9245-R2_MSA_January2026_Newsletter

MSA Club News

Christmas in a few days as I write this. Win ter starts tomorrow! (Dec. 21 st ) We just had our December member ship meeting and Christmas party with gift exchange. Pizza was provided from Pat’s Pizza in Holden. This was also the first 300 Club drawing of the season. Congratulations to our winners. Also, this past week, the brand new drag for our new Kubota groomer was delivered and is on site ready for action! Come check it out! Thanks go out to Bud for updating our over head lighting and adding new overhead lights and outlets to the new addition. Trails We have been working as a team (sometimes 3 or 4 days a week) with a bigger team on Sun days. All signage is up, field stakes in ground and 85% of the trails have been walked and cleared of brush and trees. Now we just need snow! Hopefully soon. This weekend our Board member and trail worker Steve took advantage of the kids being home from college and went out and did an entire section of trail maintenance from his house to the clubhouse. Thank you. We want to welcome new members to the club. Jeremy Gifford joined us an associ ate member and Adam Knowles, Downeast Mobile Power Wash, joined as a new business. Also, congratulations to Brett and Holly Dyer long time members on the birth of their son, our youngest club member. Upcoming Events Sunday January 11 th Board meeting 5:00 p.m. Board meeting 5:00 p.m. Club dinner 6:00 p.m. Club meetings 7:00 p.m. Hope to see you at the club or on the trail! Troy G Trail Grunt SHIRLEY BOG TRAIL BUSTERS Shirley, ME https://sites.google.com/site/ shirleybogtrailbusters/ email: shirleybogtrailbusters@gmail.com fb: Shirley Bog Trailbusters Happy New Year to everyone! As I write this in December, the holidays are upon us but snowmobiling is still on hold. Unfortunately, the Dec 19 rains and wind necessitated closing the trails for December. Hopefully Santa will send down some good snow to get the season started again so that we can move forward to excellent sledding for the heart of winter in January, February and hopefully March! SBTB kicked off December with a fundrais ing Spaghetti Dinner on Dec. 6th. Huge thank Club dinner 6:00 p.m. Club meeting 7:00 p.m. Sunday February 22 nd

Bypass Trail on the western end will be closed for logging and the balance on the eastern end will be accessible via the Draper Road. This will allow access to ITS 85 (The railroad bed) in Shirley. When we are all actually able to really start snowmobiling, you’ll need to keep a watch for

