web page and click on the “On line Super Raffle Portal” which will bring them to a simple purchase check out, and will give them options for payment and choosing a club of their choice for their portion of the proceeds to go directly to. Someone wishing to buy tickets on-line can also look for a Link on one of our Facebook posts. MOST IMPORTANT: We the MSA must have every Club’s consent that wishes to participate in the on-line Raffle. To do this, a club must simply enter the MSA web page and fill out the club agreement - the page is located at mainesnowmobileassociation.com/ msa-super-raffle-online-sales/ The second part of the Super Raffle that has changed is that we have added an ALL NEW $5,000 gift card. This gift card, by the request of the winner, will be banked with ANY MSA affiliated Snowmobile dealer in the State and can be used to purchase anything that the chosen dealer has to offer. Imagine picking the dealer of your choice and having a $5,000 credit there to buy anything that they sell!

first place! The 2025 MSA Snowmobile Show: The MSA Snowmobile Show is taking on a whole new look for 2025 and will reemerge as the “MSA Snowmobile and Powersports Show”. For the first time since its inception we feel the time is right to change things up a bit and open the Show up to all Recreational and non-recreational Powersports such as ATV’s, SXS’s, Motorcycles, etc as well as Tractors, Mini’s and trailers of all kinds. I am super excited to see this all play out and have been met with great enthusiasm by most all dealers and vendors new and old to the Show. We will have the main show inside as always, along with the 90,000 sf North parking lot outside filled with everything mentioned above, and let’s not forget about the Vintage Show, which will be going on all weekend and is always good for a fun trip down memory lane! So make sure to block off some time to attend the Show on October 17th, 18th and 19th, check out our Facebook page, website or this paper for specific Show hours. Legislative Update: To say that the last 12 months have been a busy time for Legislative Funding Issues would be an understatement. The MSA and its Lobbyist James Cote along with the Dept of ACF the Snowmobile division and Maine Dept of IF&W have been chasing and testifying on Snowmobile related Bills. Whether it be the new 30 million dollar Trails bond, sales tax bill or any one of the other related bills that need our attention in one direction or another. Thank you to all the parties mentioned above for their dedication and awareness. If something surfaced at the State house and had any manner of Snowmobiling Verbiage in the bill these folks were all over it. It is nice to know that there are eyes and ears at the State house ready to take care of the MSA and its 285 affiliated clubs. Well Folks that is about it for now. Until next month stay safe out on the trails when working and don’t forget to send in all of the time sensitive materials that you should be receiving from the MSA in the Membership Package as well in the Grant package from Joe Higgin’s office at the Dept. of ACF Snowmobile division. Mark hoping that clubs would apply for and receive additional resources to refurbish or re-route poor sections of trail, replace a bridge or create a trail-head with this new funding source over the next 4 years. If you didn’t apply for it in round 1, stay tuned or reach out for more information on upcoming workshops and round 2 application timelines. We need you all to continue to focus this winter on trail safety. Last winter was a lower snow winter, but we don’t want that to take the focus away from snowmobiler safety. MSA and clubs should continue to work with the Maine Warden Service to make sure folks are safe on the trails. Reach out to your MSA regional director or district warden to set up a trail safety check, report areas of abuse or misuse and to get a dialogue going as the season ramps up. Nothing will resolve trail safety if we all do not work diligently at it individually and as a group. If you are a club that needs help, or a group of new officers/directors please reach out to your local MSA VP or regional director. We are here as a resource for the clubs to help in any way we can. We may not know all the answers but will work to get you the answers or put you in touch with someone to help. If you have a question, problem, concern, or idea on snowmobiling in Maine, get in touch with me. You can call or text me at the phone # or email below. I am honored to be in this role within the Association and hope to meet more of you as the season gets going. Get out and attend a fall fundraiser, landowner dinner, go to the MSA snowmobile show and get pumped up for this coming winter season!! Matt

From the President

Treasurer’s Report

Lori Hemmerdinger (207) 890-5455 544 Plains Road • Poland, ME 04274 Treasurer@mesnow.com Respectfully Submitted, Lori Hemmerdinger, Treasurer

Mark Chinnock, President 207-754-9874 544 Plains Road, Poland, ME 04274 napadude66@hotmail.com

