7566_MSA_May2021_MaineSnowmobiler

HALL OF FAME

Aleta Rioux Presented by Beth Bowie

Eugene Ritchie Presented by Beth Bowie

Aleta’s contri- butions to snow- mobiling in Maine and the MSA have been invaluable since the 1980’s when she and her husband became involved in the sport. Her hus-

sell that night to make or increase the budgeting income. She always made sure the raffle was a profit to the MSA. Aleta has been part of the MSA Show since the inception over 20 years ago. For the past 10+ years, Aleta has coordinated the MSA merchan- dise at the show. From meeting with the supplier, arriving early on Friday night working the show, and returning on Sunday night to close out the show her dedication was relentless. Due to Rog- er’s health, she had to limit the amount of time at the event but this did not stop her for making sure it was successful. The introduction of the Annual Meeting Silent Auction fundraiser was a fundraising event brought forward by Aleta to have another fund- raising event after the Super Raffle was over. In true Aleta fashion she pulled it together, con- vinced clubs to donate items and this grew from a one or two table event to six tables in 2018 netting over $1K at the that event! As an “ambassador” of the sport and MSA Aleta reached far across the state. Whether Aleta and Roger were riding in the County or in the Western area, they chatted with fellow riders and never missed a chance to talk about snowmobil- ing and to stress what the sport means to the state and how important it is to get involved. Please join us in congratulating Aleta Rioux in being a recipient of the 2020/2021 Hall of Fame!

Riders

Eugene Ritchie actually received 10 nominations and supporting documents, this gentleman like many that have come before him has been involved

Trail Work • Instrumental in the development of the ITS in Maine • Secured over $400K in grants to purchase groomers for the Blue Ridge Riders including: o a Polaris Ranger with Mattracks and a drag – this was one of the first side by side atv with tracks in Maine used for trail grooming o Many additional pieces of equipment over the years including a 1998 tucker Sno- cat and drag Eugene served in several leadership roles at the club level in addition to serving on the MSA Executive Committee in the 1970’s. Additional recognition Eugene has received over the years include • MSA 2006 Groomer of the Year – Blue Ridge Riders • MSA Award for dedication and unselfish and untiring efforts on behalf of all snowmobilers 78/79 • MSA Award for efforts of keeping the clubs in touch with Board of Directors 78 • MSA Membership Award, Blue Ridge Riders 2007/2008 & 2011/2012 Please join us congratulating Eugene Ritchie in being a recipient of the 2020/2021 Hall of Fame! close by, offering non ethanol gas ... and also a kitchen that provides hot food. They stock up on snowmobile oil belt plugs and cold weather gear….” “Ron and Margaret are Eagle Lake winter riders members; both have snow- mobiled their entire lives and are very involved in the club ... Ron is vice president and Margaret treasurer.” “Ron is also the club wrencher, when- ever the groomer is in need of repair, he is on it ... so as not to hold up grooming operations.” When you are in the store there is an Eagle Lake Winter Riders kiosk display- ing & selling club memberships and mer- chandise, also offering a venue to sell raffle tickets and provide updates on trail conditions. R &MCountry store is the perfect exam- ple of a MSA supporting business, and a great example of a small-town Maine business, excellent customer service, dedication to the community, hard-work- ing folks who will do what it takes to get the job done. Congratulations to R & M Country store, Ron &Margaret and your staff and THANK YOU for what you do for snowmobiling in Maine.

in the MSA and Snowmobiling for 50 years. Eugene has been a member of the Winter- sport Riverside Riders and the Blue Ridge Riders. Among his many list of accomplishments over the years include: Bridge Construction • Marsh Stream bridge project, Winterport Riv- erside Riders • Moose River (2005), Blue Ridge Riders – funded by a grant that Eugene worked hard to secure and the project cost was in excess of $100K • South Branch Brassua Stream, Blue Ridge Riders – 90 foot free span bridge and they repur- posed the steel from the old single lane bridge over the Moose River in Rockwood. Eugene was the one who reached out to the contractors to donate the steel beams and transport to the bridge site for the club. • Johnson Brook replacement – Blue Ridge

band Roger, during that time was the MSA legisla- tive representative for the MSA and Aleta jumped in with both feet! Aleta has always been a strong supporter of the clubs in her area and has been a member of the Minot Moonshiners since the late 1980’s. She became actively involved with the MSA at the encouragement of Mary and Roy Tassinari. Some of Aleta’s MSA accomplishments include:

• Western Region VP 90’s/20’s • MSA Executive VP 2001-2004 • MSA President 2004-2006 • MSA Snowmobiler of the Year • Member of the RTP Grant Committee

After her time as President ended Aleta did not slow her involvement by becoming involved with the Super Raffle….with Aleta this meant becom- ing the Super Raffle Chairperson. Aleta would bring tickets to every MSA Director’s The night of the drawing she would bring tickets as well and share with people how many she needed to

2021 SUPPORTING BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

G & M Market, Holden, Maine Written by Eileen Lafland

R & M Country Store, Eagle Lake, Maine Written by Matt Stedman

T h e is pleased to announce that G&M F a m i l y Market in H o l d e n , Maine is the recip- ient of MSA

lakes and ponds and have an ATV raffle with it. When they have done this, they have contacted EMSC and have given the club the proceeds from this raffle. The amount varies, depending on the number of tickets sold, but it is a welcome amount no matter how much. They have even donated when they did not make a profit, stating because the club maintains the trails so well, they want to help. For the first two years of the derby, they also sold 50/50 tick- ets to derby participants and asked the club if they wanted to sell these tickets at the lakes and ponds and at the weigh-in site, giving the club the other 50% of the income. This past year they allowed the club to set up a display advertising MSA Super Raffle tickets and handled the sale of these tickets for the club, helping EMSC raise about $700, half for the club and half for MSA. After the ini- tial display was made and in place, all the club had to do was keep them supplied with tickets! Not only do they support EMSC they also support other local clubs. Being a full-service grocery store,

they have supplied clubs with items for fund raising events, usually food items. They also support the Ded- ham Elementary School with a pro- gram that includes donations for itemized grocery receipts that are turned in to the school. When con- tacted by the local community to support fund raising dinners for local people who have had medical issues, a death in the family, or some other personal disaster David and Greg donate willingly with food items for the benefit suppers. They have even supplied meals to the local schools at times and even “adopted” a family with children who had lost everything to a fire one Christmas to make sure the children had presents! David and his son Greg Hawes and G & M Family Market, live up to their name of being a family orientated business who support their commu- nity and surrounding communities as well. Greg is also an active snow- mobiler and purchases his snowmo- biles locally. Congratulations G&M Family Market from everyone at the Maine Snowmobile Association.

I am proud to have another Aroostook County business as the 2020-2021 MSA supporting business of the year. This years’ winner is R & M Country Store in Eagle Lake Maine. They were nominated by their local club, the Eagle Lake Win- ter Riders for their business & personal dedication to snowmobiling in Aroostook County. Eagle Lake is a small community but is a high traffic snowmobile town all winter long. These small towns, clubs and busi- nesses are crucial to our trails and snow- mobile community. It is truly people like Ron & Margaret (the owners) who make it happen. Not only do they have a store that tailors the business to the winter sport customers, they are also active club members. To quote the club: “the owners not only work and operate a great store that provides many services to the snowmobile community ... groceries for the folks up to ride and renting cabins

the Supporting Business of the Year Award for 2021. G&M Market is owned by Dave Hawes and his son Greg. It is located directly on Trial #RR 25, which connects Brewer to Ellsworth. G&M has been a support- ing business member of the Eastern Maine Snowmobile for many years and displayed the MSA supporting Business decal on their door. Being located directly on the trail, with a place to park sleds and having gas pumps in their yard, it makes it con- venient for snowmobilers to stop and get something to eat. This business does more than just buy a membership though. In past years, they have sponsored an ice fishing derby for Hancock County

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