9245-R2_MSA_January2026_Newsletter

MSA Club News

of the month September to April, 7:00 PM at the Rome Town Hall. All are welcome.1

eral years of being closed. Grooming equip ment has been relocated to the club house, all equipment has been checked, and everything has been serviced as needed. We are currently selling raffle tickets for a gun and are making plans for a toll bridge fundraiser. In December our club participated in the Madison Christmas parade. A very nice float representing our club and snowmobiling was in the parade. COSTAL REGION I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. The club has continued to stay busy through the end of November cleaning trails and replacing signage as needed. We feel the trails are cleared and ready for snow to fall! We were fortunate enough to have two storms in November which provided a starter base for the trails, but like we’ve seen in past years, a warm spell then rain melted things away so we are starting from scratch again. The new snowmobile maps have been dis tributed statewide. You can pick one up at any Sebago map station located at the Sebago Town Hall, Shea’s Gas Station, Sportsman’s Keg & Kitchen, and Jordan’s Store. By the time this article comes out there should be many excited winners from the MSA Super Raffle. Congratulations to all the winners! Club meetings are held the 1st Wednesday of each month at 6:30 at the old Town Hall. Wishing for a snowy season! Stay safe on the trails. Jim LaPointe SEBAGO BRANCH DUCKERS Sebago, ME Like us on Facebook or message us at sebagobranchduckers@gmail.com Hello Everyone, Happy New Year to all from the Wiscasset Sno-Goers, Writing this article this morning while lis tening to Todd Gutner talking about a pretty good snow storm and what he describes as an “active pattern” is pretty exciting! Some updates from the Sno-Goers. The annual Holiday party was as great time! We enjoyed some great food, fun games, and a lot of laughs. Each year, the Sno Goers present holiday wreaths to a couple of our generous land own ers. This year was no exception and the Sno Goers were pleased to present wreaths and MSA Calendars to Valerie Hickley and Kevin James for use of their property for our trail system. The Sno-Goers have been working bridges early this season to allow easy access with the new SxS. We have really enjoyed the new SxS and what an awesome tool this is! Any clubs thinking about making the jump to a SxS for trails work; this rig is working out great for us! Some additional business to attend to: The Sno-Goers meet on the 2 nd Thursday of each Month beginning in October and running through April. The meetings are held at the FD training facility next door to the club house with the meeting starting at 6:00 p.m. with a pot luck. Always fun to have guests and new members are always welcomed! Trail work continues on Sunday mornings, meeting at the club house at 8:00 a.m. (ish). The new WSTSV should be a fun and great asset to trail work this year! As always, a very appreciative “Thank you” to all of our landowners who allow access for our trail system. Jeff Robertson Wiscasset Sno-Goers WISCASSET SNO-GOERS Wiscasset, ME

WINDHAM DRIFTERS Windham, ME

Happy New Year!!! Hopefully Santa brings us snow for the New Year and we can start getting the trails in shape for a great season of riding! Snow came early in December and held on for quite some time until a wind and rainstorm washed it away. We still have time, keep doing the snow dance!! Trails have been mowed, signed and several bridges have been reworked. Watch for trail changes throughout our system. As land is bought, sold, and/or developed, we often have to change trails to satisfy everyone’s needs. Please obey signs and stay on marked trails.

LEXINGTON HIGHLANDERS sc Lexington, ME

Greetings Fellow Snowmobilers!! Congratulations to our club member, Audrey, for winning the MSA super raffle 1 st prize. She won the 2024 Polaris Indy XC 137 S4 Four Stroke. She is interested in selling it if anyone is interested. Please contact the club and we will put you in touch with her. We have been diligently working on brush hogging the 115-connector trail from the club to the Kingfield line and will be working in the opposite direction in the coming weeks. Thank you to all that have participated in this huge project.