H ello Everyone, Well just like that, summer 2025 is all but a memory and another Snowmobiling season is bearing down on us. Some Clubs will start picking back up where they left off last spring, and for others it never really ended and is merely a continuation of last season. I hope that everyone had a chance to enjoy the summer with family and friends and take a break from time to time from their work, be it Club work or from the one that actually pays their bills. There is lots to talk about as we enter the upcoming season in regards to Membership, Super Raffle, the MSA Snowmobile Show as well as Legislative funding issues. Membership: In addition to the conventional way in which Clubs can recruit and submit their membership transmittals, the MSA is diligently working on setting up an On-line portal. It will allow a snowmobiler to, from his or her own phone, tablet or laptop, go to the MSA Website or grab a link from the MSA Facebook page and join the Association and choose a Club that they wish to support. Now

Monthly Income Monthly Expense

$ 12,170.94 $ 19,660.25 $ (7,489.31) $ 93,956.22 $133,425.75 $136,347.78

Net Revenue

Short Term CD (8/31/25)

Checking (8/31/25)

Dedicated Account (8/31/25)

Pay Pal (8/31/25) 143.30 Special Events Account (8/31/25) $ 4,987.53 Credit Line (8/31/25) $ - Building Fund (8/31/25) $ 56,684.12 Brian Wass Safety Fund (8/31/25) $ 3,997.54 Scholarship 12 Month CD (8/31/25) $ 5,099.94 Scholarship CD (8/31/25) $ 62,147.82 CLUB MEMBERS Once grooming begins submit your trail reports to: EDITOR@MESNOW.COM Please include your name and club affiliation MSA CLUBS: TO ORDER NEEDED $ ITS & JCT SIGNS Contact Mike Grass Sr. MSA Trails Committee 252 Condon Road, Plymouth, ME 04969 207-368-4914 home 207-745-2745 cell Grasslands252@gmail.com TO ORDER CLUB TRAIL SIGNAGE Candice Pinkham, DACF/Snowmobile Program 207-287-4957 Office 207-878-8111 Fax Candice.M.Pinkham @maine.gov

From the Executive VP

Matt Stedman 207-557-1921 (call or text) PO Box 621, Ashland ME 04732 Stedman.matt@jdirving.com

H ello fellow snowmobilers of Maine, If you are reading this for the 1st time, welcome! We hope you join an MSA club this season so you can continue to enjoy the paper monthly as well as a multitude of other benefits that come from joining a club & the MSA. Clubs and their volunteers statewide are the backbone of the winter sport we all enjoy, without them (an the support of landowners, rider and businesses) we would not be able to get out and explore Maine on our snowmobiles. All summer folks at all levels in local clubs and The Maine Snowmobile Association work to ensure that issues that affect snowmobilers & snowmobiling are being discussed and worked on so we can continue to enjoy our great sport for years to come. Landowner changes & issues, trail re-routes, capital equipment grants/purchases/upgrades as well

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From The Executive Board

Secretary’s Report - Shanna Towle Directors Meeting - Governor’s Restaurant, Waterville, Maine - August 19, 2025

