8306-R2_MSA_March2023

From The Executive Board

From the President

that is! With the late start for most, it made for what seemed like an even shorter season, but thanks to mother nature coming through, most of us were able to enjoy some extremely good riding in many parts of the State, and as of this writing most of the State has seen three decent snowstorms in the last week, which should set us up for March if the weather stays cold. As I reflect back onmy first year as Executive VP I have learned something new every day, met a lot of great people and developed many friendships along the way. We spent many hours in the car and visited countless Clubs from Limerick to Madawaska. One of the things that amazes me is how engaged and active all of the Clubs are, holding Events, Suppers, Meetings, even Trailside BBQs. I can’t help but think to myself whenever I see a new event posted “wouldn’t it be nice if I didn’t have to work so I could just try and make as many of these as possible, like my good friend and leader Al Swett” LOL. Most everyone within Maine’s Snowmobiling It seems like we have been getting a lot of snow recently, hopefully good riding condi tions continue. With the late start to the season I am sure most areas would love to season rid ing go into late March and beyond if possible. Speaking of things coming to an end, the deadline for the MSA Scholarship is fast approaching. The application has an April 1st, deadline for the package to be returned to the MSA Office. It may seem like a daunting task but the scholarship committee members really feel like the application could be completed in a relatively short time. The majority of the required information is fairly straight forward and the letters of support might be something a college bound student has used for other pack ets. The essay is a big part of the scoring and over the years we have added weight to the Some events had to be cancelled due to the lack of snow. Roland and Beth have been trying to get me to the caves in the Western part of Maine but was shut down because of the weather. Many other clubs pushed through with what they had. The Border Riders in Jackman was the place to be on the 17th. The Annual Veterans Snowmobile ride from Piston Farms to the Border Riders SC pulled in 45 or so riders! What a good feeling day that was. I was very thankful to be there even if it was a bad weather day. The Anson/ North Anson SC was next on my list. A trailside cookout on a bright and cool Saturday was well worth the trip. Great W e’ve had a very tragic month. Three deaths a few days apart. This brings our total to five which saddens me very much. People should not be dying on our trail system. Sometimes novice riders, sometimes the best in the business. It’s not limited to the begin ners or the elite, we are all vulnerable. An acci dent can happen very quickly. Right, wrong or at the wrong place at the right time. These new sleds are very quick and have lots of power. Panic mode sets in and bad decisions are made. Sometimes lead to serious and fatal incidents. I know, I’ve been there, a ride in an emergency vehicle is no fun. Not only are you putting your life in danger, your family has long road ahead of them taking care of you. Your employer has to step up for your absent from your job. Lifeflight, our partners save lives. They H i Fellow Snowmobilers, United States and Canada. But, I stayed home due to being sick. I missed out on the fun and meetings. We were represented by a fine group of MSA folks that made us shine like a new diamond! Thanks so much to you. Lots of events happed in February, The Pine Tree Camp Egg Run had to be shorted because of -44 degree wind chills. And the eggs were not egg’s they used Jell-O instead! It was a big fundraiser for the camp along with the auction they had the night before. Thanks to all the snowmobilers who made it a fun time.

community knows of Al and knows that a day hardly goes by where he isn’t traveling to a Club function of some kind and there has been many days where he has traveled to Three or more. Big thanks to Al for being such a huge MSA presence to the Clubs all year long, BIG shoes to follow right there! As we wind down another season, there are just a few things to remember. All Clubs should be starting to get their paperwork in order as the deadline for Club and Municipal Grants isApril 30th and the Capitol Equipment Grants deadline is June 15th. Let’s also make a special effort to thank all of our Landowners and leave their property the way we found it, which we all know is our greatest asset when asking for permission next season. Until next time folks when we will close out the season with our “Wrap-up Edition”. As always if you have any questions, comments or just want to talk snowmobiling please reach out to me. Thank you, Mark value as we feel it gives us such great insight into the applicant. With the deadline less than a month away we would still like to encourage any and all to submit a completed scholarship. The committee would also like to appeal to clubs to think about making a donation to the scholarship. As clubs start to wind down for the season, many have year ending meetings or banquets and it would be a great time to think about supporting the cause. The scholar ship fund is held in an interest bearing CD and we hope to have enough money in our savings account so that the CD continues to grow. The more money we have the more scholarship we can give away. Thanks for all you do. Scholarship Co-Chair, Harvey Chesley Yes, I’m bragging you all make snowmobiling in Maine a country wide destination point. You’re the best. Yes, we have challenges everywhere. We will make it through it, it may look bad right now but with the reputation the MSAhas and with your passion we going to be ok. Thanks for all you do. Please call me. If I don’t have an answer I’ll find someone who does. I don’t intend or pretend to be anybody but me. And if its broke we can fix it. Enjoy March, AL have been called to rescue injured snowmo bilers in the Maine woods. Bringing them to safety in their flying hospitals. Look for the Landing Zone signs where you ride. Many accidents so far this year. These con ditions play a large roll in these crashes. Ice, downed tree branches, obstacles, wildlife, operators not paying attention, driving beyond their level of experience. Riding after having a few to much alcohol will do it in a hurry. While going fast on lakes and large fields the racetrack runs out really fast and you find yourself either crashed on the shoreline or in a group of trees. Turning on a corner can be deadly if you’re going to fast too. STOP at all stop signs. Stop ahead signs means stop ahead not going through the intersection or a road crossing. Stop and look both ways also the Railroad crossings should never be taken for food and old friends are a great combination. Their trails were in awesome shape and I got to go over the new Williams Bridge in North Anson. They did a great job revamping the old Railroad trestle into a new multi-use trail keeping riders off the river. How about breakfast? Over to Jim Boyce’s region we go. The Anson/North Anson SC asked me to ride along for a feed at the Kingfield school put on by MSA Western Region VP Jim Boyce and his Kingfield SC. Yeah, what a brunch! Another excellent feed put on by a very special group called Snowmobiler’s.

