8116-R4_MSA_Sep2022_MaineSnowmobiler

An Official Publication of the Maine Snowmobile Association The Maine Snowmobiler

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September2022 • Vol. 54 • No. 1 MSA, PO Box 80, Augusta ME 04332 United we trail, divided we fail www.mainesnowmobileassociation.com

The Maine Snowmobile Association – Our Mission By Alan Swett, MSA President

The Snowmobile Association has a mission to protect and serve itsmembers. We are a non-profit volunteer organization dedicated to make snowmobiling in Maine safe, successful, and a worldwide destination. The MSA is the state voice for Maine Snowmobiling. Six people started the MSA in 1968. 54 years later this non-profit continues to grow. We offer clubs the sense of security while working with the state legislators and other state departments to benefit the best interest of the clubs. Maine

loud sleds. We are directly involved in maintaining and preserving the trails. We have a full-time office person to assist with day to-day issues, funnel information to where it needs to go, and field calls from the general public to give them information and guidance. We have members on state advisory trail committees fromKittery to Fort Kent. They meet throughout the year to discuss trail and landowner situations.

We offer safety training and signage, andwork closely with the State of Maine for groomer operator certification. The MSA is involved directly with the clubs to participate in signage and trail guidance so that we have consistency throughout the state.

Landowners are thankful that we protect and take pride in the trails with dedicated maintenance, safety check, looking out for litter, and deterring off trail riding and

Our largest fundraiser is the Super Raffle. The MSA prints the raffle tickets, posters, banners, does the advertising

for the event, and secures the prizes (thru purchases and donations). While the MSA picks up the cost of the event, any club that chooses to sell the raffle tickets keep half of the money raised. These funds can then be used however the club chooses. Only the amount due to MSA needs to be sent in, the rest is immediately available for club use. These raffle tickets have been proven to be an easy sell!

compete for the coveted Club Cup.

Every year our annual banquet honors volunteers and clubs with plaques and trophies. Anyone can attend and it is a great way to meet some like minded people and share stories of successes and possibly failures, make friends, and have some fun!

Some of the categories of awards are: • Snowmobiler of the year

We also have a Photo of the Year award (which is included as part of our annual banquet). These photos are collected and we choose the best of the best to become part of our popular wall calendar. The photo of the year also becomes part of the ITS Trails Map, and Super Raffle Posters/Banners. Wouldn’t it be fun to have bragging rights?

• Club of the year • Photo of the year • Groomer of the year

MSA Golf Scramble

If you like a little friendly competition, another fundraiser that we do is an annual Golf Scramble. Along with the open teams, snowmobile clubs can

• Youth Snowmobiler of the Year • Supporting Business of the Year • Hall of Fame inductee Continued on Page 2

r An Official Publication of the Maine Snowmobile Association Snowmobile Maine 2021-2022 r r

why not send them to us as well. The MSA office gets calls all the time asking what the trail conditions are in all parts of the state. The more information you send us, the more we can send these enthusiasts your way!! If you have a special event going on, perhaps a fundraising event, let us post it on the calendar within the website.

Continued from Front Cover All the above awards are chosen from nominees that the clubs and club members submit. In March of each year committees get together to review the nominations to see who BEST represents that award. We are so grateful that we have such dedicated and resourceful volunteers within the clubs. It is an honor to be able to share their stories with everyone.

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MSA, PO Box 80, Augusta ME 04332 United we trail, divided we fail www.mainesnowmobileassociation.com

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Snowmobile the Northern Region Page 20

Snowmobile Maine Page 4

Snowmobile the Central Region Page 19

Snowmobile the Eastern Region Page 22

Snowmobile The Western Region Page 21

We create the Snowmobile Maine Guide and the ITS Trail map. All of thesearedistributed throughout the state. Maine Tourism Association helps us to distribute these items therefore promoting our sport and supporting tourism in your areas. We have contracted with Polaris Ride Command and Bombardier Recreational Products Inc for a more rider friendly experience. More and more, riders are looking for GPS programs that help them navigate thru the trails.

together to honor our youth by making it just a little easier to further their education. Some of these applicants have amazing stories and our future seems so bright when we are going through these applications. Promote the scholarship program withing your club. I am sure the parents of the students would appreciate a little help. Remember that there is a two year minimum membership to the MSA requirement to qualify. Our membership is over 280 clubs strong which covers over 14,000 miles of trails. While we do collect dues of $15.00 per member, much of that goes back to you by way of promoting tourism, the sport of snowmobiling, and keeping the trails safe and up to date, keeping you informed, and working with the state agencies and legislators. Please let us know how we can help you. We are volunteers too, many of us in clubs that may face the same challenges and concerns. With all of us working together, we truly can make and keep Maine THE SNOWMOBILE DESTINATION OF CHOICE.

We also have the Maine Snowmobile Show in October. The event is attended by thousands of people from all over, not just Maine. Take the opportunity for your club to rent a spot and promote your anrea, tell them why your area has the best snowmobiling has to offer! Meet new businesses and suppliers. Create new connections.

Maine Snowmobile Association members have access to the seasonal Maine Snowmobiler paper. This paper communicates stories from other clubs, gives information on what may be happening, gives you updates from the Regional Directors, includes a calendar of events and trainings, and lists the supporting businesses. We also have a Facebook presence that can be used by your club to highlight an upcoming event. Let us know what is happening. We can post it and get a large audience for you. Don’t have an event but have a remarkable story? Let us know that too! We are happy to share.