New this fall we have established a text alert service to notify those who care to con tribute to club work functions and events. If you would like to be added to the list, please contact the club via Facebook or website. Our membership count is rising nicely. Please consider becoming a member if you have not joined yet. Please follow our Facebook page and fre quent our website for projects and events dates. The club is hoping to host several fun days this winter. The club meets the second Monday of each month at 6:30 at Pat’s Pizza in North Wind ham. Please join us if you’re interested. Lastly, a special Thanks to those dedicated officers and members who work year-round for our club. THINK SNOW!!! Ride Right and Ride Safe! Happy New Year, Shane Spencer-Club Reporter WESTBROOK TRAIL BLAZERS Westbrook, ME As winter approaches, our snowmobile club has wrapped up a productive and suc cessful offseason, ensuring the trail system is ready for another great riding year. A huge Thank You to all our Landowners!! Bush hogging across the trail network has been completed, opening corridors and improving visibility throughout the system. Trail signage has also been finalized, with clear, updated markers now in place to help riders navigate safely once snow arrives. To improve efficiency and protect valuable assets, the club has purchased conex boxes for equipment storage. These units allow tools, grooming equipment, and supplies to be stored securely and closer to the trail system. A small trail reroute was completed this season as well, with select trees removed to improve safety and flow. In addition, bridge repairs for the year have been finished, ensur ing safe crossings for riders and grooming equipment alike. In a significant step forward for accessibil ity, our entire trail system has now been added to the MSA Trails app. Thanks to Lance along with assistance from the MSA trail commit tee. Riders can easily view trail locations, plan routes, and stay informed directly from their mobile devices — another tool to enhance safe and enjoyable riding. Beyond trail work, the club also took time to celebrate the season together. A Christmas party was held, bringing members, volun teers, and families together to recognize the hard work put in throughout the year and to

club has something every weekend. Feb 7 th is the meeting @6pm 13 th Friday night spaghetti supper 5:30 to 7:00 pm Feb ruary 14 th /15 th is the Fishing Derby the club house will be open for snowmobilers and the public can stop to get a lunch on this weekend. Feb 28th would be a ride. March 7 th will be a meeting. Thank you all who helped CENTRAL REGION Happy Winter Everyone, To back up a bit to November, the Sunday after Thanksgiving eight of us gathered to fill out cards to send to our landowners as a thank you for use of their land. We send out just over 100 cards each year. Certainly worth the time to write a small message in each one, plus we eat Chinese food together after we are done. The beginning of December we held our annual Christmas party. It was a night of overeating and a fun gift exchange with 21 members young and not so young. Lots of delicious food, fun, cute, or practical gifts and conversation always make for a great evening at such a busy time of year. As usual, I wait until the last minute to sub mit my news. So, at this point I know we all had a white Christmas if you were here in the great state of Maine. I hope everyone had a great time with family and friends and I want to wish you all a happy and healthy new year. Take care, Roberta Kemp, President With the help of four young volunteers, we were able to complete the decking on the sec ond of two bridges being replaced with funds from the Recreational Trails Program. OBP Trailworks did a fantastic job on the project and they finished the backfill and grading after Thanksgiving. We have now replaced ten of our main bridges over the last four years. We took a chance after the early snow in December and we packed and rolled our east side trail system. We lost that base and will start again after Christmas. We were able to try our new SxS and do some training for our newest grooming operators so it was not a complete loss. The regional C4 map will be available from participating clubs and at the Rome Town Hall. The map is centered on the Readfield-Bel grade-Manchester area and covers 25 different clubs. Our meetings are the second Tuesday COCHNEWAGAN TRAILBLAZERS Monmouth, ME ROME RUFF RIDERS Rome, ME

The new section of the pole barn has also been completed. Great job to everyone that contributed. Lots of things are coming up in February. Our club will be open (snow permitting) during the February School Vacation Week of the 14 th thru the 22 nd from 9am – 4pm. Stop in and refuel your sleds and bodies! The Embden Pond Snow Fest will be held on February 14th from 12pm – 2pm. There will also be a club ride at some point during the month. For this and any other upcoming events, be sure to watch our Face book page for more details. Stay safe out there on the trails! Katie Grant Abnaki Sno Riders have had a busy fall. The trail master and volunteers have been working very hard. The ITS trail and connect ing trails have all been brushed and signed, bridges have been repaired or replaced, and a trail reroute has been completed. This year we are opening Trail 27 to Skowhegan after sev ABNAKI SNO RIDERS Madison, ME

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