8116-R4_MSA_Sep2022_MaineSnowmobiler

MSA Club News

ual labor getting that cleaned up. Any volun teers??? With the uptick in the housing market recently, Buckfield is feeling the impact. Sev eral houses have changed ownership, requir ing the need to reach out to new landowners in the hopes we can continue using the trails across their land. Lumber has been purchased in preparation of replacing many bridges in town. That work will start soon and will also need volunteers. See you on the trails soon. The older we get, the faster time flies so a blink of an eye and winter will be upon us. Hello, As September approaches I’m sure every one is starting to think fall and all the work that needs to get done for the 2022/2023 sea son. We held our annual summertime cook out/meeting on August 13th with 18 members present. After all had enough of smoked baby back ribs we held a short meeting to discuss our projects for this fall. We will be re-decking the bridge on ITS 84 just off of RT 145. We also discussed rebuilding of the Black Brook bridge on ITS 89 with steel girders versus the spliced telephone poles we have in there now. We also discussed procuring additional pres sure treated wood for decking or going with spruce mats and have gone out for pricing. This will all hinge on the needed manpower resources to do these projects. As I had stated this spring about all the folks that make this happen with the past winter grooming efforts, I had accidently omitted some of our most important workers we have, the guys that go out and do all the brushing on our trails. I’m not going to mention all the names, but you know who you are, A huge thank you to them! That’s it for now let’s hope for a snowy winter! Greetings from the Ossipee Mountaineers Snowmobile Club located at 255 Old Alfred Road, East Waterboro, ME! After a two-year hiatus from our Annual Snowmobile Swap, we are bringing it back this year on Sunday, Sep tember 25th from 9 am to 2 pm! See our ad in this month’s Maine Snowmobiler. We would like to welcome all snowmobile enthusiasts and also ATV riders. Please feel free to come and bring any equipment and accessories to swap or sell, we will not be charging gate fees this year, but welcome donations. Although we are not offering a formal competition this year, we would love to have Vintage and Antique Snow mobile owners bring their sleds to display as this always brings back many great memories for those who have been participating in this sport for many years. There will be dealers pres ent with their inventory, Snowmobile Club and ATV Club information available, and we will be selling the MSA Super Raffle Tickets. Food will be available for purchase on site. Please spread the word, it will be good to see every one again and continue conversations about the great sport of snowmobiling! Our membership meetings will be resuming on Saturday, September 10 th and will continu ing through April, meeting on the first Saturday of the month at 6 pm for a potluck dinner and 7 pm for the business meeting. Membership is open and we would love to have you join our club. There is always much work to be done and more hands to help are always welcome. Club Reporter, Leah Frechette NORTH FRANKLIN sc North Franklin, ME David Greely Vice President COASTAL REGION OSSIPEE MOUNTAINEERS sc East Waterboro, ME

