9245-R2_MSA_January2026_Newsletter

MSA Club News

Club Meetings We hold our monthly meetings on the first Friday of each month at the Groomer Shed in Portage Lake , starting at 6:30 pm . Come for the meeting, stay for the camaraderie—and maybe catch up with an old friend or make some new ones. December Recap December’s Pizza Night was a roaring suc cess! We provided pizza for everyone who showed up, and over 60 people came out. Turns out snowmobilers will brave almost anything for free pizza and good company. Thanks to everyone who joined us, thanks to Kristi and Kyle for preparing all those pies, and to Bruce for cooking them! Who knew you could cook a pizza in like 3 minutes flat?!—it was a great night! Upcoming Events January 2 nd -Monthly Meeting/Potluck Dinner Join us for our monthly meeting and bring a dish to share and something to drink. We have some great cooks in this group; you will not go home hungry! This is a family friendly meet ing, bring the kids and grandma too. There will be games following the meeting and din ner, corn hole, darts, Tuck, or cards. January 17 th – Chad the Hypnotist Join us for dinner and a show you won’t forget (or maybe you will—depending on Chad’s skills!). This guy does not disappoint, and there’s a good chance someone you know ends up being part of the show. If you have seen your buddy play his tuba or teach some one how to brush their teeth while hypnotized, you surely will want to see what someone else might do. Follow us on Facebook for all the details! January 30 th – Fas Phil Poker Run This special day starts with breakfast sandwiches at 8:00 am , and registration starts at 10:00 am . Riders will enjoy three stops throughout the day , ending back at the groomer barn . After the ride, dinner will be served, followed by live music by The Echo . Donations for this event have been rolling in, and they’ve been incredibly generous. A heart felt thank you to Mark and Carrie Wall, Jay Hackett, Kevin Call, and Josh Michaud for all their hard work putting this together. And a very special thank you to Julie, Phil’s wife, for giving us her blessing to host this event to keep Phil’s memory alive. Most of all, thank you to the generous donors and everyone who shows up to ride. We know Phil will be riding right along with us —in the stories that will be told, the laughs, the tears, and the memories made. We all miss you, Phil. Look for our flyers around the state or check us out on Facebook Portage Lakers or at our website portagelakers.org for more information. February 6 th - Monthly Meeting/Potluck Dinner 6:30pm February 14 th - Annual Pie Auction

If you haven’t made your reservations yet for a place to stay, you had better get on the phone, because Saturday Feb. 14th is our annual Pie Auction . Grab your sweetheart and make a date with the Portage Lakers. We pack the Town Hall for this event. Bring your cool ers and credit cards, dancing shoes and sense of humor, most of all don’t forget a designated driver. This year, we have changed it up a little and it will start earlier. Social Hour starts at 4 pm, the auction starts at 6:00pm sharp! Guilty Pleasure will be rocking the house. Remember, respect landowners, follow signs, and stay on marked trails. That is all I have for now, & as always: Ride Safe, Ride Right, and Be Courteous. Happy New Year from the Portage Lakers! Keep Snow Dancing, Dear Members, I hope you were able to spend quality time with your families and friends for the holi days. We wish you a snowy and prosperous New Year. Now let’s get some snow! We had packed our trails with about 1 foot of snow and then, we got rain. We didn’t lose it all and now we’ve got more! So hopefully we’ll be able to groom after Christmas. We are all so anxious to get snow and to get riding. Much work was done on trails 74 and 105. Trail #74 was widened, bulldozed and ditched and it should be a “WOO-HOO” ride from the Carvell Rd. east to the Presque Isle Stream and west to Scopan Lake. I can hardly wait to ride it! We did some dozing on the trail from the town of Mapleton to Scopan Lake too. That’s always a nice ride and now we have 2 new bridges on that trail. Our crew works year round for our snowmobile and ATV members. And to think, it’s all volunteer work. We did have a contractor to help with our bridges and Nick Powers did a fantastic job, with the help of our crew and a crew from the Mapleton ATV Club. Make sure you have paid your dues and your sled is ready and licensed. We’ll soon be out there! Sue Maynard Secretary Hi there Big Valley Sno Club Members and to all the snowmobilers out there that ride our trails. We’ve been busy in the month of November. We have built a new bridge on ITS 83 N/S North of the JCT 112. It is one of our high-water spots on ITS 83. This is a one-way bridge so please use caution. This is for sleds only. We hope you all had a good holiday. These next few months it’s going to be busy! Big Valley Sno Club would like to have a ride on Jan 10 th but the snow is low. In February the BIG VALLEY SNO CLUB Island Falls, ME Tammy Kenney Club Secretary CHAPMAN RIDGE RUNNERS SC Chapman, ME

