7839-R1_MSA_Dec2021_MaineSnowmobiler

From The Executive Board

sitive and need immediate attention. The first thing that comes to mind is the Club grooming grant applications, which need to be in to Joe Higgins office by December 31st. The Officer Update Form also needs to be submit- ted to Joe and is a necessary piece in order to receive any funding for the Clubs, there is also an Officer Update Form that needs to be submit- ted to the MSA as well. There are other vendor forms and various grant applications that should also be reviewed by the Club officers to see if they pertain to the Club and who is seeing that it gets done. I have seen this where one person in a club thinks that another person may be taking care of something and it ends up falling through the cracks, it makes it tougher when a deadline is past and we need to backtrack. Most of these time sensitive materials can be found in either the grant package that is sent out from Joe’s office (Dept. of A.C.F) or the Membership packets that the Clubs receive from the MSA. Some of this information can be found on the MSA Web page as well. This may all seem painstaking and confusing but it really has been streamlined and only takes a few minutes to complete, you can always reach out to either of these offices for assistance or to answer any questions. As far as the MSA Trails Committee goes, we have been very busy with (Trails Stuff). The Executive Vice President-Al Swett: A round of applause for the kitchen crew for putting on a great meal. He gave his heartfelt thanks to everyone involved with the show. Had a few hiccups, but overall, it exceeded his expectations. Raffle tickets are selling at a record setting pace. Fryeburg Fair sold $14,000 worth of tickets. The lure of a high end Polaris sled, the Ski-doo, the youth’s Artic Cat ZR 200, the enclosed trailer, the open trailer, the many gift certificates and other prizes has stirred so much enthusiasm with small clubs and large. It is just incredible how dynamic ticket sales have become. Liz, the new office help is working out very well. Taking calls, filing, all in all fits right in. She is awesome. Getting calls from all over Eastern states. Eastern Region- Eileen Lafland- Big thank you to Marion and crew for the meal. Marion is a local leader of raffle tickets, every Friday night selling at the local store. A couple dates: East Branch Snow Rovers January 29th Groomer Rodeo, demo equipment, a pig roast, and trail signage workshop. Eastern Region Showcase Ride February 12 in East Millinocket, leaving out of the Timber be paying attention for signs and new sights this riding season. A big THANK YOU to the new landowners and club volunteers for making these happen and keeping our communities & businesses connected. All this trail work can be very expensive, so please reach out to join &/or volunteer where you ride, your membership dollars will count even more this winter. The Northern Region Showcase ride this winter will be March 12th based out of the Big Valley Sno Club in Island Falls Maine. We will have a ride during the day & MSA Directors meeting in the evening, stay tuned for more details, look in that area to make reservations if you want to come up and stay the night or weekend. 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

new ITS maps have been out for a while and can be found at the MSA office or by contact- ing pretty much anyone in this paper, please bring these maps back to your Clubs and dis- tribute them to your local businesses or to any place that might get them into the hands of our fellow snowmobilers. We have also been busy with various Trails Workshops and meet- ings around the State, helping clubs with trail related issues and educating ourselves with bet- ter signing techniques. The Trails Committee is made up of about 40 passionate snowmobil- ers and is broken out into 5 Regions throughout the State to act as a liaison between the Dept. of A.C.F. Snowmobile Division and the Snowmo- bile Clubs to help with anything “Trail related” primarily the ITS system.

Trails Committee Chair Report

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

Mark Chinnock,Trails Committee Chair 207-754-9874 435 Poland Corner Rd, Poland ME 04274 napadude66@hotmail.com H ello Folks, I hope December finds every- body well, Thanksgiving has come and gone and Christmas is fast approaching. As time flies and people are busier than ever, now might be a good time to check off that Club list of things to do, and many of these are time sen- That’s about all I have for now and remember to get those trailers ready, get your sleds ready, get your gear ready, and thank a landowner whenever you have a chance. Let’s all have a safe and enjoyable season, and one more thing, if you have someone new to the sport riding in your group, please educate them on proper snowmobiling educate, it will benefit them as well as you and everyone else on the Trails. As always, if you have a question or anything to share please reach out to me, I would love to hear from you. Till next time, Thank you. Mark Director’s Meeting 569 - Glenburn Lakeside Riders SC, Glenburn, ME - Secretary’s Report - November 16, 2021 At 7:11 PM President Mike Grass Jr. called the meeting to order. Pledge of allegiance. To Order Club Trail Signage Candice Pinkham, DACF/Snowmobile Program 207-287-4957 Office 207-878-8111 Fax Candice.M.Pinkham@maine.gov