the spring).... THANK-YOU to ALL of the VOLUN TEERS that take time out of their busy sched ules to put on all of the breakfasts, lunches, suppers, fundraisers, raffle ticket sales, and other charitable functions ... THANK-YOU to ALL of the VOLUN TEERS that go around each year and speak with and secure the necessary permission from our gracious LANDOWNERS , so we can have the BEST trails available-this CAN NOT be undervalued -it is a daunting task and more often than not -a job that requires respect ,tack, diplomacy, true people skills , and a continuous effort to being the “ go to person “ for snowmobile clubs... THANK-YOU to ALL of the VOLUN TEERS that open up their homes to host snowmobile club meetings .... THANK-YOU to ALL of the VOLUN TEERS spouses that let them go out and do ALL of the above (even though you may NOT be involved) you allow to live their passion... Okay, as stated above -see what I mean, don’t get me started.... Will close with this: GLENBURN LAKESIDE RIDERS SNOWMOBILE CLUB MEETINGS are the 1st and 3rd WEDNESDAYS of the month (through MARCH 2026) at the clubhouse, 7:00 P.M. located at 2838 OHIO STREET / GLENBURN (bring a new member). RIDE RIGHT AND RIDE SAFE....see you on the trails.... BARRY E. RYAN VICE -PRESIDENT G.L.R.S.C. KENDUSKEAG STREAM RIDERS sc Kenduskeag, ME Welcome Fellow Snowmobilers, Looks like I should have written this article a few days earlier, at that time we had some decent snow cover and waterways were freez ing up nicely, due to a recent wave of cold, ice producing weather. Things were falling into place for some early season local riding. Fast forward to yesterday with temperatures rising into the high 50’s with wind gusts of 40 plus miles per hour, AND a quarter inch of RAIN equals a recipe for disaster. As I sit today at the kitchen window looking across the front yard -not enough SNOW in sight to make a snow ball - just lots of pale green brown grass and lots of limbs and branches to pick up. With that getting off my chest, let’s move on to the tasks at hand The KSRSC TRAIL CREW has been out bushhogging, brushing, putting out stop ahead /stop signs, and field stakes (may have to backtrack and re-check some trails) in anticipation of the prediction of more COLD AND SNOW in the forecast- we may get a WHITE CHRISTMAS after all. Many thanks and a tip of the hat to Dave P. and his crew for all that they continue to do each season. Really well done. THANK-YOU... As in many articles in the past, the KSRSC meetings were held at Dale and JoAnn’s house on the second Thursday of the month -the meeting for DECEMBER was relocated to Jeff’s Catering in Brewer for the MSA DIRECTORS MEETING and SUPER RAF FLE. Dale and JoAnn C., Marshall &Tina R., Dave and Hunter P., and Jacob attended and filled up a whole table -Barry and Gail R. attended also, one table over. We had a GREAT meal, short but sweet meeting, and then onto the main course -THE DRAWING! . Always cool to have some winners that were in attendance. Audrey from the LEXINGTON HIGHLANDERS won a snowmobile, Shanna from the ST. ALBANS DEVILS won a night’s lodging at LAKEVIEW INN / ST. AGATHA, and Rita B. from PINE TREE S.C / MIL FORD was the lucky winner of a gift certif icate to INDIAN HILL TRADING POST / GREENVILLE. Congratulations to them and ALL of the other winners as well. The 1 st meeting of 2026 will be at Dale and JoAnn’s house on THURSDAY, JANUARY 8th @ 7:00P.M. - hope to see you ALL (and maybe some new members) as well. Let’s wrap this up for this time and get ramped up for some well-earned, much antici pated SNOWMOBILE TRAIL RIDING. PLEASE RIDE RIGHT AND RIDE SAFE. KSRSC REPORTER BARRY E. RYAN

QUAD COUNTY sc Springfield, ME

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. Quad County area was building up a base, until the warm weather and rain made it vanish. The rain and high winds caused trees to snap off on trails that had already been cleared, now we can start on them again. We plan to work on trails every Sunday morning, meeting at club house at 8 am. Hope to see you there. On December 20, we had Breakfast with Santa, we served 72 adults and 22 kids. The kids got to sit and tell Santa what they want for Christmas and Santa gave out presents donated by the Springfield Fire Department. Crystal Willette helped the kids decorate cookies and make ornaments. We serve breakfast on the first and third Sat urdays of each month. On January 10, we will be doing a Lobster stew and Beef stew dinner. It has always been a big hit. Serving 4 to 5:30, eat in or take out. Quad County SC is having our annual hot dog roast, later in February. We have hot dogs, chips and campfire pies. Location to be determined. The couple of inches of snow from the two “storms” around Christmas, makes it white but not groomable yet. Your slow typing reporter, Kevin Here at the end of December, we just got a nasty Christmas Present from Mother Nature. An inch of rain with temps in the low 50’s wiped out almost all the snow we had – all that for just a single day. Temps are now below freezing and about a foot of snow is forecast for Christmas week. We’ll pull out of this yet! In the meantime, there’s been a lot of action in the clubhouse! The kitchen has a brand new stove to replace our 1970’s model. The Groomers have had their tracks rotated and the 2018 Tucker has been wired to run the new Trail Paver drag. The drag had a winch installed to raise the hitch so Groomer-wise we’re ready to roll. The sign crew has been busy including signing the ITS 82/83 re-route. The aforementioned storm brought a lot of wind, so there will be plenty of trees to clear. The Club’s monthly meetings are the 2nd Thursday of each month. Meeting starts at 6PM with a potluck meal prior to the meeting at 5:30. Come on out for the food if nothing else! As always come on out to our Tuesday night Music Jams. These are held every week, food is served starting at 4:30, and the music is 6-9 PM. You can find the menu each week on the Club’s Facebook Page. Better yet – there’s no admission charge! Winter Events are rapidly getting scheduled. The Groomer Rodeo is Sat Feb 7. This is also the same day as the MSA Showcase Ride – but the ride will stop at the Rodeo so you can do both! Kids Day at the Club is Sat 2/21. If you need more details on any of these check our website at www.snorovers.com or follow the Facebook page. I’m glad I went for a snowmobile ride a week ago, even though the dirt roads were a mess of truck rutted up frozen solid snow. The Cat was being bounced around from one frozen rut to another. I was trying to stay on. I drive slow, say 30 MPH, but I bet my average speed was just 15 MPH. Every few seconds, I had to slide from one side of the seat to the other, trying to keep from rolling over, as the trail and terrain changed constantly. You can’t look away and enjoy the scenery for even 3 seconds. Twice I almost rolled the Cat. No idea how many times I fish tailed a little on the icy trail, although that is exciting to me. All was fine at the camps that I maintain. Remember, ride with food, drink, tools, a near fully charged cell phone, extra and different EAST BRANCH SNO-ROVERS Medway, ME GRAND LAKE sc Grand Lake Stream, ME It’s Saturday, December 20, and believe it or not, we had almost 12” of snow at one time. After Friday’s rain and 56-degree heat wave, we are back to 0” snow. Yes, it’s all gone.