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ALNA sc Alna, ME

SACO PATHFINDERS sc Saco, ME Find us on Facebook

We in the MSAworld are SO EXTREMELY fortunate to have such an EXCELLENT group of leaders in our organization. The 2022 Pres ident Award went to EXACTLY who it should have, the group of people that kept this organi zation together AND made it so much stronger and better. It took HOURS of volunteer work and time to make it happen but make it happen they did!! The next to last page on the “Special Edition” on our paper shows the formidable group of folks that did most of the work to make it all a reality. I’m sure there were others who made a great contribution, but this bunch went above and beyond. We would NOT be where we are if they all hadn’t “stepped up” and went to work. We all owe them a HUGE THANK YOU for doing what they did!! Wish I were younger so I could have been involved with this great group of volunteers. You all have my utmost respect!! Sorry to say our club did NOT get a gov ernment grant this year. But it sure was not because we didn’t do our homework!! I can’t thank ALL the people that wrote letters in support of our club!! Do not worry, I saved them all and will try again next year! One of the BIG reasons we were denied is because the government likes to see a business hire MORE people because of sledding, and having only 2 snowmobile related businesses’ in town, it was a stretch! BUT, there are places in sur rounding towns that the sledders need to go through OUR trails to get there so I will reach out to some businesses in other towns!! And I learned a few other little items that should help us next year??? With all the work we had done on our groomer, it should be fine for another year!! We DO need a couple of tracks but should be able to purchase them and not put us in bad shape financially. As we all know, the cost of everything now is crazy!! But the costs are NOT going down so we must get what we need for the season. PLEASE join our club again and give a donation if possible. Our officers do an AWE SOME job keeping our club going. It takes a ton of volunteer hours to make our trails rid able and signed. We are ALWAYS looking for more help and WELCOME anyone who would like to join our efforts!! We meet the last Sunday of the month starting in Novem ber, at Sam’s Italian Shop in Dixfield, starting at 11. We annually have a cookout in Septem ber at the Canton Point Webb River Valley Sportsmen’s clubhouse. I do not have the date yet but please contact me at 207-357-2223 if you are interested in going. It’s a FREE cook out with burgers and dogs, and a great way to join the club. Again, ALL new and old mem bers are invited!! If I get the date before this paper goes out, I will add it for sure!! Thank you for your interest in the Poodunck Snow mobile Club!! Club Reported, J.H. Greetings all, I hope you have been enjoying the great but hot summer. It goes by all too quickly. Now it is time to start thinking snow and prepar ing for another snowmobile season. Our club members held a landowner appreciation cook out at the Tucker garage in early summer. We gave two restaurant gift cards to two landown ers who share a large field that is crucial to getting to popular trails in Buckfield. In later summer, there was a member volunteer appre ciation cookout at a club member’s home. Due to a hectic time, many members had other commitments and were unable to attend. Those that went had a great time. Thank you Deb for opening your home and hosting the gathering. During one of the recent storms and a microburst, several big trees were blown down, blocking the trail and entryway to the Tucker garage. That will be a major job requiring special equipment and a lot of man STREAKED MOUNTAINEERS sc Buckfield, ME

Hi folks, Seems like a very sweaty hot summer, let’s hope winter is cold and snowy. The club celebrated the 4th in a Big Bang way this year with a float in the Wiscasset 4th of July Parade and the Round Pond parade. It was great seeing everyone out and about. We plan on selling MSA tickets at the Wis casset race track this Fall and look forward to the MSA show as well. Our first meeting will be October 6 at the firehouse. Work on that firewood and see everyone soon! Club Reporter Joel Verney Hello Everyone! As I write this it is 88 degrees out and I decided to come into the AC to write this and get out of the heat. It’s hard to think about snow in August, but soon it will be time to start checking your snow gear and sled for the upcoming season. Last season our club repaired or rebuilt almost every bridge on our trail system, so pre paring for the upcoming season shouldn’t be too bad. Last spring, the club hired a structural engineer to start a feasibility study for installa tion of a bridge over Chandler Brook and we look forward to getting that information. The brook is one of our only ice crossings that can be risky depending on the weather. For those in southern Maine, if you’re look ing for something fun to do this time of year that is somewhat related to snowmobiling, check out the Saco Pathfinders lawn tractor and go cart races on certain Thursday nights at their clubhouse. We went to the first race of the season and it was lots of fun with food and snacks available. Looking forward to going again soon. I’m not a member of that club, but seems like a fun bunch of people. I am happy to announce that at our last meeting of the year this spring, Jan Litchfield a long-time member and groomer was selected as “member of the year”. This is well deserved as Jan not only grooms but attends most meet ings, stores and moves equipment and helps on almost all trail projects. Congratulations Jan! We are always looking to welcome new members of all ages to the club. Club meet ings are held at the Acacia Lodge on Rt. 136 in Durham, not far from the Get N Go, typically on the first Thursday of the month at 6 PM, most likely starting in September or October. Please join us! Our Facebook group page can be found at Tri-Town Penguins Snowmobile Club please check the page for the latest club news, trail reports and updates, there is a link on the page to join the club online, we wel come all to join! Almost time to check your gear! Richard Nadeau, Member Hello Snowmobilers, Welcome to the 2022-2023 snowmobile sea son. As we prepare for our 28 th season, I hope everyone had a great summer with family and friends. I also hope that you are all safe and healthy. Our first meeting will be Thursday Septem ber 8th at 7 pm which will include nominations of officers and committee chairs and upcom ing planned projects/improvements for the fall. Elections will be on Thursday, September 22 nd at 7 pm. Keep up to date with club activities on Facebook. Beginning October 13 th , our meetings will be held once a month on the 2nd Thursday of each month. Meetings are held at the San ford-Springvale Fish & Game, 499 Country Club Rd. in Sanford. See you all soon, Southern Maine Sno-Goers TRI-TOWN PENQUINS Durham, Pownal, Freeport, ME SOUTHERN MAINE SNO-GOERS Sanford-Springvale, ME