Lori Hemmerdinger (207) 890-5455 544 Plains Road • Poland, ME 04274 Treasurer@mesnow.com Treasurer’s Report Respectfully Submitted, Lori Hemmerdinger, Treasurer

Alan Swett, 207-872-7282 234 County Rd, Waterville ME 04901 snowtraveler@roadrunner.com

H ello,

What a strange winter to say the least. Still, the clubs came through as always making something out of nothing. They’re the best in the industry. Thank you for all you do. This last month brought us to all parts of the State. Many of us traveled North to meet up with the North East Chapter Snowmobile Council which brought in people representing snowmobiling from the Eastern Region of the

Monthly Income Monthly Expense

$ 22,694.19 $ 27,114.50 $ -4,420.31 $300,185.01 $126,296.45

Net Revenue

Checking (2/28/23)

DedicatedAccount (2/28/23)

Pay Pal (2/28/23) - Special EventsAccount (2/23/23) $ 4,987.53 Credit Line (2/23/23) $ - Building Fund (2/23/23) $ 53,962.79 BrianWass Safety Fund (2/28/23) $ 1,285.37 MSA Scholarship SavingsAccount $ 1,182.27 MSA Scholarship CDAccount $ 60,341.34 From The Membership Corner $

From the Executive VP

Mark Chinnock, Vice President 207-754-9874 544 Plains Road, Poland, ME 04274 napadude66@hotmail.com

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

H ello Folks,

Well this really does make me very sad and somehow seems quite unfair that this is the last full edition for the season, which can only mean one thing and we all know what

Membership Totals as of Feb 15, 2023 Numbers by Region Coastal Region 1,327 Central Region 1,743 Northern Region 2,241 Western Region 2,638 Eastern Region 2,656 Family memberships 8,635 Business memberships 1,981 Total memberships 10,616 Of the 283 clubs in the state, 256 of them have submitted memberships at this time. There are also 19 clubs with memberships over 100!! Way to go everyone!! As a point of interest- Last year on Feb. 15th we had 10,841 family members and 2,425 business memberships, so we are down from last year. Let’s hope this picks up for the end of the season. Remember- In order to be considered for the top ten in the state memberships must be in the office and processed, most likely by the time you read this. granted. Most trains in the state today are trav eling 45 to 50 MPH. Watch out for the pulp trucks they have the right of way. Usually at the end of our trip at the end of the day we are eager to get back to camp or the truck and head home. After driving 100 miles and some of us will drive 200 miles per day, we’re tired and take things for granted. Maybe there’s a downed tree on the way back on the same trail we we’re on in the morning or a wash out occurred during the day. This is why we need to be careful. New sleds have new gadgets, GPS, Bluetooth and other electronics which are supposed to be good for the riders can find us playing with the buttons and not paying attention to driving the sled. Please be careful folks, One death is too many. Be safe out there! AL

Scholarship Committee

Harvey Chesley, 207-314-0637 25 Hillcrest Dr, Clinton ME 04927 harv.chesley@gmail.com

Safety Committee

Alan Swett, 207-872-7282 234 County Rd, Waterville ME 04901 snowtraveler@roadrunner.com

5

m o b

o w

0 2 3 l M a i n e S n

i l e

r

r c h 2

M a