President Mark Chinnook. Salute to the American flag

and prizes to help you folks. These grand prizes are 2 snowmobiles; 2 trailers a $5000.00 gift card to use at your favorite MSA affiliated dealer/vendor. And I like this one, from Shin Pond Village a 3-day meal and sleep package for 14 people this is an awesome prize from a great group of dedicated people. This prize has special winter dates. These grand prizes are incredible. A Polaris Prostar S4 137 4 stroke from Mainely Action Powersports in Oxford. This is one great dealership always supporting their ATV and snowmobile clubs. The Ski Doo is a Renegade 600 EFI 137 track in traditional ski doo yellow and black colors. And brought to us by MSA dealer of the Year Chase Toys in Unity. We also have many statewide gift and lodging certificates from some special ven dors. Do you know we have 2 of the best trailers manufactures in the United States? Located right here in Central Maine. Alcom/ Sno Pro headquartered in Winslow is a nation wide corporation making some awesome trail Funding: Matt said that one of our bills carried over to the next session and will be discussed on looking at more funds for the CEG & Trail grant. The MTP grant deadline is coming up on 9/26/25 for the first round of funds from the 30 million bond that passed. Looking at having a workshop at the Powersports show on how to complete the MTP grant for next year. Held one workshop on 8/05 with a small number in attendance, but the second workshop that was scheduled for 8/16 was cancelled because no one signed up. Matt urged clubs to please take advantage to the MTP grant because it is above and beyond the CEG and Trail grants that clubs get each year. Old Business: Super Raffle update: reminder that now the little sled prize has now become a $5,000 gift So that brings us to the new season of 2025 26! The scholarship committee has been meeting and discussing ways to increase the funds again this year with the hopes of award ing at least three scholarships again this sea son. We have been selected by the Route 11 Streakers to once again receive all proceeds from their annual T-Bone Cookoff. This gen erous donation could fund two scholarships as it did this past season. As always there will be a MSA Scholarship Committee 50/50 booth at the MSA Snowmobile and Powersports Show in October. It was also voted again this year at the August directors meeting that all pro ceeds from the 50/50 drawings held at each director’s meeting will go in to the scholarship fund as well. At that meeting Brad Donovan was the winner of the drawing and he donated all the money back to the scholarship fund so we already have $195 into the fund. Thank you, Brad. We are also in the process of reviewing the by-laws and increasing the number of com scholarship funds, copies of the applications were on the tables and available, RT 11 Streakers doing a BBQ fund raiser for the scholarship fund. Trails: Mike discussed the new app and how hoping to have ready to roll out at the powersports show in October. Still working on some of the details with adding club trails, points of interest, etc. App has lots of cool features. Still need clubs to sign release to get trails in the app. Membership: Eileen thanked Liz for all her hard work on putting the membership packets together for the clubs, all club packets available to circulate to clubs. Eileen reminded that if a club gets an online membership to please acknowledge them and say thank you. Please reach out to them and let them know they are appreciated. Hospitality and Hall of Fame: Gail said start thinking now about nominations for Hall of Fame don’t wait for last minute. Gail read a joke for all.

card with any MSA partnering business IN the state of Maine, there is now an online option to purchase raffle tickets that some minor adjustments are being worked out, currently only option online is to purchase $10 ticket option. Powersports Show: In need of volunteers for all parts of the show, show will be in Augusta but the layout is much different, will be held October 17-19th at the Augusta Civic Center Fall Summit Roundtable: will be held Saturday September 20 th starting at 10am located at the Eastern Maine Snowmobilers Club on 263 Levenseller Rd Holden GPS Mapping update: given during the trails report New Business: Club membership packets distributed at the meeting, also reminder that MSA website has forms available if need more copies Alan did discuss that there will be an ad done for the 96.3 radio station and that there will be 2 other stations and a Channel 8 TV spot being done, also MSA will have a table at the Maine Mariners games with a feature spot on the Jumbotron. Announcements & Events: Pot of Gold: Vienna Moutaineers won $400 toward the club but no one present so goes back in. 50/50 drawing: $98 to winner 959837 winning number Brad Donavan. 8/31 Lexington Annual BBQ 11-2pm 9/06 Andover doing Landowner appreciation 9/13 -14 Ashland Grass Drag 9/20 Northern Timber Cruiser Swap Meet 9/20 MSA Summit Roundtable Meeting adjourned at 8:29pm. Respectfully submitted Shanna Towle, Secretary ers for everyday use. Every year they donate a snowmobile trailer to help our clubs. Their generosity is overwhelming. SR1 in Manches ter handles the paperwork and their always happy to help. Nitro trailer located in Pittsfield is growing fast with quality-built trailers. Snowmobile, Utility, car haulers, ATV trailers, racecar trail ers and even ice fishing shacks. Owner Chad Dow does not hesitate to give away a trailer to help support our Statewide MSA Club net work. He knows the importance of our busi ness and is a great friend. Charlie and Son of Madison handles the paperwork another dedicated MSA vendor. All these folks are a piece of the puzzle that make snowmobiling in Maine a Worldwide destination point. Please don’t hesitate to call if you have any questions about anything. I’m here to help. We have a great team from Kittery to Madawaska our passion for Maine riding is second to none. Be safe out there! Al mittee members. Presently there are six mem bers and a seventh was added recently. We have two more members that will be joining the committee bringing the total to nine. As the committee moves forward this year, it will explore other ways of increasing the fund so that more of our MSA members who want to further their education can. If any member, club, or organization wants to contribute to the scholarship fund, all you have to do is send the donations to the MSA office and specify it is for the scholarship fund. Your donations are funding the future education of our members who are also the future of this sport. If you want to apply for a scholarship, you can find the information on the MSA web site. Deadline for the applications is April 1st and you are encouraged to get them in early. These scholarships are available to any MSA member of any age or their immediate family member. Past recipients can apply again by filling out a new applications and submitting new information.