While our old website is still operational, we have created a new, and more interactive website (mainesnomobileassoication. com) we are currently migrating all information to this site. When clubs are updating their trail conditions,

Let’s our Scholarship! Every year our scholarship committee gets not forget

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Ashland Grass Drags Set New Marks for Attendance

By Tom Hale

Great job done by Big Woods Grass Drag crew Upon arriving at the site for the 2022 Big Woods Grass Drags, I knew some thing big was happening. The venue parking areas were quite full with more cars and trucks arriving. I have been to many races in my career and this one rank up in the top tier as far as all that must be accomplished to simply host the race. The track spends the rest of the year as a field which is open. Hundreds of feet of fencing, wires for sound, tim ing and lights had to be run. Spectator seating had to be arranged as well as make the multitude of contacts with vendors. Events like this do not just happen. It was obvious that the team of volunteers made this happen. Granted some gaffs occur, however, those were not major and did not detract from the show. The heavy rain from the previous evening was dealt with and the racing surface was

groomed to provide a consistent and fast track. Jennifer Buckingham, Treasurer of Big Woods Racing Inc filled me in on the details saying, “We had approximately 1500 attendees which was fantastic! We had a total of 98 racers, 16 of which were Minis, and ran about 150 races just wrapping up in the knick-of-time as the sun was starting to set!” ”This is the best turnout we have had yet. Next year will be our fifth year so we are excited about how we can con tinue to make it grow!! At this point it is safe to say that we will be able to donate as least $10,000 to each of our snowmobile clubs (Ashland and Por tage Lake) totaling, $20,000!” “It takes approximately 50 volunteers to make this event happen and we are so fortunate for the hard-working crew that we have!” Anyone who might want to host such an event in their area needs to contact this group who put on the races for

their advice. Number of kids competing bodes well for sport

As Jennifer mentioned that 16 minis raced at Ashland or about 16% of the total field of racers. When I was involved in the fledgling Northern Maine Karting Association at Spud Speedway prior to Covid, we would have loved to see numbers like that. Not only did the crowd enjoy seeing the youngsters compete, but older rac ers also jumped in and helped when they saw a need whether it was simply pointing the way to the track or help ing with encouraging words before and after the kids raced

Ski’s up guys! Though not on a mini, Mason McDunnah, only a junior at Schenck High School in East Millinocket in far lane lost to Levi Nickerson in closest lane by .022 seconds. This was McDunnah’s first grass drag race. (HTF Motorsports photo)

When the green bulb is illuminated by starter Rod Theri ault, these two mini racers are full throttle for the win in action at the 2022 Big Woods Grass Drags in Ashland, Maine. An idea of the crowd size can be seen on the right of the photo. (HTF Motorsports photo)

Though only three, Oakley Caron on left took the Mini class with Everett Albert on right in second at Big Woods Grass Drags 2022. (HTF Motorsports photo)

Mason McDunnah, East Millinocket aboard the Mike Dill owned 2022 Polaris XCR 850 which he raced in the Stock 850 and Stock 1000 classes. McDunnah comes from a long line of snowmobile racers in the central Maine area. (HTF Motorsports photo)

Tanner LeBlanc in foreground and Oliver Jewett hustling down the track aboard their mini sleds. Jewett was the winner in this round. (HTF Motorsports photo)

Tristen Merchant with his able pit crew, grandfather Dana Morrell on left and Uncle Dana Morrell on right. Merchant races the Arctic Cat 500 formerly driven by Jesse Taggett of Woodland. This was his 10th race in his young career. He finished second in Stock 500 class. (HTF Motorsports photo)

Always a detail man, Van Buren native Kurt Dumond now living in Rochester, New Hampshire puts the “mas ter’s touch” on one of the three sleds brought to the 2022 Big Woods Grass Drags. The team had three sleds, 2004 Arctic Cat 600, 2004 Arctic Cat 700 and 2014 ZR 800 Arctic Cat. (HTF Motorsports photo)

Winning the Mini Mod class was Oliver Jewett on left with second place Aspen Merchant on right. (HTF Motorsports photo)

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2021 Groomer of the Year - Travis Roderick

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From The Executive Board

From the President

your continued support for a quiet industry that chugs along year round at the sum of over $600 million per year! The Volunteers are the most valuable they work around the clock day and night to make the trails smooth and safe for us. The supporting businesses are a generous group. The contributions statewide make the sport glide along each year. With over 280 MSA clubs in Maine their dedication and passion is unequal to any other activity, raising money from auctions to cook outs and raffles they are the backbone of the MSA. We are all in this together and we have to stand united to face the challenging days ahead. I would like to thank my friend Mike Grass for his leadership in the last few years. He fought through some tough times and we are all much better for his wisdom, professionalism, sincerity and positive energy. I have some big shoes to fill for sure! Mark Chinnock is the new MSA Vice President; he is an awesome gentleman with a successful business and a dedicated mind with ideas to only help us get better. The steering committee are a great group they have guided the MSA in and out of hardships that brought us closer as a team along with lifelong been a part of over the last couple of years in the MSA, and for all the new ideas, changes, and thought processes moving forward. We have an unbelievable core group of members that have proven time and time again that, YES, we can succeed and make things happen. They are go-getters and know how to take care of business. Have we made mistakes? Absolutely! Have we made some poor decisions along the way? Yes, we have. But you know what? We’ve learned and grown from them, and at the end of the day every decision that was made had the best interest of the association at the forefront. All you need to do is look at the numbers to see that we have grown and are stronger than we have been for a very long time! I am so very proud of these people. ANXIOUS , yes Anxious! Anxious because you can’t help but feel a certain responsibility to keep things going in the same direction with the same positive decisions and continue to see progress. But I guess that brings me back to my first point, speak and make decisions from the heart and everything else will follow suit. To the Membership, I guess I would say, just keep on doing what you’ve been doing because it seems to be working! I think we can all agree that a season doesn’t go by without at least some, maybe a few, OK maybe a lot of stumbling blocks along the way, but somehow, someway the Clubs seem to take care of business and get things done. Before moving on, I spent 4 years as Trails Committee Chair which taught me a ton about the “boots on the ground” side of the association, and the amount of time and effort that it takes long before the snow ever hits the ground (to get to that point where we can all enjoy the fruits of you as the Trails Committee Chair, a position I held for many years before moving to Vice Pres and President. I tapped Western Vice Chair Mark Chinnock to take the Chair posi tion when I moved up and he did a fantastic job with it. He took the “Trails Committee Signage Workshop” “On the Road”, traveling all over, the state educating new and old vol unteers on the do’s and don’ts of signage and it showed out on the trails. Thank You Mark and I hope you enjoy your time as MSA Vice President. The Trails Committee is still going strong with its group of volunteers all over the state, who work with clubs to make sure the ITS trail system is in place, brushed, signed and groomed to the highest standard possible. A standard, which you clubs seem to raise the bar on higher and higher each year. Trails Committee members are currently in communication with their respective clubs to find out if they have any trail changes for the upcoming season that will affect the MSA ITS map. If your club has any known changes,

