9225-R1_MSA_December2025_Newsletter

From The Executive Board

From the President

to show off what you are doing, request help for an upcoming project and help keep riders informed. Thank you all for what you do. It is greatly appreciated. I returned from a trip to the SledMass snowmobile show in West Springfield Massachusetts with a few others from the MSA. We set up our booth and talked snowmobiling in Maine with hundreds of people. Almost everyone had a story of riding in Maine. Riders of all ages are looking forward to trips to our trail system, many are already club members and enjoy the MSA paper and either had or were very interested in the trails app. The new MSA app is gaining traction & trails! If you haven’t downloaded it yet you should soon so you are ready to hit the trails with new technology. If you are a club member or officer, make sure you discuss this at your next meeting and get your trails and points of interest (POI’s) captured and sent into our great team (Brent, Mike & John) to get them on the app before the riding season gets underway. As you prepare to ride locally or on a trip you will see some changes, as always, in the trails across Maine this season. Landownership changes, plans for timber management activities and new developments happen all over and all the time. A big THANK YOU As the New Year approaches, the MSA and its 285 Clubs throughout the State start to turn their focus from repairing and maintaining equipment and their trail infrastructure to signing and trail grooming. At least in a perfect world that is how it should work. We can’t stress enough the importance of signing our trails for many reasons. The most important reason being safety. We encourage our fellow snowmobilers from all over the Northeast to come to Maine and experience the best trails that money can buy, hands down! With that being said, we all take on a sense of responsibility in regards to making sure that we not only give them a quality product to ride on but also a safe one. To most riders a trail system that is signed well and that gives them a reassuring sense of where they are at all times is a huge part of the reason why they will return again and again. Signage is also important in that it alerts the Snowmobiler that there is a possible hazard coming up or of an approaching corner, or maybe it is an informational sign for food, gas or lodging. In any case good trail signage is one of the most important aspects of any trail system and should be done before any grooming activities start. Now please faces. The project is for you folks, and I do wish more would get involved. This raffle has been around for a long time. The vendors who take the time to donate prizes make our raffle very inviting. Many folks who buy tickets do so to support the clubs; without their generos ity, they’d have to look for other ways to make money. The raffle sleds and trailers made their way around the great State of Maine again this year. With stops in Bucksport twice, up to Anson-North Anson, SC, they made it to the Dexter Hot Dog Festival via the Wasakeag, SC. Over to the Pleasant Mountain Club in Bridgton, up to the famous Fryeburg Fair, over to Ripley for the annual auction, Eastbound to Glenburn for two different affairs, Oakland got into the act, and of course, the famous Lexington Highlanders cook out. Ashland grass drags were another stop. Just recently, the Cobacobsee SC from West Gardner. If I left anyone out, I’m sorry. You all did a great job, and those clubs that sold at the show made it happen as well. Let’s start with our vendor’s appreciation. Polaris, you folks deliver every year. You ask me what we’d like, and you make it happen. The discounts we received are greatly appreciated. The dealers are always top shelf and very accommodating. This year, Mainly Powersports in Oxford sup plied our raffle sled. This is our number one By now, the MSA Super Raffle will have all been drawn and I’m sure that there are some very excited winners, as the prizes this year were very much over the top. Congratulations to all of the winners as well as a huge Thank You to all of the businesses that sponsored these amazing prizes, it all would not be possible without your support!

before you start throwing rocks at me, trust me I absolutely understand that it takes a tremendous amount of time to properly sign a trail system, and I also get the fact that manpower in our clubs by and large can and is a huge problem, but please do your best with this and I guarantee it will pay dividends in the end. We at the MSA level have a lot behind us at this point in regards to shows, raffles and events in general. But that doesn’t mean by any stretch of the imagination that we can sit on our hands. We have a lot of work to do on the legislative and funding side and will be working hard to get more money back into the hands of the clubs, as well as working towards the second round of the Trails bond grants to help with strengthening the damaged club infrastructures. We also have a couple of Saturday Director’s meetings coming up in February and March and possibly January pending weather and snow conditions. These Saturday Meetings feature ‘Showcase Rides’ where the hosting Club takes us on a tour of their trail system during the day and then hosts the Director’s meeting and dinner in the evening. Look for details on these Weekend events on Facebook, The MSA Website or this Newspaper or call the MSA Office at 207-622-6983. Well that’s all for now folks till next month. And as always if you have anything that you would like to talk about Snowmobile related please reach out to me. I would love to hear from you, my door is always open. Thank You, Mark to the landowners and club volunteers for making re-routes & connections happen to keep our communities & businesses connected to the trails. These can be frustrating from both sides and definitely time consuming, but without your efforts it would be much more difficult for snowmobilers and businesses to connect. Remember that signs over-rule how the trail shows on your paper map or digital screen. Club members know best and on-the ground signage trumps all other means. This winters’ showcase ride & director’s meetings are set for the winter. January à Western Region, February à Millinocket & March à Van Buren. These regional rides are a great way to explore a new area and meet people who you may only have connected with by phone or social media. We will have a ride during the day & MSA Directors meeting in the evening. I really enjoy them and there is no better way to explore a snowmobile region than with the club members who make & maintain the trails. Finally, as we get to the beginning of the riding season, please work as a club to plan a trail side safety check in co-ordination with the Maine Warden Service. It’s a great way to interact with riders and promote safety on the trails. Find a good intersection or location with plenty of visibility and room along the trails, set up for a few hours on a weekend top prize, and she’s a beauty. Our second-place prize is from Ski Doo. MSA dealer of the year, Chase Toys, gave us a great deal that we could not pass up. A shiny traditional yellow Renegade is a 600 with many options and user-friendly features. Nitro Trailer manufacturing in Pittsfield, Maine, we cannot thank you enough for your support over the last few years. You set the bar. The trailers they’ve donated are high-quality and built to last. Thank you, Chad, and your elite crew. Alcom in Winslow is also a very generous giver! Year after year, you come through and help our clubs with top-of-the-line trailers. Thank you, Dan, very much. These two trailer manufacturers are located here in Central Maine. They are becoming the two top builders of utility and many other types of trailers in the country. Right here in our backyard, pretty cool! And a big thank you to Charles and Son in Madison for handling the Nitro paperwork, and to SR1 in Manches ter for handling the Alcom paperwork. Another big prize this year is a $5,000 gift card to any MSA-supporting dealer. A real neat prize is from our friends at Shin Pond, a lengthy stay for 14 at their large cabin! Wow! Shin Pond is a wonderful place to stay, and the food and hospitality are even better!