Cruisers clubhouse, for the showcase ride, then a directors meeting. A lot of clubs are working on their trails. Paul from Lincoln, stated that he has started and has a lot to do. Another club had some nice informational signs made up, only to be shot up as target practice. Western region: Jim Boyce-Rain has dampened trail work. Some are doing trail work in the rain. Carrabassett, little bit of good news. Spoke of how it was a learning experience to keep up with a Warden through the woods on a landowner issue. Central Region: Jack Lord- A lot reroutes, read the signs, issues with landowner property lines. Moving 87 again in Solon. Need snow. Safety: Al. Met with IF&W. Got updated on goings on, working through some tough landowner issues. Wear your PPE doing trail work, stay safe. MSA Trails: Mark Chinook- At the show trails workshop had 80 people. Shin Pond/ Pattern workshop 30 people. Waiting for groomable snow to inspect the trails. Hospitality: Gale Ryan No cards sent recently. Steering committee: John Monk- Expressed the frustrations of meetings changed to Zoom without contact information. Also trying to

understand the registration numbers versus the membership numbers, 10,000 members to 80,000 registered snowmobiles. Also added that with no T.V. adds we still had a great show. Membership: Eileen Lafland- gave a breakdown of 183 clubs, region by region. Director’s meeting/ Showcase rides December Waterville Elks Club -Super Raffle drawing December 16 th January Western region near the Oxford area January 15 th February Eastern region Millinocket area February 12 th March Northern region Southern part of Aroostook County Annual meeting Jeff’s catering in Brewer New business: Further information was discussed regarding members insurance. Other business: discussion of the details of the Western region showcase ride in Oxford January 15 th . Pot of Gold: Country Cousins Benton was drawn with no director present, $400.00 forfeited. 50/50 $55 went to Jack Lord Meeting adjourned 8:59 Respectfully submitted, Brad Barker, Secretary the deep freeze. Clubs are out building bridges brushing trails before the snow flies. Some bad news is Carrabassett is still shut down with no permission from Penobscot Nation hopefully it gets resolved soon. Other clubs are working had on reroutes to get through the season. I had the pleasure of working with the Strong Club to make a new trail that will hook up to ITS84 to take care of some traffic. Here is a couple of dates to remember. New Year’s Eve Kingfield Sno-Wanderers are having a bonfire and fireworks at the sled shed south side of town. Rangley Lake SC Annual Snodeo is January 21-23 also the Roxbury slippery sliders trail side cookout on ITS117 in Byron January 22. Think Snow and if you haven’t already, help out your local club we’re all in this together. Don’t forget January Directors Meeting will be by the Rock-O-Dundee Snowmobile Club in Oxford at the corner of King Street and Rt.121 on January 15. Jim

Secretary’s Report for October, posted in the newspaper, M/S/C and placed on file at the office. Treasurer’s report. Read and placed on file at the office. Mike introduce Mike Palermo from American Life. Mr. Palermo gave details of life and dismemberment benefits which could be offered to MSA members. No action was taken. President’s Comments- Mike Grass Jr.: Expressed appreciation for the help on the show. The show was a real success, amazed how things went so well for our first time completely on our own. Attended trail workshop in Pattern, with a total of eight clubs attended. Had a great meeting. Caribou reroute a half mile of trail on ITS 90, went up and helped get the trail opened up. Emily Smith of Smith Farm in Presque Isle closed all recreational trails, and then agreed to let the snowmobile trail continue. Thank you to Matt Stedman for being instrumental in the reopening of this trail. A round of applause to the kitchen help for a nice meal.

Northern Region VP

Western Region VP

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

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

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

H ello fellow snowmobilers, It’s the end of November in the County, and we have had a bit of snow and the ground is starting to freeze with some colder nights. There are many signals that snowmobile season is fast approaching. Field markers are present, road crossings marked & clubs posting on clubhouse signs and social media for workdays. Many re-routes are happening across the Northern Region (and statewide) this fall, so

H ello Everyone,

It’s early December and still waiting for

12

e r 2 0 2

b

e m

1 l M a i n e S n o w m o

e c

D

e r

b i l