friendships! Bob Flagg the computer wizard, Lori well she can do anything and goes above and beyond every day, Larry and Eileen LaFland are the dynamic duo ask anything and those two get it done. And another past President John Monk’s dedication to the MSA is an incredible asset. This team has made decisions that benefit all of us. The area VP’s are a great resource. David Watson heads up the Coastal Region, Jim Boyce does the Western, Matt Stedman Northern, Jack Lord Central and Eileen Lafland takes care of the Eastern. These folks are the wheels that keeps us turning. And, Liz our new Office Manager is kind and very professional, a great addition to the MSA team! Raffle tickets are available now and the October show is taking shape. We may have an issue with the Arctic Cat prize, it seems the factory cannot keep up with production and have cancelled lots of orders for that model. We’ll work on it and keep you posted. To all of the hundreds of volunteers, business’s landowner’s I thank you very much for all you do! Hope to see you at the show, AL our labor), it’s absolutely amazing the amount of VOLUNTEER hours that are spent to give the snowmobiler in Maine the best experience that we can possibly put out there. One thing I would like to remind the Membership/Clubs is that the MSA works for you! Yes, we all work as one, but at the end of the day it’s the MSA who stands behind their membership and fights for your rights. That’s not to say that over the last 25 years or so that we haven’t come up short a time or two, but we have tried hard in the last 3 or 4 years to try and tether the spokes back and connect the hub to the wheel. Reconnecting and showing an MSA face to the clubs has been one of our main goals during the last few years and will continue going forward. I know that some of you that are reading this right now feel that possibly we have fallen short in this department with your club and that may very well be true. Believe me when I say that we are making every effort to target these areas and bring back more unity to the association. When you see one, two, or ten of our faces in your club or at your event, you are looking in the mirror and seeing a volunteer just like you. All of us have families, full time jobs, and just like you, have a HUGE passion for the sport. We love being part of the clubs and participating at your events and wouldn’t have it any other way! Once again, I would like to say thank you for giving me this opportunity to serve as MSA Vice President. As always, if anyone has anything snowmobile related that they would like to talk about, whether it’s an issue or problem, help with direction or a project, or just want to talk snowmobiling, please reach please get them to your Trails Coordinator or me so we can get them changed for the upcoming season. I am currently working on the Trails Work shop for the Snowmobile Show in Augusta and also trying to find time to start a signage program for intersections statewide. More info on that to come at a later date Looking forward to seeing all of the Trails Committee members at our upcoming map ping meetings and excited for the upcoming season. I’m hoping the Farmers Almanac is correct in it’s cold and snowy forecast. As always, Think Snow, Mike P.S. Reminder ITS and ITS Connector Trail Signs ONLY, are available from Mike Grass Sr. at grasslands252@gmail.com. ALL OTHER SIGNS (stop, arrow, etc.) can be requested from Dept. of Agriculture, Con servation and Forestry, Snowmobile Division (Joe Higgins office). out to me, I want to hear it all! See you soon, Mark Chinnock

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

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

H ello Folks! Welcome Snowmobiler’s, Welcome to Maine a premier destination spot to ride a snowmobile. Why you ask? First the Landowners we have the best. We ride on over 90% private land. Thank you for that and

Respectfully Submitted, Lori Hemmerdinger, Treasurer

Monthly Income Monthly Expense

$ 12,984.83 $ 13,857.27 $ (872.44) $ 200,241.01 $ 72,739.80

Net Revenue

From the Executive VP

Checking (8/31/22)

DedicatedAccount (8/31/22)

Pay Pal (8/31/22) - Special EventsAccount (8/28/22) $ 4,987.53 Credit Line (8/31/22) $ - Building Fund (8/31/22) $ 53,894.83 BrianWass Safety Fund (8/31/22) $ 1,285.24 $

Safety Committee

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

G reetings Everyone, As I begin to write this letter to the membership, I can’t help but feel a true roller coaster of emotions for many reasons. Humbled, excited, and anxious are the feelings that stand out the loudest. HUMBLED because I have been given the chance to serve the MSA Membership for (God Willing) the next several years, and because I am blessed to serve next to a great friend and colleague Al Swett. If there is one thing that I have learned from Al already is that if you are passionate about what you’re doing, and speak from the heart, things have a way of working themselves out. EXCITED for all the changes that I have

Alan Swett, 207-872-7282 234 County Rd, Waterville ME 04901 snowtraveler@roadrunner.com W ell Folks, We had over 88,000 sleds registered last season, many accidents, many rider’s getting lost, a few OUI’S and four fatalities. Every year we hope fatalities will diminish. Education will be on the forefront this year. I’d like to see a new law that requires children take a safety course before riding on our trials. I hope that we can get the bill written before the next session at the Statehouse. It’s a great time talking to the school students so I want to make more visits this season. We still have safety posters available at the office or catch me at a regional meeting. The Bath Iron Works Shipyard’s generosity was above and beyond last year. They made over 300 safety signs that we got out to clubs. Good News - I met with the same folks and they volunteered to do more this year! Thanks so much BIW! Another large factory made a huge donation this year Sappi’s Somerset Mill in Skowhegan donated a 500-foot roll of conveyor for the Madison and North Anson train trestles. A big thank you goes out to them as well. This belt will go on the trestle for smooth travel ing. If you did not know the Madison Railroad branch was purchased by the State this past year and starts in Oakland through to Embden. It will be a multipurpose trail with awesome scenery and places to eat. We should be riding this new trail this year. The long and tall Nor ridgewock Trestle will not be ready this year. Hope you all have a great safe year! Be Safe Out There, AL