Maine Snowmobiling. The weather folks are predicting a lot of snow and cold weather for our State. Let’s hope so. The off-season has been busy preparing for a new Snowmobile Powersports Show this October. The Augusta Civic Center will come alive the 17th 18th and 19th displaying all things in the power sports industry. We are looking for volunteers. This year’s show will be laid out a little dif ferent outside. Construction and a new front lawn will keep us from displaying trailers and groomers on the front of the building. Instead, we will be in the North parking lot. More room to supply our vendors new and old to show off their equipment. The Vintage show is always a hit and will be this year as well. Charlies Motor Mall here in Augusta will be our official sponsor again this year, thanks to Jeff Hanson and of course, The Sherman Fam ily at Charlies that make our show happen. The Raffle is in full swing. This is a great time for your club to make some money. We supply the raffle tickets, posters advertising Safety: Alan said we lost a North Anson member, and the funeral was coming up. Al said, “be careful on the ice”. Al also said want to get out to more schools and clubs to get safety talks done. Scholarship: Harvey gave breakdown on the What a year the 2024-2025 season was for the MSA scholarship fund. It started in September with a very generous donation from the Route 11 Streakers SC and the fam ily of Robert Libby Jr. (T-Bone) when they donated the proceeds from their annual T-Bone cookoff to the scholarship fund. The donations continued due to the sudden passing of Larry Lafland and his family requesting donations in his memory to the fund. That meant three scholarships could be awarded. Then in April when the committee was reviewing the most applications we have received in many years an unexpected donation was received increas ing the committee’s ability to award five scholarships for that year!! Also in January, Brad Barker proposed the Lafland Scholarship Award funded by donations and matched by his local Masonic Hall. The money in that fund has not been used and continues to grow as more donations in Larry Lafland’s memory are added to it. Opening remarks done by President Mark C. Welcome to all in attendance and touch briefly on upcoming events. Secretary’s report: Copies were given out to read. Motion to accept report as written by Jerry Majors and seconded by Ron Nunes, all accepted, and motion passed. Report will be placed on file at office. Treasurer’s report: Copies were given out and were read by Assistant Treasurer, Barry Ryan. No objections so report will be placed on file at the office. Ex VP comments: Matt welcomed all in attendance. Indicated that there was lots to talk about. Regional VP reports: Eastern- Eileen recognized that Burlington club is back Western- Jerry said that ITS 89 in oxford has a landowner issue and efforts to resolve is ongoing Central- Ron said things are moving along for the start of the new season. Also welcome back to Burlington Coastal- David mentioned the T-bone trail cookout on Sept 16th by RT 11 Streakers Northern- No zoom link available so no report Director of Operations: Alan welcomed all in attendance. Indicated been busy but been good. Been taking the prize sleds around to sell tickets already, also summer has been good, we had rain at the Golf Scramble, but everyone had a good time H ello Folks,

Shanna Towle, Secretary 207-341-1747 878 Main Steet, Palmyra, ME 04965 shannatowle@gmail.com

Attendance: President: Mark Chinnock, Executive VP: Matt Stedman, aSecretary: Shanna Towle, Jerry Major, Terri Major, John Farrington, Donna Farrington, Tom England, Charlie Huntington, Brad Barker, Harvey Chesley, Joe Walsh, Joe Walsh Jr, Brad Donovan, Richard Merrill, Mick DeLong, Dave Taylor, Linwood Cowan, David Cogley, Barry Ryan, Gail Ryan, Marion Pinkham, Mike Grass Jr, Eileen Lafland, John Monk, Melanie Monk, Cathy Horne, Richard Horne, Jeff St Pierre, Kelley St Pierre, Lori Nunes, Ron Nunes, Bob Corthell, Andrew Merrill, Philip Ripa, David Watson, Bob Flagg, Theodore Misiaszek, Brad Porter, John Nelson, Tim Drake, Ed Brownell, Kathy Brownell, Al Swett, Liz Mahaleris Meeting called to order at 7:04pm by

Director of Operations

Alan Swett, 207-872-7282 234 County Rd, Waterville ME 04901 snowtraveler@roadrunner.com ello Folks, Welcome to another family season of

