9245-R2_MSA_January2026_Newsletter

From The Executive Board Secretary’s Report - Shanna Towle Directors Meeting - At Jeff’s Catering, Brewer Maine - December 11, 2025

VP Regional Reports: Western: Jerry- not much, but ITS 82 Newry to NH closed & 89 Oxford. Coastal: Dave- it snowed everywhere, keep snow dance going. Northern: Nick- got fresh snow last night, some clubs out panning getting ready, getting more snow tonight. Central: Ron- thanks for coming, about a foot in central, Bingham having some trail issues, watch Facebook for events. Eastern: Eileen- thanks for being here, 179 thanksgiving dinners given away this year by Quad County SC. Membership: Eileen- as of 12/10/25- 208 of 285 clubs sent in so far. Central 813, Coastal 736, Northern 1254, Eastern 1326, Western 1498. Trying to establish when clubs when established and fully part of MSA. Director of Operations & Safety: Al- challenges but we will make it happen, be safe out there. Scholarship: Barry- deadline for scholarship April 1 st Trails: 82/83 logging Brownville working on it, section of 81 through Nikatowas limited hours for fuel, clubs want to be on app please send in data, colors on app changed to new color scheme, trails@mesnow.com, on Saturday 12/13 Black Mountain signage workshop. Funding: Matt- Maine Trails bond round 1 results is out, met with IF&W about MOSES

John Monk, Kim Turner, Joe Walsh, Mike Grass Jr, Dave Tylor, John Spence, Steven Lane, Charlie Huntington, Donna Farrington, John Farrington, Brian Manzo, Andy Osborne Sr, Brad Porter, John Nelson, Theodore Misiaszek, Bob Corthell, Mary Corthell, Andy Merrill, Brent Spaulding, Terry Berube, Allen Chase, Brenda McRobbie, Louanne Parker, Dottie Patria, Gail Ryan, Eddie Pinkham, Marion Pinkham, Kevin O’Brien, David Cogley, Cheryl Kroemer, Charles McFarland, Dale Clement, Jo Clement, Tina Ryan, Marshall Ryan, David Poll, Hunter Poll, Jacob Lynch. Via Zoom: Laurie Plourde, Brad Barker, Randy Bates, Deb Long, Mark Guerrette, Carol Bourque, Kevin Freeman, Lisa Sutherland, Nick Morrill, Steve Richard Meeting called to order at 7:00 pm by President Mark C. Secretary’s Report: Jerry Major motion, Ron Nunes second, passed. Treasurer’s Report: Read by Barry Ryan, motion to accept as read & placed on file at office. President’s comments: Welcome going to be short meeting, go around and say what clubs attending, can’t believe in 4 months I’m going to pass the torch on. Ex VP Comments: thanks for all coming out, excited we have snow & first time live at super raffle. our calendars to January it is a great time for MSA families with children either currently in post high school programs or going to be in the coming year to consider applying for the MSA scholarship. The scholarship committee recognizes the high cost of post high school education and the financial challenges this can create as our youths continue on their educational journeys. Just in the past few years we have increased our annual awards from $500 to $1,000 and now $1,500. Our goal has always been to do as much as we can for as many as we can. With a lot of student’s home for holiday break it’s a great time to think about applying for the MSA Scholarship. The committee has worked hard over the past few years to try and streamline the application as a way to encour age more members to apply. The application can be found online on the MSA website and the office staff is always willing to help support anyone that might have questions or thoughts about the process. The committee is looking for support, ideas, questions, concerns and I speak for the group when I say that we are always available to help in any way. Thanks for all your past support and here’s to a safe and Happy New Year with lots of riding Statewide! blowdowns! Thank you all for the steadfast dedication and effort! There are a few areas that have issues with continuity for various reasons. Multiple log ging operations have shut down a section of ITS 82/83 east of Schoodic Lake between PS8 and PT9. That section will be rerouted to use CONN 109 and CONN 111 for most if not all of this season. In Newry, ITS 82 is not open west of town to the NH border. A work around is being attempted, but no solution yet. As always, LOCAL SIGNAGE SHALL TAKE PRECEDENCE so pay attention and heed directives. Inspections should already be underway, conditions permitting, so I’ll be on the look out for your report. The data for club trails continue to fill in areas in the APP—KEEP ‘EM COMING! Send trail plots or POI data to TRAILS@MESNOW.COM . Many clubs have reached out to Joe Higgins and his trail coordinators for trail data. Our original proto col was to get data directly from the clubs for the most accurate and timely information, but we are currently in discussions to get data from state sources as well. Stay tuned on this topic. All for now. Get out enjoy our great state!! Brent