Trails Committee Chair Report

Mike Grass, Jr., 207-368-2316 249 Condon Rd, Plymouth ME 04969 mgrassjr@gmail.com H ello again to all the Snowmobilers out there. Here I am, once again coming to

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From The Executive Board

Secretary’s Report - Brad Barker 575 th Directors Meeting - Sportsman Alliance of Maine - Augusta - August 16, 2022

A t 6:40 President Al Swett called the meeting to order and called for the Pledge of Allegiance. Amotion to accept the Secretary’s report for the April 30, 2022 annual meeting was made, seconded and vote passed to place the minutes on file at the office. Treasurer’s report was read and placed on file at the office. President’s Comments-Al Swett reported he has been very busy with summer issues all over the state. He attended a meeting in Eustis. Sen Russell Black is working with the MSA and the state to work with people that own large pieces of land perhaps with easements. Al hopes to meet next week with them. In the Millinocket area Katahdin Woods and Waters is looking to expand and if this happens it could jeopardize trails in to Millinocket. Amessage from Chris McCabe from IF&W that the cleanup day on September 18th. Work details will be setup in different areas in the state to clean up rubbish that people have left on others properties. Show Update- The show is filling up and we are working on rate consistency. This has been an issue in the past. A discussion was had regarding rate structures and how to move forward with them. Admission to the show will increase by $1 this year. That price hasn’t changed for many years and it is felt $8 is a fair price. Hours of the show have also been adjusted as many vendors stated once the show closed in the evening there isn’t any place open to have a meal. Super Raffle: We have the Polaris and Nitro trailer. The other sled and trailers will be in within two weeks. The office is going to order more tickets, as there are only two boxes left. Posters are available. Executive Vice-President-Mark Chinnock: Stated that he felt fortunate to sitting up here and excited about what’s coming and changes. Many changes have already been made such as the zoom set up for Director’s Meetings. Mark would like to see focus on the improvement of the connectivity between everyone to make the MSA world a little bigger and stronger. Northern Region VP -Matt Stedman: Thank you to all the clubs in the north region, doing rerouting and trail maintenance. Look at social media for fund raising and other activities. Also, check club’s Facebook pages. Eastern Region Eileen Lafland: All packets are in the back of their car. On the packet is a code, number (in pencil) of Super Raffle tickets in the box. Lori and Matt are working on Survey form on our website, lots of good information coming in. Also don’t forget the officer update form. Please fill out the form. Really important to fill them out. There will be some regional meetings going on soon. Survey forms are on the website and the survey is on the email system – contactus@ mainesnowmobileassociation Survey is under membership forms. Coastal Region Dave Watson via Zoom. The merger with Socopee Valley will be an improvement. The next director’s meeting will be hosted by the Rt11 Streakers Snowmobile Club on September 20th at 6:30 pm. It will be held at Precision Equipment Coatings, 92 Emery Corner Road, Limerick, Me 04048. Western Region Jim Boyce - Worked with the ATV club this year and that helped him get things done. Three-year plan and the snow map looks good, hoping for Thanksgiving snow. Get out there early and start walking the trails - a lot of new posted signs out this year. Most of it around town that gets us out to the big land so, take a hike, Keep on track. Garbage cans for ATV clubs with stickers on them have been placed on the trails. Central Region Jack Lord - No one has gotten started yet, hoping some of the problems get solved with regard to landowner relations.

Jack will be out delivering membership packages and will take the opportunity to meet with clubs. Mark Chinnock- Shared new data – 130,644 new snowmobile worldwide. 88% snowmobiles sold to males. Raised over 3 Million dollars for charity. (Look for more statistics in the paper.) Joe Higgins - Actual changes and new things coming out even though it’s summer. The Advisory council is working hard for our cause. Joe passed out handouts with current numbers. Financially had a very good year, with 89 thousand registered in Maine. This is a testament to all the volunteers’ hard work. LD280 increase of which 100% went into the trail fund and capital equipment grant program. The increase in the capital equipment fund was much needed and was able to help every applicant that needed help. If someone feels like they don’t have a fair chance it really isn’t true, tell people to fill out the application completely. We have tools to help them upgrade their equipment. Trail Fund - grants and other summer projects, trail reroutes, if there are funds available, they can help. Registrations increased over the last years. No one realizes how much time is put into the trails, this is almost all volunteer work. Last season 126 thousand (volunteer) hours were documented in just trail work. Grants did go out so clubs should be getting municipal and club grants soon. If you haven’t seen them let him know. Deadline dates all due on Dec 1st now. Reimbursements requests are due April 30th. Please get them in as soon as you can. Also, in packets advisory council meetings, increase of equipment rates 10% - labor still the same -$15/hr. Capital equipment grant application will have added to the scoring process – “Have you had your trails GPS? And when?” A new question is also being added – “Have you had your trails inspected for signage? And when?” Call office to get help with that. (Our CEG) percent isn’t set in stone yet, right now it is at about 48% because of LD280. Equipment purchase deadline is September 15th and has been waived because equipment is not available yet. If you want to know where a check went then call the office. Joe is working with MSA and wardens in reference to off trail riding. He also brought up liability insurance. Risk management landowner liability law and liability insurance Title 14 159A. Landowners still have all the same protection they always have. State liability is an umbrella insurance, (kicks in) after club or individual insurance. State insurance is for the trails (and landowners). When having conversations: What are clubs doing for liability insurance? ATV clubs having trouble finding carriers for the insurance. Most have liability through V&V. Larry Lafland stated most clubs are using V&V for liability in Eastern region, but it increased by $500. Joe stated some club have an Inland Marine Ins. policy with replacement cost. Landowners are still covered. Still have the same protection that they always have had. Risk Management said if clubs don’t have insurance, then the state insurance is not going to step in Any questions get in touch with them. In your Club and Municipal Grants, you can show insurance expenses as administrative costs. List of larger landowners so you don’t need to contact them: CMP, Versant, SWOAM, and more, that have land on 23 clubs. Call our office with any questions. There are four open seats on the advisory council. PLEASE reach out if you’re interested. Council gets together to talk about capital equipment grants, funds, scoring. We meet in July and then at the show, so email us with questions, concerns, thoughts for our office, to get direction from 10-member council