Hello from sunny Saco Maine. It has truly been a spectacular summer down here along the coast. This morning’s weather report said we have had 14 consecutive rain-free week ends and the next few are looking good as well. In fact, we’re in a pretty severe drought at the moment. Hopefully, that will all change when the weather gets colder. It’s been a really tough five years down here. Limited snow and warmer temps have allowed us to keep our trails and bridges in near perfect condition, but at the same time we have had terrible riding condi tions for most of that time. One of our biggest fundraisers made a come back this year. We started racing lawn mowers and go-karts at the club again. We limited the number of races to five, and we’ve had a really good turnout of drivers and spectators. Our big gest challenge is getting volunteers to run the races, and I’m glad to report we’ve had a solid group for every race. Another great fundraiser for us is the Old Orchard Beach Car Show in September. It’s one of the biggest car shows in the area and we sell break fast sandwiches, coffee, clam cakes, and fries. We also sell a huge number of MSA raffle tickets. We’re also hosting a camp weekend at the club in late September. Many of the members with campers are going to spend the weekend camped out at the club. There will be plenty of food, music, and a cornhole tournament. If this catches on, we may expand it to the MSA membership and bring in campers from other parts of the state. Our trail crew has been out getting an idea of what needs to be done this fall. We’ve done a great job over the past few years cutting back brush to widen the trails, and that will continue this year. We are also working with some land owners to restore an old trail through Dayton to connect with another part of the Lyman trail. It will require a fair amount of work and a new bridge, but it is certainly doable. That’s about it for now. Hoping you continue to enjoy the nice weather while we have it. Cheers! Doug Doherty, President Hello from the Sacopee Valley Region. Its hard to believe winter will be upon us in a few short months. This summer we had several severe thun derstorms that wreaked havoc with trees, and some washouts. Shout out to our Trail Master, Jack Wadsworth, and our Assistant Trail Mas ter, John Lambert, and The Land Share Riders ATV Club for making the trails passable. This fall we are planning on taking over the Hiram Hill Climbers trail system in Hiram. We are currently working out the final details with Department of Agriculture and the Town of Porter. We are excited about this merger between the two clubs; we have some great long-range plans. We need help to get our trail systems ready for the winter season, please volunteer a few hours of your time, to make miles of great riding. Ride right, ride safe Steve Bennett, Sacopee Valley Snowdrifters MSA CLUBS: To Order Needed ITS & JCT SIGNS Contact Mike Grass Sr. MSA Trails Committee 252 Condon Rd • Plymouth, ME 04969 207-368-4914 home • 207-745-2745 cell Grasslands252@gmail.com To Order Club Trail Signage Candice Pinkham, DACF/Snowmobile Program 207-287-4957 Office • 207-878-8111 Fax Candice.M.Pinkham@maine.gov SACOPEE VALLEY SNOWDRIFTERS Parsonsfield, ME

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