Trail work 12/13/25

signage, the new maps and check face book for updates. CLOTHING TIP Most snowmobilers already know how to dress warm for the conditions and already have favorite items. And if you are new to the sport you can talk to any fellow snowmobiler or outfitter store for recommendations. How ever, I recently purchased “smart wool” glove liners and wanted to pass along my hearty endorsement. I have always used liners for warmth and moisture wicking, but these are pretty special. They are very thin, black fabric and you could crush them into a small ball. But don’t let the size (or lack thereof) deceive you! They provide a wonderful warming layer—much more than any others I’ve tried over the years. WILDERNESS SLED DOG RACES Just one more small reminder that the annual WILDERNESS SLED DOG RACES will be held FEB. 7, 2026, in Greenville. There’s still time to volunteer for this event and we hope to have a strong turnout of club volunteers. Vol unteers are needed both to help in the staging area, located at Leisure Life Hotel and Restau rant in Greenville, and on the trail to help with directions and road crossings. Some crossings are accessible by car, others will require a snowmobile. Please respond to Debi Baker: debilynne baker@gmail.com. SNOWMOBILERS! As we move full throttle into another snow mobile season, pause for a minute to reflect on last year’s accomplishment and build on them to make this the BEST SNOWMOBILE SEASON ever. What you may ask, does this mean? It means, count your blessings, don’t take yourself too seriously, spend more quality with your family and friends, be thankful that you live worry free, surrounded by neighbors with similar values. Okay, really thinking I would make this a short piece, but as some of you that know me, this probably is just a passing thought. Once I sink my teeth into something I seldom back off until the plan becomes a reality. Just like to take a few lines for “ THANK-YOU ‘S” THANK-YOU to ALL the VOLUNTEERS working in the MSA that spend countless hours of their time and efforts (often without compensation or recognition) day in and day out ALL year long, not just during the snow mobile season.... THANK-YOU to ALL of the VOLUN TEERS that spend countless hours of working on, repairing, and maintaining the machinery that leads to the BEST SNOWMOBILE trails in the NORTHEAST.... THANK-YOU to ALL of the VOLUN TEERS that groom the trails (men, women, and younger adults) countless hours to make the BEST SNOWMOBILE trails each and every season... THANK-YOU to ALL of the VOLUN TEERS that go out two, three, four, five and often six days a week to cut and throw brush, bush hog fields, saw trees, build bridges, put up signs and stakes (and take them down in Denise Gross Club Reporter GLENBURN LAKESIDE RIDERS sc Glenburn, ME WELCOME TO 2026 FELLOW

yous go out to everyone that showed up and helped make our dinner a success! Thank you to Tom Taliento, Tom Watt & Indian Hill Trad ing Post, and Northeast Whitewater for donat ing all of the food and supplies and putting in the work to make it all come together! And thank you to the town of Shirley for allowing us to use the town hall space for the event! We’re looking forward to doing this all again in the future! TRAILS I can’t give you any conclusive information about trails for the season yet. As of mid-De cember, we still have many questionable areas that aren’t settled. This stems from logging, land sales/ownership changes (River Trail), plowing plans etc. As a reminder, the Shirley Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser in Shirley 12/6/2025

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