regarding club grants, municipal grants, capital equipment grants, landowner issues. Trestle in North Anson Madison/Embden bids have gone out and Madison north should be open for this winter. The rails have been pulled. Norridgewock bridge won’t be done for this winter. Oakland to Norridgewock will be open. Safety committee Al Swett- 4 fatalities last year, but as far as safety goes, we’re doing pretty well. At the show, there will be a children’s safety course. Would like to go to schools and clubhouses. Not sure if BIW is still doing signs, as he hasn’t been able to reach them. ATV law about students getting a safety class, and Al feels we should have that for snowmobiles as well. Maybe we should look into it for next year. New safety books are ready MSA Trails committee – Mike Grass Jr. First time had a registration fee and registration increase both increased. EVER. One trails committee meeting done in August. Another on September 6 - need map changes by then to get the map out. Changes in Island Falls, going back to ITS 85 from 20 years ago, towards Portage. Steering committee John Monk – Insurance and registration has already been covered. ATV’S do use a lot of town and secondary roads, could be cumbersome, not looking at us like ATV’s. Liability insurance needed to cover clubs’ exposure. There is a proposed amendment regarding off trail riding that is trying to get in emergency legislation. It is to address the operation of a snowmobile in reference to sleds going off trail, farmers field. (Trespass). The reason it’s a problem is that the law does not say that you CAN’T go off the trail. If passed, It will become a civil penalty like a speeding ticket and doesn’t need to go through the courts and involve the landowner. If we want to make adjustments to it, like increase the fine, it needs to get in as a proposed amendment first, then when someone testifies, they can suggest amending. There is a concern about the term “reasonable” with field with no signs. But the wardens have indicated they may be able to provide signs to help with this. It gives wardens some wiggle room and also municipalities some power and a tool to work with. A municipality can inform on social media does count. Motion from the floor “To move forward Maine Snowmobile Hall of Fame Committee

with this legislation” which was seconded and the vote passed. May become law in this season, not sure, but closer than ever been. Old Business: Executive Director - what should they be doing for us? The Steering committee is looking for input on this position so it can move forward. Suggestions that have already been given include: Show promotion, Marketing, Legal related areas, Business decisions, Technology management Venmo accounts for money transfer, Swipe card machines, Lobbyist Clubs are funding this position and would like someone in Augusta. Scholarship Committee Co-chair Berry Ryan: We do have news from the scholarship committee that will in this month’s paper. There is no scholarship in the packets but it will be in the paper and on the website. Separate fund for donation. Going forward we need to have more scholarship applications. Winners’ essays will be published in the papers. Hopefully, the committee will have new hats to buy that support the scholarship, as well as decals, and the scholarship booth at the show this year. Hospitality committee Gail Ryan: Can do things besides sympathy cards and would like ANYTHING happy. Old business: Newspaper deadline is the 25th of the month prior for club news and 20th of the month prior for articles. Golf Scramble Skowhegan won club cup. Sponsors were way down, but talked some people into stepping up to Blizzard sponsors. There were 26 teams and it was the 2nd best with take home money Other Business: Al would like to see a plaque at the office with past presidents on it. A motion was made, seconded and passed to have them do this. Pine Tree Camp’s 50-year ride is in happening sponsored by Dysarts in first weekend of February. The 2022-23 calendars are for sale. Sappi donated conveyor belts for Madison/ Norridgewock bridge. Pot of Gold: Bradford Snowblazers were drawn. No director present so $400 was forfeited. 50/50 Raffle: Mark Chinnock $80. Motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:30PM was seconded and passed. Marion Pinkham, both pioneers in their local snowmobile communities and active MSA contributors. Congratulations to Jim and Marion as they join a prestigious group of MSA Hall of Fame members. The Hall of Fame Committee is ready to hear from you the snowmobile community of nominees for this years’ selection. Nomination forms are available from any committee member or on the MSA website. Committee members include Eric Spear, John Holmes, Ken Oberg, Roland Bowie, Jerry Major, Mike DeRusha, Barry Ryan and John and Melanie Monk. We are always looking for more committee members to join our group, please reach out to myself or any committee member for more information. Important date to remember is February 28th 2022 which is the deadline for submitting nomination forms. We look forward to reviewing many nominations from the snowmobiling community; this is your opportunity as a club or individual to share your story. We want to hear from you! Beth Bowie Respectfully submitted, Brad Barker, Secretary

Beth Bowie, Chair, Hall of Fame 207-240-5571 bthbowie@yahoo.com T he Hall of Fame Committee was privileged to induct Jim Splan and

