9211-R1_MSA_November2025_Newsletter

From The Executive Board Secretary’s Report - Shanna Towle Directors Meeting - Hosted by Leeds Stump Thumpers, Leeds Maine - October 14, 2025

Stedman, Brent Spaulding, Joe Walsh, John Monk, Mike Grass Jr, Sandy P, Stephen Kinrby, Nick Morrill, Mike Delong, Laurie Plourde, John Farrington Meeting called to order at 7:05pm by President Mark Chinnook. Salute to the American flag. Secretary’s report: Ron Nunes motion to accept as written, seconded by Jerry Majors, motion carried. Treasurer’s report: Barry Ryan reported totals, no errors or omissions so it will be placed on file at office. President’s comments: Thank you to Leeds for meal, Got lots going on. Online super raffle & membership available, show coming up this weekend, looking good for volunteers but still need more for outside. Ex VP comments: thanks for coming, looking forward to the coming snow & the show this weekend. VP reports: Eastern: Eileen-clubs are out working on trails, some issues in Milford with land management company, Burlington Back Country is back, we’re all set see you at the show. Western: Jerry- good new lots of landowner dinners, Bridgeton doing lots, no ITS 89 in Oxford this year north. Coastal: Dave- getting trails ready & organized, looking forward to show this to continue to present scholarships at the MSA annual meeting in April 2026. Once again, the Leeds Stump Thumpers SC hosted the MSA monthly directors meeting and supper. They provided a wonderful turkey dinner that was delicious and donated all the money raised, including their costs to the Lafland Scholar ship fund. The winner of the 50/50 drawing was Tom England and he donated his win nings to the Lafland Scholarship fund, with the other half going in to the MSA scholar ship fund. That meant $600 went in to the Lafland Scholarship fund and $60 went in to the MSA Scholarship fund. This Lafland Scholarship Award fund was started by Brad Barker as a way of honoring Larry. At the present time the money raised at that event and this event along with money donated from Larry’s celebration of life is in an account as there are details being worked out as to how to distribute it. These funds will be available beginning in 2026, with award winner being announced at the 2027 annual meeting. The Lafland Scholarship amount that is currently on the Treasurer’s report is a separate account safety checks on your sleds and any other snowmobile-related equipment. Check over mechanical issues that can cause situations down the trail. Prepare and inspect engines, drivetrain, and suspension. Perform thorough lookovers and address any necessary repairs. Fresh fuel, top off coolant, and other fluids. Change oil and filters. Inspect the drive belt for wear, clean the clutch, and service the drive chain with new oil. Lubricate everything that needs grease. How are the track, shocks, and wheel bearings? Headlights, taillights, and brake lights should all be working. Wear the right gear to ride. Wear insulated clothing, gloves, and dress in layers. Base, mid, and outer. Bring a first aid kit with survival gear, tools, flashlights, matches, and food. Check the weather report; whiteout condi tions are an accident waiting to happen. But if you get caught in one, always stay together, never separate. Watch out for wildlife; moose and deer often walk on our trails, so be aware of them. Plan your trip and let folks at home know where you’re going and when you return. Know the laws of the trails, follow them. The laws were made to ensure safety and protect our landowners. Hopefully, we will be riding in early December. Opening day is December 15th. Let’s hope for snow and cold weather. Register your sled and help by joining a club. We’re aging and need some new help! Be safe out there, AL

weekend. Northern: Nick- not much going on, harvest wrapping up, clubs starting meetings & some trail work but holding till frozen & snow, planning meeting northern area clubs to share info Nov 9 th . Central: Ron- not much going on, have hunting season stuff going on, gates still closed. Director of Operations: Al not attending tonight, Liz gave rundown on show, booths are all filled, if you want to help, please email office to get on the list to be placed. Standing Committee reports: Safety: Al not in attendance to report. Scholarship: Barry- trying to raise more funds for scholarships, tonight’s dinner donations going into Larry Lafland Memorial Scholarship, $500 donation from Leeds Stump Thumpers for Larry Lafland Scholarship. Funding: Matt- our bill carried over from last session maybe tweak some. Membership: Eileen- been in NH but full report next month, memberships coming into office hot and heavy. MSA Trails: Brent was on zoom but lost connection, will have the new MapGear app & info at the show to learn more, maps are out for ITS trails have lots at the office & will have at the show, signage workshop on Saturday at the show. Hospitality & Hall of Fame: Gail- looking for nominations for hall of fame & looking for people to join, sent cards to Al & Val Swett, and was money that was donated to fund two additional scholarships, which were awarded in April 2025 and will be paid out in January 2026. That meant there were five scholarships of $1500 each awarded for 2025. Also, in October there was a scholarship 50/50 booth at the MSA show in Augusta. Thanks to Harvey Chesley, Marion Pinkham, Steve Wright, Gail Ryan, Bob LaFontaine, and Paula Huff, $328 was raised that weekend to add to the MSA Scholarship Savings Fund. Congratulations to the weekend winners who were: Ray Crossman from Carmel, Katie Grant from the Lexington Highlanders SC, and Sherry Brackett from Owls Head. Sherry donated her portion back to the MSA scholar ship fund and we thank her for that. The Scholarship Committee would also like to say THANK YOU to the Alna SC for their donation of $200 to the fund. They made this donation at the MSA show in Augusta. Remember any one and any club can con tribute to the scholarship savings fund at any time. The more money collected the more scholarships we can award to MSA members.