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Scholarship Committee

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

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From The Executive Board

H ello to our Snowmobile Family! What a summer! Rainy weekends record heat and a drought! What else do we need? Snow is in the Farmer’s Almanac forecast this season let’s hope they’re right. We all know we really need a good winter. My agenda this year is to get out to more clubs and schools to pro mote snowmobile safety along with everyday safety habits to make you safe. Accidents hap pen quickly and very unexpected any time any where. I was driving the other day on a country road trees overshadowed the road. It was hard to see, and it was noontime, all of a sudden, a saw a little boy on the opposite side of the road getting his mail for his family. Never saw him until I was only a few yards away. Taught me a lesson to keep my eyes open for anything. Scared the life out of me. This is how quick things happen. I was beginning to sit down in a chair on our deck the leg of the chair went through the deck my head went back broke my glasses hit my head on the garage wall meet each other. Some clubs we do have to send theirs in the mail either because the con tact person is out of state, or the club is very remote and only has people there in season. PLEASE- whoever receives this packet, open it up, look inside, and deliver the pieces to the correct club person. The membership packet should go to the person in charge of that area. MEMBERSHIP PERSON- Look at the preprinted cards carefully and make sure you have received one for each family and busi ness that was a member last year. Also, it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT to verify ALL the information on the card with the mem ber. Each year the office receives many pa pers back saying the address is incorrect. Also please make sure the member states how they want their paper received. With postage rates continuing to climb, the MSA is looking to re duce those costs so we need accurate informa tion on how or if the member wants a paper. CLUB OFFICER UPDATE FORM - An other extremely important piece of info for MSA. On it is a question regarding your club dues. This is needed for the online member ship form that people can fill out through the MSA website. It helps the MSA know what your club dues are. TO ALL CLUBS - As the season begins, you are reminded to send in the memberships as soon as you receive them. The members will not receive a paper until that membership is entered in our system. The office receives calls frequently from a member asking where their paper is and if we haven’t received their membership, they are not on the mailing list. Also, if you receive a statement from the MSA office informing you a person has joined your club via the website or a reason so make them feel welcome. If you have any questions you can contact the MSA office or email membership@mesnow.com. make sure all clubs get their share if the buyer chooses your club. What each club needs to do is go to the MSA website and signup your club there is a Formstack to do this. Please do this so you get your share. While we’re on the super raffle subject, A new incredible prize is being offered, a $5000.00 dollar gift card to any MSA affiliated dealership across the state! This prize will take the place of the kids’ sled we have been raffling. Also Shin pond is offering a Huge prize getaway!!! Check out our webpage. All clubs should take advantage of selling these raffle tickets, If you need more tickets let me know I’ll get them to you. Have you heard about the MSA Snowmobile show? Well it has a new name and new vendors too MSA Snowmobile and Powersports Show. Boats, Tractor’s, ATV’s and more this year Augusta Civic center. There is so much going on with our sport I’m proud to be a part of this great organization. Read all the articles in the paper and check out our website. MAINE has the best snowmobiling in the EAST Coast.! Dave PS: check out the new trail app that you can download to your phone (Coming soon)

knocked out for a few seconds. Guess I need to lose weight! The deck is only a few years old. I’ll blame it on recycled wood! How about heat stroke on this record-break ing string of hot weather. At the Somerset Mill where I worked, they always told us to drink lots of water and watch out for the heat affecting you and your coworkers. Look for symptoms like slurred speech headache, dehy dration, excess sweating, and muscle spasms. When you’re exposed to high temperatures like we’ve had you can get very ill in a hurry. If not treated quickly you could develop brain, heart and other internal damage. At the mill, we had electrolytes to add to our water, which helped a lot. This is something you can get online. My legs went out from under me while working outside. Then it turned into a throb bing migraine headache. Drink lots of fluids to stay hydrated. Take a break too. So, our season is coming up trail work has begun already. Be careful out there watch out