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

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From The Executive Board

Steering Committee

Jack Lord Home: (207) 672-3915 Cell: 207-717-7131 17 Dinsmore St. Bingham, ME. 04920 Email: jacklord5256@gmail.com This paper goes out to all folks who registered sleds in Maine last season, if you are not currently a member of one of Maine’s great snowmobile clubs I hope something you see in this paper encourages you to reach out & join. It is a great way to meet new folks, lend a helping hand & spend time with others most of the time. Now if all of us cold, snow lovers get what we want at the end of the year we should all be happy. If the old farmer’s tale about hornet nests is any indication, we should be good to go as we have had two very large nests at our house and both were a good 20 feet in the air! Let’s hope that’s the way it goes. Even though it has been off season for some, there are a few of us who have been “snowmo biling” right along. The office has worked on membership cards and packets, super raffle prizes and getting ready for the snowmobile show in October. Some Eastern region clubs and I assume other clubs around the state have also done trail work in the dry weather to avoid the fall wet holes that sometimes appear. I have also seen fund-raising events happening to help the clubs get ready for the new season. Who says snowmobiling only happens when there is snow on the ground! In late fall, early spring was asked to become a member of the snowmobile advi sory council and I gladly accepted. In June H It is sometimes hard to think snowmobiling when its’ in mid-80’s and humid, but that’s what dedicated volunteers all across the State are doing to ensure this winters’ trails are ready. Thank you to those folks, without you and gracious landowners we would be pretty bored riding around our own properties all winter. Get out and attend a fall fundraiser, landowner dinner, go to the MSA snowmobile show and get pumped up for this coming winter season!! I am currently just landing in my chair from the Big Woods Grass Drags. It was a true show. While the entire event was impec cable, it truly displayed a giant collaboration of the entire area. There was one take-a-way that could not be ignored; If there were not 15, there were twenty, 120 and 200 class kids’ sleds entered in the classes. This, with every one of their families in tow was an incredible site to see. Incredibly done and thanks for the nod for MSA to participate! While the weather overall this summer was very good, the office and steering committee stayed on par watching out for our great sport. There never seems to be a shortage of issues It’s 78 degrees and I’m thinking real hard about the white stuff. I hope everyone is having a good summer.. Now I have a favor to ask from every club, we need you to call the office immediately and let us know who to call and where to deliver the pandemic and a registration increase and up they go! Now THREE years running! This is clearly a testament to the club’s resiliency to improve things. Additionally, the Capital Equipment Grant fed every qualified applicant to an even higher rate at purchasing new grooming equipment than the previously pre-approved 40%. (cur rently higher than 48%). These are exactly the figures we hoped we would see with the MSA and club led support of LD-280. Addi tionally, this summer, rails have been lifted and trail will exist THIS WINTER in areas of the state that has never been open. Congrats to all the clubs in the mid-state area that are stepping up another rung and continuing to enhance the big picture for everyone. If all those accomplishments are not positive prog ress, I’ll take up ice fishing… H i Everyone,

that enjoy the sport as much as you do. Clubs statewide need new active members to keep this all going. With ever increasing registration numbers and more folks coming here from away for our consistent and long winters the more work the same crews end up doing. The Maine Snowmobile Association & its clubs are the reason we have all the great trails across the State, connecting the riders from point A to point Z and all the businesses in between. Volunteers meet with private landowners to get permission to access property, place signage, repair bridges, groom trails, etc. At a larger level the clubs and associations work to ensure that issues that affect snowmobilers & snowmobiling are being discussed and worked on so we can continue to enjoy our great sport for years’ to I was involved in my first scoring/ award ing of capital equipment grant money. I can honestly say, scoring those applications was a very difficult task. While you want to award everyone that applies money it isn’t always possible. The council met for the morning and all present talked about why they scored as they did and then decided on who and how much money clubs would receive. Thank you to Eastern Maine Snowmobile Club for host ing this meeting and providing snacks. It was quite a process and in the end most all clubs that applied received some money. All areas of the state will have some new equipment on the ground this season which should make the trails in Maine that much better! I can’t wait to ride those trails and look for the new equipment. Eastern region clubs- membership packets should be in the hands of someone in your club by the time you read this. All packets that were not taken by the club at the August directors meeting came home with me or were put in the mail. The eastern regional directors First up, we need a new director to lead our ship. While we as members clearly have held our own, we are quietly bouncing across the Volunteer/Employee Line. Our president is rocking it and needs a pillar to bounce day to day transactions so he can excel in what he does best. (as he is currently returning from Madawaska). This engaged position will answer to the E-Board and if all goes as planned, the steering committee will quietly morph into more of an oversight committee to bring in outside feedback keeping the mission on track. Don’t misquote me here, as we have one of the best groups in place right now that we ever had but need a giant cheerleader to rally the gang with new thoughts. Communi cation, Marketing, Technology Development, Program Implementation and a “No Limit Attitude” is exactly what we are looking for. Our budget is in place for this career minded position and a great package is available for this Excitement Building Individual. Send your resume to Editor@mesnow.com. Second on the hot list is a small piece of legislation that will help clubs and landowners combat the issue of “off-corridor” trail related issues. This is a giant explanation that is any thing but new but needs some heat especially in our more congested areas of the trail sys tems. Bear in mind this is not an attack on “off-trail riding” that clubs, trailmasters and membership packages. The postage has gone up so much and some of the area people are delivering the packages to the clubs to help cut the cost. Without the information, we cannot deliver your club paperwork. Up until Sept.30th, I will have the packages for the Central Region so you can call me and I will get them to you. After that, the only other way is for you to go to the MSA Office in Augusta and pick up your package. Thank you for helping us serve you. On the lighter side and so much more fun. I am going to try to be at the Snowmobile Show as much as I can be and I’m looking forward to seeing every that we need to tend with. Here are our current three.