Ted Caruso, Charlene McFarland, Marion Pinkham, Polly Grass, Jerry Major, then gave a good joke. Old Business: Super Raffle-online, already discussed earlier in the meeting, sleds been all around promoting. MSA Show Update- discussed earlier in the meeting, have all kinds of new things for the show (boats, motorcycles, sleds, etc), volunteers still needed at the show, Vintage show about 50 sleds now & proceeds go to Trail Safety Fund. Funding & MST Program update- unstable connection on zoom. Grass drags- Eileen reported about the weekend said that it was good, but attendance was down compared to last year. Announcements & Events: Oct 25-Nov 30 Lexington Highlanders Hunter’s breakfast every Saturday from 5-9am Nov 1 st North Anson craft fair. November 18 th meeting- at Madison VFW 58 Preble Ave Madison ME. Feb 7 th Groomer Rodeo at East Branch East Millinocket Pot of Gold- Eileen mixed up, Dave picked North Star Rider Montville Maine, not in attendance. 50/50 Drawing- winning ticket 957153 won by Tom England $60 donated back to Larry Lafland Scholarship. Adjourn at 8:14pm. The Scholarship Committee is in the process of putting $60,000 in to a CD. This money was in a CD that matured and the committee looked for options to increase the interest for this amount. More information will be avail able at the November Directors meeting on what decision was made. In reviewing the MSA Scholarship Commit tee By- Laws and to come in line with them the committee has added three new members. At present Harvey Chesley and Barry Ryan are co- Chairs of this committee, and Eileen Lafland is the secretary. Long-standing mem bers include Bob LaFontaine, Gail Ryan, and Mike Grass. New this year are Lori Hem merdinger, Brad Barker, and Marie Doucette. This brings the committee to nine members which is what the By-Laws state is needed. That’s all for this month. Remember go to the MSA website, download the application and guidelines, and get those applications in. It’s never too early to start the process as the April 1 st deadline is fast approaching. The Trail committee has had most of our mapping dinners by now and inspection routes and club assignments have been locked in. We are starting to get very active as clubs are out prepping for the upcoming season. As your club gears up, don’t forget to review your landowner lists and confirm authorization for your trails. Another area that has us very busy is the MSA’s new App—MSA TRAILS. By now, you should have seen Facebook posts and emails or heard through the grapevine about the App. With YOUR assistance, we will be continu ally updating the App to include club trails and your local points of interest. We can add your trails, clubhouse, gas stations, restaurants, lodging, and more. Clubs can increase revenue by upselling business memberships with a POI on our App. We are suggesting a minimum of $20 per POI but your club may negotiate any amount. Clubs will keep 100% of funds they collect for POI’s. The only caveats are it must be trail accessible AND snowmobile related. We have tried to make it easy for submission via a Formstack link on our website. Trail plots can also be shared via this form but it can easily be done directly from the App. There will be a learning curve on all fronts, but our collabora tion will result in the most accurate platform out there ! I hope your club jumps aboard the technology improvements underway!! All for now---- Do your snow dance! Brent rials and would be glad to travel. Just reach out and we will set a date.

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

ATTENDEES: In person; President: Mark Chinnock, Treasurer: Lori Hemmerdinger, Secretary: Shanna Towle, Barry Ryan, Gail Ryan, Bob Flagg, Eileen Lafland, Ron Nunes, Lori Nunes, Dave Watson, Marion Pinkham, Liz Mahaleris, Jerry Major, Terry Major, Jason Olsen, Charlie Huntington, Brad Barker, Marie Doucette, Tom England, John Nelson, Catherine Horn, Richard Horn, Paula Huff, Chuck Mahaleris; via Zoom; Ex VP: Matt

Scholarship Committee

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

O ctober was a great month for the MSA Scholarship. There were two fund-raising events that helped boost the funds to be able

Trails Committee Chair Report

Safety Committee

Brent Spaulding, MSA Trails Chairman 207-944-7762 41 Madison Ave Brewer ME 04412 msatrailchair@gmail.com G reetings from Brewer, First and foremost, I want to thank every one that took the time to attend my workshop at the MSA Powersports Show last month. It was a great turnout with many familiar faces and several new ones. Lots of great questions about signage and grants! I hope you learned something new that day. I did! A reminder that I can bring my signage workshop to a location near YOU. I have all the visual aids and mate

Alan Swett 207-872-7282 234 County Rd, Waterville ME 04901 snowtraveler@roadrunner.com W ell, Folks, here we are. November has arrived. Let’s be cautious during hunt ing season. Be sure to wear blaze orange clothing. In addition, it’s getting colder, so dress accordingly. Be comfortable and don’t forget to protect yourself from easy mishaps while working on trails and routine mainte nance in your groomer shops. It’s preseason, and that means conducting

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