9299-R5_MSA_March2026_Newsletter

From The Executive Board Secretary’s Report - Shanna Towle Directors Meeting - At The Northern Timber Cruisers Snowmobile Club, Millinocket, Maine - February 7, 2026

omission and will be placed on file at the office. President’s Comments: Thanks everyone for coming out. Thank you to all the clubs that helped with the ride this morning. Groomer appreciation day is today, want to recognize all groomers in attendance (all groomer operators stood). Ex VP Comments: Thanks for being here. Thank you, Timber Cruiser kitchen crew, for a great meal. All clubs everywhere have been out and registrations are showing that.. VP Regional Reports: Western: Jerry, same as everywhere trails are good, lots of events happening, been visiting lots of clubs and getting good feedback Coastal: Dave W not here, but coastal clubs are out and active on the trails, first time in many years been good riding Central: Ron not in attendance, no report Northern: Nick M all clubs at full tilt going, issue in central Aroostook begging to stay away from the Loring Air Force arch hanger & airstrip this is active now, about to take away permission and will hurt multiple clubs. Gateway SC hosting March meeting with a ride that morning starting 9 am and the same day as the ice carousel, snobowl coming up end of the month in Caribou area. Lots going on in the county watch clubs Facebook for updates Eastern: Eileen asked Charlie Huntington to come forward. Charlie planned the ride today and appreciated all the work put into it today. Up and running in the region, had a regional meeting in Dennysville (which is the only clubhouse that is 24/7) on the Sunrise Trail, Eileen announced no longer going to be a regional VP changing position in April but more on that later. Director of Operations & Safety: Wonderful to see everyone, lots of calls at the office & business as usual, working on V&V policy insurance price down and working better for the clubs. Please email the office to let clubs know what clubs are paying for liability insurance. Just got a bunch more safety signs I had a busy last few weeks. Rangeley Sno Deo was a big hit. I set up a MSA display thanks to Boss Powersports in Rangeley for the space. We arrived in Millinocket for our February MSA meeting, it was well attended and the food was great! Thank you, Northern Timber Cruisers, and the museum is always a treat to view! Off to Lisbon the Pejepscot Snowmobile Club invited me down for a great tasting supper and full house attendance to talk sled riding, these folks know how to eat! Off to the Medway School for a safety demon stration the students are always awesome up there and it’s a joy to talk to them. Thank you, East Branch Snowmobile Club, for your help always. This event always tugs at my heart strings The Veteran’s Snowmobile Ride from Pittson Farm to The Border Riders Clubhouse in Dennistown/Jackman. Shawn Mills puts together a weekend for the Veterans it’s a great time. Fireworks, great food, lodging, and a couple of days of riding make it a repeat event season after season for the Veterans. The Was sookeag Snowmobile Club in Dexter was my next stop. I had the privilege to ride my friend Roger Dunphy’s Ski Doo 600 triple it is a col lector’s sled that looks as good as a new one. Thank you! The Wassookeag Club is one of those clubs on a mission to get it done! Great food on the weekends and awesome groomed trails. The scenery on their trails is spectacular as well. I’ve been able to ride lots of trails here in the Central and Western regions. The trails were great and I compliment all the clubs for mak ing it happen! Please let me know if I can help you folks out. Thank you for all you do! AL is your easiest way to make money please get involved we’ll help you.

and are available. There are 9 different safety signs & have “join a club” signs for trails too. Lots of positive feedback on the new trail app. Membership: Eileen says memberships rolling in well but still going to be looking at the clubs that have no members and may have disbanded. Contest deadline end of Feb. Forms are on the MSA website please give as much info as possible on nominations. Membership counts as of Wednesday February 4th, Total 8757 with 7121 family, 1645 business. By region: Central 1258, Coastal 1050, Eastern 2202, Northern 1955, Western 2292. Scholarship: Barry R applications are out and available, still taking donations and will be awarding 3 this April. Any student can apply and no age limit, just need to be an MSA member. MSA Trail & MapGears Update: Brent is in Rangely with John, everything in the state is rideable could use a foot of snow but good out there. Rode ITS 84 from Plymouth to Rangely not a lot of deviation and looking good, going to be doing an update tonight on the app. Please email any updates to trails@mesnow. com. Funding & Legislation: Matt updated on our bill proposing that prior to Dec 15 discounted rate but after that will be an increase for “in season”, voted to take off the $1 million general fund ask and the bill has been voted to move forward for the early registration & in season split, still cheaper than NH but will put more money on the trails. This will take effect, if passed, in 2027 season. Will have to do some Q&A out there and how it will work. Things are going fast in Legislation but James is on top of everything. Hall of Fame & Hospitality: Gail if you want to nominate anyone for hall of fame get them in. Forms on the MSA website. Recap of some of the awards for nomination. Gave short joke. Old Business: March Showcase Ride update Northern