come. The MSA has sent out a club survey form link to try to determine how we can best help clubs of all sizes across our State, ask at your next meeting if your club has submitted a response. We will leverage this to help us move forward, the answers will enable the MSA to help the clubs and understand your challenges. If you are a club that needs help or a group of new officers/directors please reach out to your local MSA VP or regional directors. We are here as a resource for the clubs to help in any way we can. If you have a question, problem, concern, or idea on snowmobiling in “The County”, get in touch with me. You can contact me at the phone # or email below. Matt Stedman Until October, have a great start to the new season and get those memberships and raffle tickets in. Eileen one of you. I would like to shake your hand and Thank You for all the work you do for the sport. Without you, we would not have the great trails and the awesome organization we enjoy. Remember, be safe when working on the trails. Have Fun and call if you need me and don’t forget to Think Snow KEEP SMILING.......BE SAFE. Jack Lord and other members were given packets for their area and were asked to deliver them to club contacts. What they didn’t do Larry and I delivered. If you do not have yours, please contact me first as I should know who it went to. Remember, membership runs out the end of September so GET YOUR MEMBER SHIPS SENT IN ASAP. Super Raffle Tickets- I do have a small sup ply in my possession. Call or email me before you try getting them from the office and I will see if we can connect to try and save postage. I believe there is a supply in your club pack ets you can start with, but if you need more, please contact us. NOTE MY EMAIL CHANGE- Over the summer Larry and I changed email address. The new one is- L.andE.lafland525476@ gmail.com Please use this one as the old one is no longer available. Lastly, The MSA would like to encourage every rider to dig deep and provide some vol unteer time to help a club. There is no secret that there is a struggle to get labor these days. The MSA, Snowmobile clubs and ANY civic group providing well-being to people are all in the same boat. Many monetary wise are rolling along, but the hands-on, in kind labor continues to fall backwards. Plan NOW to attend a trail related activity, ticket sales or a landowner BBQ. No one comes home unhappy for volunteering their time. Put it toward something you like and appreciate: LIKE SNOWMOBILING! Here we go Folks, John Monk registered Maine Guides have secured. The ONLY intent is to keep riders on pre-approved trail. This is a commonsense rule of prevent ing the conversation of a landowner asking, “Why am I seeing 38 spots of trail dug up 90 degrees to the groomer wall”? This initiative is to give wardens, clubs, and landowners an additional tool to enforce using the “trail” as opposed to their fields, septic systems, berms, and restricted areas not asked for by the clubs. The preliminary wording has been developed and appears to carry weight to get the job done and feedback from clubs has supported it. If you or your club have suggestions, NOW is the time for you to weigh in with positive vibes of solving the issue. Shoot ideas directly to me at monksdoomopars@hermon.net.

John Monk Chairman of Steering Committee monksdoomopars@hermon.net W owza! August is over, the stars seem brighter, the mornings and evenings are shorter and there are a bunch of membership boxes in my front seat…. We all know what that means, right? If this past month is any indication of the upcoming season, Maine is clearly breaking the mold! First up, every time in history a “Registra tion Increase” was implemented, the following season resulted in lost registrations. Nobody has been able to really figure it out other than possible poor conditions, just resistance to chip in at current rates or an outright baulk at the system. Not this time, Baby! Couple in a

Eastern Region VP

Eileen Lafland, 207-843-7813 PO Box 733, Holden ME 04429 L.andE.lafland525476@gmail.com H ello Everyone, All the summer people who requested hot, humid, dry summer days must have been excited this year! It sure has been like that

Northern Region VP

Matt Stedman 207-557-1921 (call or text)

PO Box 621, Ashland ME 04732 Stedman.matt@jdirving.com

Central Region VP

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From The Executive Board

G reetings,

H ello Everone,

Western Region VP

Coastal Region VP

Summer has been hot & dry for a lot of the state. Let’s hope winter is cold and Snowy!!! As clubs ramp up for our season, We have an MSA Directors meeting on September 20th. This will be held at TBone trail in Limerick Maine with burgers and dogs. Hosted by Route 11 Streakers. I hope to see a lot of you attend. On Sept 25th is the Ossipee Mountaineers Snowmobile Club Swap meet at the clubhouse in Waterboro. Coastal region has a new director Steve Bennett he joins Eric Perreault and Rod Berry welcome aboard and Thank you. If you need any help, please reach out to me or one of my directors. Looking forward to another great season, Thanks to all clubs for doing their part.

It’s almost that time again with the fairs starting and hunting season right around the corner we’re next. Now is a good time to start checking on trails, meeting new landowners and check on bridges before the snow flies. Membership packets are being delivered as I write this. Don’t forget super raffle tickets are great way to earn a little extra for your club. Also looking for a club in the western region to host a directors meeting in January. Reach out to me and I’ll give you the details. Until next month THINK SNOW!!! Jim

David Watson, 207-205-1558 412 Roberts Ridge Rd East Waterboro ME 04030 dwatson6841@gmail.com From The Membership Corner

James Boyce, 207-265-6512 1168 Fosterhill Rd, Freeman ME 04983 Jboyce1168@gmail.com

W elcome to the 2022-23 season! By now the membership packets should most if not all be in the hands of someone from every club in the state. Many, many thanks go to Liz in the office for putting these packets all together this year! She spent a great deal of time and effort making sure they were all ready for the Aug. directors meeting. Just a few reminders on completing the info and sending it in to the office 1. Make sure ALL info on the cards is accurate including name, address, phone number and number of people in the family. If you need to make a correction, please do not white it out, just write new info beside old info. We need to be able to read both old and new to enter it into the system. 2. If a family was a member last year or in past years and you do not receive a pre-printed card, make a note on the transmittal form that it is a renewal and send the info in on the transmittal form. We do not need you to make out a new card as they are in the system with a member ID number. If we have questions, we will call you for clarification. 3. Memberships expire the end of September. In order for members to receive the November paper we must have their renewal in the office by the end of October. For each month after that we need the info no later than the 20th of the month before. 4. Send in renewals as you get them not hold them for weeks or until the end of the season. Members want to get their info as soon as they can, and in order to do that the office needs the info. 5. If you need help or have a question you can email membership@mesnow.com or call Eileen at (207)-843-7813 or contact the office. Have a great year everyone! I look forward to getting your memberships so I can get them in the system! Eileen

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

MSA Club News

P.S.~~ Oh, those Redsox!! P.SS ~~ Think Snow!! P.SSS~~ Thanks,Marty Oxley!! P.SSSS~~Keep Fluet’s $100, he’s loaded!!