system to look into more funding. Hospitality & Hall of Fame: Gail- sent out cards out to several people, and told Christmas j oke. Old Business: Super Raffle: is here. Special thank you to Mark Gardiner for fixing the ticket drum. Funding: already discussed earlier. Announcements: • January 24 th Director’s meeting Norway commons near Domino’s if snow maybe a ride. • January 31 st snowball run for cancer from timber cruisers. • Feb 7 th Timber Cruisers showcase ride leaving at 8:30am & meeting that night at Timber Cruisers. • Feb 7 th Groomer Rodeo in Medway. • March 14 th Van Buren showcase ride & Director’s Meeting that night, more details to follow. • Quad County selling calendar raffle only 400 total. Pot of Gold: M Mixed by Matt, drawn by Little Joe- East Grand SC in Danforth not present put back in. 50/50: Winning ticket # 951380 winner David Cogley $188, give back $100 to scholarship fund. Adjourn the meeting at 7:51pm & took 10 min break to start super raffle drawing. od at the end of the month almost 700 member ships were entered! The early snow and cold weather must have reminded people to renew or join. Thanks to the clubs that have submit ted memberships. As this is written on December 23 rd , 226 clubs have sent in memberships compared to 220 at this point last year. With snow in the forecast for Christmas Day I am sure by the time this is published and you are reading it the totals will have increased greatly. Dec. 23 rd numbers 5,484 family memberships and 1,261 business memberships have been submitted and entered. That is only thirty memberships less than last year. There is one club with over 400 member ships, one club with over 200 memberships, five clubs with over 100 memberships and twen ty-six clubs with over 50 memberships!! Totals by Region Central-1,016 Northern-1,456 Coastal-870 Western- 1,817 Eastern- 1,578 Most accidents happen in the first month of the season. Why? Because we have not been on our sleds for a while and we seem to need to be reprogrammed on our riding skills. Stay focused always. Start off slowly. Before you go check over your controls, track, skis, any defects? A full tank of fresh gas, motor oil, spare key, flashlight, first aid kit, map, com pass, spare belt. Check the weather ride in good conditions avoid riding in storms. Tell someone where you’re going and don’t ride alone. Dress in layers, wear a helmet, wear waterproof and wind proof clothing good boots warm gloves. Take a snowmobile safety course. Maine IF&W has courses available Statewide check with their website for dates and locations. Avoid water staying off the ice. Be cautious around any body of water. Approach road and railroad crossings carefully. Never drink and drive. There are many fatalities due to folks driving intoxicated. Lots of deadly crashes happen at night after the bars close. In North America, we had around 200 deaths and 14,000 injuries last year. Let’s hope for a wonderful white season. And a safe one. Be safe out there! Al aware of. Downed trees and branches wash outs wildlife and or disabled sleds. Maybe a groomer broke down, be aware of that.

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

ATTENDEES: In person: Mark Chinnock, MSA President, Matt Stedman, EVP, Lori Hemmerdinger Treasurer, Barry Ryan, Assistant Treasurer, Shanna Towle, Secretary, Ron Nunes, Eileen Lafland, Jerry Major & Dave Watson, Regional Vice Presidents, Al Swett, Director of Operations Liz Mahaleris, Office Manager, Catherine Horne, Richard Horne, Paula Huff, Lori Nunes, Bob Flagg, Terri Major, Tom England, Edward Brownell, Jeff Brooks, Calvin White, Alan Dugas, Randy Turner, Melanie Monk,

Scholarship Committee

From The Membership Corner

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

W elcome snowmobile friends to 2026, I hope everyone had a good holiday and that the New Year finds us all healthy and well. With an unusually cold December and snow on the ground and more in the forecast, maybe, just maybe we are looking at a good, long riding season. Now that we have turned Harvey Chesley, 207-314-0637 25 Hillcrest Dr, Clinton ME 04927 harv.chesley@gmail.com

W

elcome to the New Year 2026 Everyone! December saw many, many member ships come in to the office. In a three-day peri

Safety Committee

Trails Committee Chair Report

Alan Swett 207-872-7282 234 County Rd, Waterville ME 04901 snowtraveler@roadrunner.com W elcome year 2026! Ride within your ability. Be a safe and responsible rider. Educate yourself with common sense, pre paredness, Maine laws are made to protect you and our landowners. Over 95% of our trails are on private property, yes, 95%. We are so fortunate to have the landowners we have. Stay on the trail. Off trail riding makes for a bad relationship with the landowners. There are many obstacles on the trail we have to be

Brent Spaulding, MSA Trails Chairman 207-944-7762 41 Madison Ave Brewer ME 04412 msatrailchair@gmail.com G reetings from Brewer, It’s snowing as I write and I hope most of the state is up and running as you are reading this article. We were off to a promising start until the warmup in mid-December that also brought high winds. Many clubs that were all but ready had to revisit their system to clear

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