Region- Gateway SC hosting March meeting with a ride that morning starting 8:30AM from the intersection of ITS105/81 & Club Trail 94. This is where they have a large business sponsor’s billboard and the same day as the ice carousel the ride will go by the carousel, meeting that night at the Van Buren community center (130 Champlain St) with social hour starting at 5 pm, dinner at 6 pm ($20 per person), and meeting at 7 pm (Zoom will be available). New Business: Preparation for Annual Meeting- Coming up in April with all kinds of awards, so you need to get nominations in by Feb 28th. Always taking donations for the silent auction. 1 st Reading of the nominations for next season- 2026-2027 MSA Officer Nominations President Matt Stedman, Ex. Vice President Eileen Lafland, Treasurer Lori Hemmerdinger, Assistant Treasurer Barry Ryan, Secretary Shanna Towle, Eastern Region VP Barry Ryan, Easton Region Directors: Charlie Huntington, Craig Lemieux; Northern VP Nik Morrill, Jeff Brooks, Denise Duperre; Central Region VP Ron Nunes, Alan Dugas, Dave Cogley; Western VP Jerry Major, Paul Gallant, Paul Kennedy; Coastal Region VP Dave Watson, Tom England, Joe Walsh. After reading, it was asked 3 times if there were any nominations from the floor, but there were none. Will do the second reading at the next meeting in March. Announcements & Events: none mentioned other than what was in the earlier regional updates. Pot of Gold: Drawing drawn by Charlie Huntington, pulled Quad County in Springfield but no one in attendance so back into the pot. 50/50: Lucky number was ticket 906077 & winner was Steve Lane worth $100. Adjourn the meeting at 8:18pm. T he season is coming to a close quickly, and so is the deadline to submit an application for this year’s scholarship awards. All appli cations MUST BE POSTMARKED by April 1 st . The way the mail system is working if you are submitting an application, PLEASE SEND IT IN NOW! Don’t wait until the last minute because it may not make it in time. Once again there will be three $1500 schol arships awarded this year. Remember, you can apply each year if you want. If you are reapplying, PLEASE UPDATE your appli cation including new reference letters and all other information which means a new essay. You also do not have to be a high school senior to apply. You can already be in college! If you have any questions, please contact the MSA office and they will direct you to a Scholarship Fund person. T his will be the last report before the annual meeting. At that meeting we will announce the membership totals and present the annual awards. If you haven’t gotten your member ships in, time is running out! Here are the numbers as of Feb. 20 th when this was written Family memberships 7,665 Business memberships 1,897 Total memberships 9,532 Totals by Region Central 1,428 Coastal 1,169 Eastern 2,419 Northern 2,087 Western 2,420 245 of the 285 clubs have submitted mem berships at this point. There are 2 clubs with over 200 memberships, fourteen clubs with over 100 memberships, and eleven clubs with over 75 memberships. Great job everyone!!

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

Attendees: In person: Mark Chinnock, Ex VP Matt Stedman, Treasurer Lori Hemmerdinger, Secretary Shanna Towle, Al Swett, Marion Pinkham, Ed Pinkham, Eileen Lafland, Barry Ryan, Gail Ryan, Terri Major, Jerry Major, Bob Flagg, Nick Morrill, David L Cogley, John F Cogley, Steven Lane, Charlie Huntington, Dave Taylor, Kevin Ingersoll, Terry Berube, Kim Turner, Randy Turner, John Farrington, Donna Farrington, David Smith, Andrew Smith Via Zoom: Joe Walsh, Brent Spaulding, Mike Grass Jr, John Monk, Tom England, Brad Barker, Ed Brownell Meeting called to order at 7:04pm by President Mark Chinnock. Pledge of allegiance was said. Secretary’s Report: Copies handed out to read, motion by Jerry, second by David Cogley to accept as written. Motion passed. Treasurer’s Report: Read by Lori H and copies handed out to review, no errors or

Director of Operations

Scholarship Fund Committee

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

Alan Swett, 207-872-7282 234 County Rd, Waterville ME 04901 snowtraveler@roadrunner.com W ell, it’s been a very good year to snow mobile! Statewide snow had folks rid ing from places they have not been able to ride from or to in years. I met a group at the Nor ridgewock Park and Ride that rode all the way from Augusta. The Madison branch rail trail is a great addition to our MSA trail system, people from Central and Southern Maine are taking off from this new trail and riding to the Great Maine North Woods. It’s doing what it was intended to do. The supporting businesses along this trail are benefiting too. I’ve talked to many of them and they are very happy with the outcome. I’m working with a Maine insurance com pany on liability insurance. Hope to have some answers soon. Also, the Super Raffle will be beginning its 2026 life soon. Can’t wait for the new prizes and to our clubs, this

From The Membership Corner

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

6

h 2 0 2

a c r

6 l M a i n e S n o w m o

M

b i l

e r