for tripping hazards. Be aware of your sur roundings wear your PPE. Earplugs, safety glasses good boots gloves be careful running anything with a motor. When lifting equip ment make sure you block it up don’t trust your overhead winch or a jack. Here’s another mishap from me this sum mer. I learned to make sure my trailers lug nuts are checked for tightness and torqued on every trip! Thank goodness, I have a great friend like Barry Ryan; he bailed me out on a busy I95. The folks from the Glenburn Snowmobile Club went above and beyond fixing my trailer. New lug studs and lug nuts love those guys! This is how fast your day, or night can turn into a bad one. Please take the time to check your equipment. Because its equipment! Acci dents happen and lives change forever. Be safe out there! AL As I mentioned in my last article of the 24-25 season, the MSA has been working to develop a new trail APP. I have been coordinating all sum mer with our vendor, Mapgears, to get the new digital platform off the ground. There is a small group within MSA leadership that has been Beta testing the APP and backend platform. There is still much to do, but my vison is to roll out the new APP at our October Powersports show in Augusta. I am looking for assistance in keeping the APP accurate and useful. If you have inter est in joining us to update regional or local trail information, please contact me. You must have reasonable technical ability with computers, cell phone APPs , and GPS units. We already have the ITS and Connector trails loaded in but over this next season we would like to add more and more affiliated club trails . We also will be add ing points of interest ( POI’s) for basics like fuel, food, lodging ,clubhouses, and Life Flight land ing zones. The POI’s will also afford opportuni ties for clubs to create revenue through advertis ing that will display more detailed information like names, pictures, websites etc. More details forthcoming at the Show in October. As usual, the Trails Committee will be hosting a trails workshop at the Snowmobile and Pow ersports Show in Augusta on Saturday October 18 th . Signage workshop starts at 9:30AM , guest speaker at 10:30 AM , and grant workshop with Joe Higgins at 11:00 AM. All for now-- Start thinking SNOW !! BRENT long way. Here in The County as we wait for the local farmers to begin digging their crops and fall high school sports seasons get under way what better time to start thinking about get ting our machines out and getting them serviced and ready to ride once the snow hits the ground. If you’re looking to scratch that riding itch or if your craving the smell of that 2 stroke smoke in just a few short weeks the Ashland and Portage clubs will be hosting their annual Big Woods Grass Drags on Sept. 13th & 14th in Ashland. Check out the Big Woods Grass Drags Facebook page for more details. This upcoming season there is going to be a trail reroute for one of the most sought after riding destinations here in Central Aroostook. Limestone SnowHawks are in the process of building a new trail to the Arch Hanger at Lor ing Airforce Base. There is an aviation com pany that has recently purchased both the Arch Hanger and the D.C. Hanger and the public will no longer be able to ride all the way up the flight line to the front of the hanger like in years past. Stay tuned to the Limestone’s club Facebook page for further updates on the reroute of this trail. Just a heads up if you are caught riding the flight line and riding up to the front of the hanger you will be issued a summons for tres passing. I’m making mention of this to make everyone fully aware as we don’t want to see anyone get in trouble and still want everyone to enjoy the sights of Loring. To conclude I hope everyone enjoys the last little bit of summer we have and the upcoming fall season. Remember to always ride right, ride sober and ride safe. Happy trails and I hope to see all of you out blazing down the white carpet in just a few short months. Nick

Safety Committee

Alan Swett 207-872-7282 234 County Rd, Waterville ME 04901 snowtraveler@roadrunner.com

Trails Committee Chair Report

From The Membership Corner

Brent Spaulding, MSA Trails Chairman 207-944-7762 41 Madison Ave Brewer ME 04412 msatrailchair@gmail.com G reetings from Brewer, Summer has flown by. Cool temps and shorter daylight hours will soon be upon us. The trails committee has already had some zoom meetings to prepare for the upcoming season. If you have knowledge of ITS trail changes please reach out to your local trail committee member or myself with any updates. The Trails bond grant program was rolled out this spring and the first applications will be accepted this fall. The deadline is September 26 th by 5PM.

Eileen Lafland, 207-843-7813 PO Box 733, Holden ME 04429 L.andE.lafland525476@gmail.com H ere we are beginning the 2025-26 season. Can you believe it is September already? Seems like it was just yesterday we were handing out membership awards at the annual meeting and wishing every one a good sum mer. Now it’s the beginning of fall and time to get those memberships out and sent back in. Many thanks to Liz in the office for orga nizing the club packets for this year. In one morning, Liz and myself packed membership cards in to clubs from three regions and she finished the other two regions up the next day. Many thanks to Al and Matt for packing the completed packets in to the vehicles and bringing them to Waterville. All packets were ready and waiting for people to pick them up at the August MSA Directors meeting. Re gional VPs were asked to take as many as they could to deliver in person and the others were sent in the mail. While it seems time consum ing to make hand deliveries, it puts a name with a face and allows everyone a chance to