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, I would first like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May we all have tons of statewide snow and many days of throttle therapy as well! We have seen cold temps and snow so far in the end of November and the first part of December and we are all keeping our fingers crossed that it continues right through the next few months. From the Executive VP

Monthly Income Monthly Expense

$ 37,357.87 $ 36,038.31 $ 1,319.56 $ 93,956.22 $158,474.03 $163,930.05

Net Revenue

Short Term CD (11/30/25)

Checking (11/30/25)

Dedicated Account (11/30/25)

Pay Pal (11/30/25) Square (11/30/25)

$

989.05

$ 1,220.79 Stripe (11/30/25) - Online Super Raffle $ 4,191.47 Special Events Account (11/30/25) $ 4,987.53 Credit Line (11/30/25) $ - Building Fund (11/30/25) $ 57,177.72 Brian Wass Safety Fund (11/30/25) $ 3,997.73 Scholarship Savings (11/30/25) $ 67,682.63 Scholarship CD (11/30/25) $ - Scholarship 12 Month CD (11/30/25) $ 5,144.35 Larry Lafland scholarship Fund (11/30/25) $ 3 ,069.17 day and help us all improve rider safety and maybe prevent an accident this winter. “Ride safe today, Ride again tomorrow” is not just a great logo for a sticker or shirt, it’s a goal of the MSA and we should strive to promote this message to the riders from the local club level on our trails. Reach out to me or your regional VP to discuss and plan an event like this. Please reach out to us at the MSA if you have any questions or need assistance. We’re here for you! If you have a question, problem, concern, or idea on snowmobiling in Maine, get in touch with me. You can contact me on the phone # or email below. Matt Stedman We had nearly 30 other gift certificates from our statewide network of incredible sup porting businesses. Our raffle is designed to support our MSA clubs. We do everything we can to help them. Hopefully, your club gets involved next year, too. I want to thank SR1 out of Houlton and Chase Toys out of Unity for supplying sleds for the Ashland and Buck sport events. I wanted everyone to have the sleds that particular weekend, but I did not have enough to go around. They came to the rescue. We had sleds and trailers all over the State that weekend! Thank you all for making snowmobiling in Maine a worldwide destination attraction. We have many obstacles ahead of us. We need to sit down with the landowners to discuss our future. We also need to protect the trails we are so privileged to ride. Over 95% of our sys tem is on private land; moving and rerouting is hard work. Any thoughts? Please send me an email. Looks like La Nina is starting as planned, let’s hope so we’re making ice, and there’s snow on the ground! Thank you for all you do. If I can help, give me a call or an email. Be safe out there AL

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

W ho else is ready for December? It was pretty cool to be welcomed home earlier this week to a street with snowbanks and a yard with a complete white blanket! It puts a smile on my face and is a reminder that there is still a lot to be done for trail work at my local club. I know most of you (and your clubs) have accomplished lots and it is great to see all the projects getting done statewide showcased on social media. It is a great way

Director of Operations

Alan Swett, 207-872-7282 234 County Rd, Waterville ME 04901 snowtraveler@roadrunner.com S eason’s Greetings to all of you. Hope you all have a fantastic holiday. Another suc cessful raffle has come and gone. Let me start by thanking everyone who participated and helped their clubs earn money! We started back in the summer, gathering items. It’s a great feeling telling the prize winners they’ve won and even better, delivering the major prizes to them and seeing the joy on their

5

w m

n o

o b

0 2 5 l M a i n e S

i l

e r

D

m b e r 2

e c

e