Deadlines for club news is the 25 th of the month prior to the publications. Please submit articles to editor@mesnow.com

NORTHERN REGION

ATTENTION ALL MSA SNOWMOBILE CLUBS!! WE NEED YOUR HELP! In order for MSA to have ALL the correct information about your club you need to complete an OFFICER UPDATE FORM EVERY YEAR. Please go to the MSA web site: www.mainesnowmobileas sociation.com click on member ships, scroll down to MSA forms, open it and you will see Officer update form. Fill it out with all the information and submit it. This information has a variety of uses for MSA including membership info, club address, officers and more. It is placed on file and if someone con tacts to MSA asking about your club it is used to give them information. Thank you Happy New Year from the Portage Lakers Snowmobile Club! If your sled has been star ing at you from the garage a little earlier than usual—you’re not imagining things. As I write this a week before Christmas, we’ve got snow on the ground , and even better, the groom ers have already been out! A little early? Yes. Are we smiling about it? Also yes… very much yes. Glenn and the guys have been busy getting the New Holland outfitted with brush guards. Thank you to our Southern Maine boys Alan and Matt for building it and coming up to install it. We appreciate you guys more than you know! If you haven’t joined the fun club yet, now’s the time! Become a member at portagelakers. org and be sure to follow us on Facebook at Portage Lakers for updates, events, and the occasional trail-side laugh. MOLUNKUS VALLEY SNO-DRIFTERS Sherman, ME Greetings from Sno-Drifters, yes as I write this its 9 degrees n freezing things up like we need is very windy. We had a busy Dec getting things ready. We have heat in our groomer garage thanks to our fundraisers n supporters. Dec. super raffle winners were as follows 1st Colin McClaskey n was also drawn for 2nd n donated it back to club....3 rd was Mike Guiggey who also donated back to club 4th was Laurie Wilbur of Hampden 5th was Dee Hunt of Oakfield .... thank you all so much for your support!!!!!! Coloring contest winners were: age 5 n under went to Brooklyn Ploude n Baylynn Cum mings, age 6-9 went to Macie Perry, age 9-12 went to Paisley Qualey Congratulations to all winners cant wait to see you next year. the Christmas Parade was held n our very own Snow Queen was there! It even snowed n the heat witched showed up with no luck it was snowing :) everyone had a great time Santa came to clubhouse after where chil dren got bags of goodies n cookies n milk with Santa. Thank you snow much to all the businesses that donate to this yearly event. We appreciate you all! afterschool children pro gram came n sang carols. Beautiful job thanks to Cathy Evans n Gail Pocock too!!!!!Santa’s mailbox had lots of letters to send back!!!!!!! can’t wait till next yr and a SNOWY UPCOM ING SEASON....Merry Christmas n Happy Healthy New Year! Keep on Keeping ON! Deb Long :) Molunkus Valley PORTAGE LAKERS sc Portage Lake, ME

CLUB MEMBERS Once grooming begins submit your trail reports to: EDITOR@MESNOW.COM Please include your name and club affiliation

Know Before You Go!

Always Check Local Ice Conditions

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