Northern Region VP

Coastal Region VP

Nick Morrill, 207-554-0074 406 Main Street, Stockholm ME 04783 landscaper9791@gmail.com G reetings to everyone from the northern part of the great state of Maine. As I sit and write this article, day and night time temps are slowly starting to change now that Mother Nature is done having her hot flashes. While some of us are still praying and doing rain dances for some much needed rain throughout the state, clubs in this area have been busy par ticipating in community events, holding events themselves, doing preseason trail work, pre paring trail signage and building new groomer barns. Most if not all of this work is being done by volunteers and club members which most if not all clubs are in need of. Some clubs are also thinking ahead and have put out the call looking for volunteer groomer operators for the upcom ing season. We all know that these trails that we love and enjoy don’t build themselves so if you’re a snowmobile owner and register a sled to ride the local trails please consider joining your local club or many clubs throughout the area and state. Every little bit helps and goes a

David Watson • 207-205-1558 412 Roberts Ridge Road East Waterboro, ME 04030 Dwatson6841@gmail.com

G reetings to all! I’m back, Once again I have stepped into the Coastal VP position, Matt Baron is dealing with some health issues and please send him prayers and hope he gets better soon. There is a lot of new stuff going on this year Let’s start with online raffle ticket sales, now you can buy a book of raffle tickets online. So we need to

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From The Executive Board

H ello Central Region Riders, It seems the blistering heat has subsided, so I hope you are all planning your snow dance party, but not until we get all our trail work done. As you all are working very hard to prepare for the upcoming season, remember to get your trails bond application in by September 26. Don’t forget the MSA Power Sport Show on October 17 through the 19 th at the Augusta Civic Center. Hope to see you all there. Please try to attend! Volunteer some hours if you can. The new format has expanded out and it will be great. Always try to follow the club in the area you wish to ride, as they all work very hard planning events for your enjoyment. Please attend and support the club that works so hard to make the trails you ride great. As always, if there is anything I can do to help, please reach out. Ron Nunes going on already The Oxford club has an unbelievable task; a landowner wants the Bridge over the little Androscoggin River removed from his land. To get another in place by riding time seems impossible, but one never knows, we might have to ride a stretch of road to get thru Oxford on ITS 89 this year, time will tell. On the bright side, I have been invited to numerous club functions, (landowner dinners/cookouts), and am looking forward to attending as many as time allows. It’s going to be a different year for the wife and I, as we have sold our sleds and will be out on a side by side with tracks this winter, Old age and my back made the decision to switch. So folks get out there and help the TRAIL CREWS, cut some brush, attend meetings and support your local clubs and those where you ride most. UNITED WE TRAIL--DIVIDED WE FAIL Till next time --GOD BLESS Jerry Know Before You Go!

bridge repair, sign maintenance, brushing & trail clearing. Contact us to find out how you could help. Ashland Sno-Mobile Club I’m setting on my deck on the 24 th of August~~ it’s 80 degrees and beautiful out!! It’s pretty hard to talk about snowmobiling, but remember, The Snowgang never stops! The club is right in the middle of building our new groomer garage. The slab was poured two weeks ago, and the Amish started building this week. If you have Facebook, you can go to our page, The Benedicta Snowgang, to see the pic tures of the progress. This building is a huge undertaking for the club, so if you would like to donate to our building fund, please do! Our applications to join/rejoin the club have gone out, so please join/rejoin as soon as possible. Remember, there ARE safety in numbers, United We Trail ~ Divided We Fail!!!!!!!!! This Maine Snowmobiler is going to everyone that registered a sled in Maine last year, so let’s get them registered early so the funds can be used to get things started!! As I stated, the Snowgang never takes a day off!! We have a great team :::: our officers are as follows~~ President, Randy Bates, Vice President, Kim Joyce. Secretary/Treasurer, Joyce Remeschatis. Patrick Joyce is our trail master. For more info on our club, please go to www.benedictasnowgang.com Well, I have to get ready for the bear hunt, so I have to get the mountain lion ready!! I will keep you all informed as best I can! I hope we don’t have a snow drought -- !!!!!!!!! Jim Splan, Reporter @ Large a wonderful visit with Les and Alma Hill from Shin Pond, Bowlin, Mattagammon SC and delivered theirs to them. My other two regional directors, Craig Lemieux and Gary Dowling also received the packets for their area so Eastern Region clubs have them. As you can see Eastern Region clubs are gearing up and ready to get their memberships out. One of my other hats is a member of the Snowmobile Advisory Committee respon sible for awarding the Capital Equipment Grants. It was great to see Eastern Region clubs receive funding for new equipment that will be in use this season as long as Mother Nature and Ole Man Winter play nice this year. Congratulations to those clubs as well as all the other clubs across the state to receive much needed funding. The Steering Committee has been hard at work over the summer making changes to this year’s show. Excitement is in the air as the show expands to a snowmobile and motorsports show. That show is right around the corner everyone so make plans to attend this year. You will not be disappointed. There will be new vendors, new displays, and great information for everyone. To The Eastern Region Clubs- My goal this year is to set up regional meetings and hope fully see as many clubs at those meetings as possible. I am beginning to work on where and when places now so watch your email and the snail mail of the US Postal service. If you need anything from me or have any questions on something PLEASE contact me. I apologize for losing touch for a while last season due to unforeseen circumstances but I am attempting to get back into it this year. Bear with me. I have a great support group of regional directors and others who are helping me make sure all the clubs in this region have a contact person. Until October everyone. Get those mem berships out and back to the office, sell those super raffle tickets and get ready for winter. Reports are varied but it does sound like we may get snow and cold this year so fingers crossed. When you are at the MSA Show come find me at the MSA Booth and we can talk. This will be my 28th year in the booth and I enjoy every minute of it. Eileen BENEDICTA SNOW GANG Benedicta, ME