the month September through April at 6:30 at the Portage Town Hall- or in the new groomer building (behind the Portage Town Hall) once it is completed. We hope you will join us, We try to make it fun. The Portage Lakers work hard but Play Harder! Here is wishing all of you a happy fall season, ASHLAND SNO-MOBILE CLUB Ashland, ME Hello Maine snowmobilers, I hope you have all enjoyed your summer. Meetings are on the 2 nd Monday of every month and most of them are at the Ashland Rec Center. We will be working on member ship packets & and getting our 2022-2023 sea son schedule of events nailed down. If you are interested in joining the club, learning about who we are and what we do, please reach out to us on Facebook by searching for “Ashland Sno-Mobile Club”. If you have enjoyed our trails, live &/or ride here often please consider joining our club. Every member helps to make the load a bit lighter and ensure the clubs’ future. There is always a way to chip in and help regardless of what past experiences you have. We look forward to meeting some new folks this year, enjoying good times both maintaining & rid ing the trails in the Ashland area. We will be scheduling workdays for the fall & always need extra hands to assist in bridge repair, sign maintenance, brushing & trail clearing. Contact us to find out how you could help. See you soon, Ashland Sno-Mobile Club Dear Members, It’s hard to think about snowmobiling when it has been in the 80’s and 90’s but I’m still looking forward to it! It has been a great sum mer for the ATV branch of the club. An ATV ride was held in conjunction with Mapleton Daze and a large group participated in the CHAPMAN RIDGE RUNNERS sc Chapman, ME Tammy Kenney Club Reporter

BENEDICTA SNOW GANG Benedicta, ME

NORTHERN REGION NORDIC LAKERS Stockholm, ME Nordic Lakers Club held a meeting in May and elected officers. President- Bub Anderson Vice President- Steve Anderson Deadlines for club news is the 25 th of the month prior to the publications. Please submit articles to editor@mesnow.com

Hi Gang, A very strange thing is happening right now~~~ the Splanman is doing the club news ten days before the deadline --- very strange!! I trust you all had a great Summer, as it has been a hot one for sure. As usual, the Snow gang never stops - we have invested in a new 14’x32’ parts building for all groomer parts, signs, and club sled storage. Now we can have everything in one place for a change. This building was built by the Amish and looks very nice. Your Snowgang officers for the 1922/23 season are as follows: President, Keith San ford. Vice President, Randy Bates, Secretary, Kim Joyce, Treasurer. Mark Fichter. Your Trailmaster is once again Patrick Joyce. Randy Bates has also taken on the position of Project Director. I will be in an advisory position only to the club as I am still having health issues. If you have any issues that need to be addressed, some new ideas, or just want to say “hi” any one of the above, will be glad to help. Hey, if you are looking for a fun time Sep tember 24th is our annual Landowner Appre ciation BBQ. This year we will we joined by the Katahdin Valley Wheelers ATV Club. Here is a chance to see new faces and meet new friends. This event will be held at 285 Pond Road at Keith Sanford’s home. I believe the serving time is around 1:30. Hope to see a great crowd, should be fun. As far as club meetings go, I will have to get back to you in my next news because the Bearden is open, so we may go back there, stay tuned. Also, our Caribbean Cruise raffle tickets are out, so check with any club officer or me to see where to get one. They will go fast so do not dilly dally!!!!!!!! Lastly, and so very important, please join/ rejoin the club as soon as possible. Our first membership mailing will have already gone out before you read this. The Snowgang web site is wwwbenedictasnowgang.com for all club info. Well, that’s all I’ve got for now, got to fix the mountain lion some lunch. Jim Splan, Reporter@ Large

PORTAGE LAKERS sc Portage Lake, ME It is Pumpkin Everything Season!

Summer is winding down, the morning air has a chill to it, and the days are getting shorter. While many clubs take the summer off and enjoy it, the Portage Lakers have been busy doing, well, lots of things! The new Groomer building is well on its way. Thanks to all of you that have had a hand in making the project come to fruition. And especially Thank You to the gracious donors that are making this huge project possible. Without all of you, we would still be working out of a groomer shed that the groomer barely fit in. There is still work to be done, but I am certain this group of volunteers will get it done before the first snowflake falls. Special thanks to Bruce, Glenn and Otis for working tirelessly on this project! This summer, PLSC also acquired the pig roast back from PHCC. There were 6 or 7 years that we had not hosted. This year they offered it back, so we figured why not?! The extra funds will come in handy for the build ing fund. It was a very successful event. We served about 260 people, give or take. We ran out of food at the end, so there were a few folks who had to order pizza for their dinner, but everyone was very understanding. Pine State Motorcycle Club came earlier in the afternoon and set up a few riding events for the crowd to watch while they were patiently waiting for the meal to be served. Thank you to Stu and Kathy Craig and the rest of the rid ers that provided entertainment. Thank you to all of you that helped cook, baked cookies and squares, donated supplies, served, carved, and cleaned up afterwards. It was a great day, and I slept well that night! As always, if you would like to donate your time with any of our ongoing projects, we wel come you. If you would like to join our club or make a monetary contribution, check out our website at portagelakers.org. Our Club meetings are the first Friday of

Treasurer- Phyllis Orthaus Secretary- Denis Orthaus Directors- Wayne Violette Connie Brown

Graydon Sodergren Cindy Anderson Brent McKeen

The club participated in the New Sweden Midsommer held on June 18, 2022, with a Food Booth. Annual Holiday Party is scheduled for December 10, 2022 Overnight Trip (tentative) February 17, 2023 Spring Dance/Raffle April 15, 2023 General Membership Meetings are sched uled as follows:

September 9, 2022 October 14, 2022 November 4, 2022 January 13, 2023 February 10, 2023 March 10, 2023 April 14, 2023 May 12, 2023

We are hoping for a great winter season 2022/23 for snowmobiling and seeing a lot of people using our trail system. We will be starting the membership drive in the very near future and will get information out to current members and others that would like to become members and support our great club!! Barbara McKeen Club Reporter

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