Eastern Region VP

Central Region VP

NORTHERN REGION ASHLAND SNO-MOBILE CLUB Ashland, ME Hello Maine snowmobilers, I hope you have all enjoyed your summer. Meetings are on the 2 nd Monday of every month and most of them are at the Ashland Rec Center. We will be working on member ship packets & and getting our 2024-2025 sea son schedule of events nailed down. If you are interested in joining the club, learning about who we are and what we do, please reach out to us on Facebook by searching for “Ashland Sno-Mobile Club”. Please join us on September 13th & 14th in Ashland for the Big Woods Grass Drags. This is a great snowmobile racing & community event that we put on with the Portage Lakers Snowmobile Club and is a major fundraiser for both our clubs. If you have enjoyed our trails, live &/or ride here often please consider joining our club. Every member helps to make the load a bit lighter and ensure the clubs’ future. There is always a way to chip in and help regardless of what past experiences you have. We look forward to meeting some new folks this year, enjoying good times both maintaining & rid ing the trails in the Ashland area. We will be scheduling workdays for the fall & always need extra hands to assist in Eileen Lafland 207-843-7813 PO Box 733, Holden ME 04429 L.andE.lafland525476@gmail.com W elcome to the 2025-26 season every one!! After a very dry and at times extremely hot and humid summer, fall is here. It doesn’t seem possible we are in September and talking snowmobile season but here we are. In August the club packets were packed and delivered to clubs across the state. By now everyone should have theirs. If a club in the Eastern Region hasn’t received one yet, please contact me. The August meeting was well attended with some returning and some new faces in the mix. I was excited to meet Jeff and Kelly St. Pierre from the Burlington area. They are reviving the Burlington Backcountry SC which has been inactive for a few years. Welcome back to the MSA. I also distributed many club packets to my regional director Charlie Huntington and some to John Monk and Mike Grass. The guys from Jo-Mary SC took some as well to help get out to clubs they are familiar with. I had already given regional director Barry Ryan quite a few before the meeting which he has distributed and he took more that night. The Farringtons from East Branch Sno-Rovers were there as well. Sorry I missed a chance to talk with Kevin and Cheryl from Quad County when they picked up their packet in Bangor from Barry. Two days after the meeting I had Deadlines for club news is the 25 th of the month prior to the publications. Please submit articles to editor@mesnow.com

Ron Nunes, 401-527-5370 260 Last Round Up Rd, Lexington Twp, ME 04961 Thelastroundup2018@gmail.com

Western Region VP

Jerry Major, Cell: 207-838-0892 137 Morrill Rd, Norway ME 04268 mrfun101jem@gmail.com

Hello fellow snowmobilers, What an incredibly dry summer (pray we have no forest fires), that being said, perhaps Mother Nature will give us incredible amounts of snow this year. As per usual, a lot of planning and WORK

Always Check Local Ice Conditions

MSA Club News

P.S~~ Keep an eye on the Redsox!! P.SS ~~ Hey, “Fatman” ~ you rock!! P.SSS ~~ Big shout out to Mike Guiggey!! P.SSS ~~ Caribbean Cruise raffle tickets coming soon!!

CARIBOU sc Caribou, ME

Hello Fellow Sledhead’s!!! It’s been a warm and toasty summer here in the Caribou area. While most of us been enjoying these summer days we did find some time to participate in

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