7839-R1_MSA_Dec2021_MaineSnowmobiler

MSA Club News

be Thursday December 9 th and we will be hav- ing a Yankee Swap with a $20 maximum for a gift and ask everyone to bring an appetizer for food. Still meeting Sunday mornings 8 AM for trail work until snow flies, and maybe then some. Hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday season! -Steve Givens Our President Dwayne Hunt, Secretary Jimi Hunt, Treasurer Ben Scott, Trail Master Tony Lash, Safety Officer Timothy Simmons, Reporters Doria Hunt and Stephanie Brav- oco are looking forward to a great 2021-2022 season. General meetings are at 6:30pm the first and third Thursday each month starting November and ending in March. The club members and officers continue their Sunday workdays to which 115 stakes and 150 trail marking signs were made and are ready to be installed and the new shed is just about fin- ished. We are hoping for some cooler weather so that we can begin trail maintenance which means we will install the signs and stakes and trim overgrown brush and branches and maintain, or in some cases, build new bridges of which the timber is milled on site by Tony Lash. Last year while the season was a bit short on snow The Snowcrawlers did manage to get a few rides in. On February 13th we got our first good chance to groom the trails and our members were out in force making sure every trail in Waldoboro was groomed. We encountered several cross-country skiers, mountain bikers, and people just enjoying the walk through the beautiful snow-covered woods. On Febru- ary 14th a successful impromptu club ride of six members was made to the ocean via our neighboring Friendship club trails. February 20th another impromptu ride of four riders ensued on the trails with a great ending at the local steakhouse, Bullwinkles, a fan favorite of local snowmobilers. February 21st proved to be our biggest ride where 10 club members gathered at the local club house to embark on a tour of the Northern Waldob- oro trails into neighboring Washington, and Jefferson trails. The members joyfully rode 51 miles and it proved to be a very exciting ride for all involved. While we hope for more than a few rides this year it goes without saying that we appre- ciate all our volunteers who work tirelessly each season, all our landowners who gra- ciously allow their land to be used, and busi- nesses and individuals who support us. Your continued support of the club helps ensure that all this work can continue and that our trails are clear, safe, and usable for all winter out- door enthusiasts. BOWDOIN FLURRY FLYERS Bowdoin, ME Hello From the Bowdoin Flurry Flyers We hold our meetings on the 1st Sunday of the month at the Bowdoin Fire House and are very thankful to have this location available to us. We had to find other options for meet- ings during last season which we did easily. “Where there is a will, there is a way.” We held our 1st meeting of the season on Oct 7th. We normally enjoy a pot luck, but this year we started off with food from Dominos. See- ing new members and new faces, as we did at the meeting, is a great way to start a new season. We are a small club, but with really good trails that are maintained as well as pos- sible. We have club members from snowmo- bilers to cross country skiers and snowshoers. We share our trails maintenance with our local ATV club. We invite anyone to ride our trails respectfully and enjoyably. We are welcoming & friendly. If we see you on the trails we will definitely say “Hi”. Please spread the word to (Continued on Page 20) WALDOBORO SNOWCRAWLERS Waldoboro, ME

owned by their parent or guardian. Children must be 14 years of age before crossing public ways. Please check out our Sebago Branch Duck- ers Facebook page for meeting and trail work information. Hope to see you on the trails soon! ALNA, sc Alna, ME Hello All Fellow Readers and Riders, Merry Christmas, hope you have all enjoyed a great Fall, lots of rain and a bit of snow in the mountains so that is promising! The club has had a few meetings, our last one held on November 4th was attended by 22 members. New members Chris and Vicki joined us for a wonderful pot luck meal before the meeting. President Jay read a thank you let- ter from CLC in regards to a donation we made in memory of Priscilla. Raffle ticket sales were discussed, thanks for all who have sold, it has been a banner year for the club in ticket sales! Good job to everyone who helps with this, not only does it benefit Alna Snowmobile Club it also benefits MSA! Trick or Trunk at the Wiscasset Race Track proved to be a very fun afternoon, and we will plan on doing that event again next year with even more candy! Our annual Christmas Party is being planned and will be updated in next month’s article, it is always a fun filled evening. We hear Ken is on the mend, hope to see him soon! Election of officers was also voted on. November 14 th club members gathered at the log cabin on the Verney – Leighton marsh and repaired and straightened up the cabin for the more years of fun on the pond! A huge thank you to everyone who helped and to those who prepared a fantastic dinner afterwards. Bridge work was reduced in half as a land owner completed a rebuild to a bridge on his property and paid for all the materials. The Averill family is a great asset to the town. Club meetings are the first Thursday of the month at the fire station in Alna. All our meet- ings are pot luck, hope to see you there! Think Snow! Club Reporter Joel Verney The Windham Drifters have been busy signing their trail system and inspecting and repairing bridges in need. As well, the club is preparing grooming equipment for the season. The Drifters club has been utilizing dated, Bombardier Bombi machines to pull drags for grooming the towns trails for close to 20 years. When they are running and work- ing properly, they do well pulling drags and grooming. Yet, due to their age it is difficult to find parts and when parts are available, they are expensive. In recent years, the club has researched and the decision has been made to move toward replacing the dated Bombis with newer equipment. This fall the club acquired a tracked ATV and drag to help with groom- ing. The club would like to replace the Bombi machines with tracked side by sides. Due to the great cost of a new machine, tracks and drag ($30k+), the club is working to acquire the funds from local resources. Club mem- ber Andy Lord is leading a Capital Campaign Committee that is looking for financial sup- port in order to purchase one or two side-by- sides with drags. If you are a local business that would like to help the club achieve their goal, please reach out to us, we’d love to hear from you! This is exciting news for the Wind- ham Club! With the support from the town and local resources we hope to add to the grooming fleet in the near future. Follow us on Facebook and visit our web- WINDHAM DRIFTERS Windham, ME Seasons Greeting from the Windham Drift- ers! December means SNOW in the forecast and the New Year approaching. We hope you all are getting ready for another great season of snowmobiling.

site windhamdrifters.com Club meetings are held @ Pat’s Pizza in Windham on the 2nd Monday of the month. Happy Holidays! Shane Spencer-Club Reporte r

cation. GOOD WORK ALL. Respectfully submitted, Brad

COASTAL REGION

TRI-TOWN PENQUINS Durham, Pownal, Freeport, ME

SACO PATHFINDERS Saco, ME Find us on Facebook

Hello Everyone! Our club has been busy with trail maintenance, primarily repairing bridges. The three short bridges near the Snow Road were repaired a number of weeks ago as reported in October. In November, a long bridge located near Bells Field at the end of Cushing Road received a new top, pick boards and side rails along with being leveled. In the weeks following Thanksgiving, the bridge at the end of our trail system near Route 136 will be repaired. The club is investigating building a bridge across Chandler Brook. This brook is fairly wide and deep and is only crossed once heavy ice forms limiting crossing to late winter. The club is planning a holiday pot luck din- ner at our next meeting on December 2nd held at our regular meeting location. 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. 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, we welcome all to join! Time to get the sleds ready! Richard Nadeau Member

As I sit here writing the December update, it’s a balmy 60 degrees outside. Those around us who don’t ride are certainly loving the extended warmth, but I know most of you are waiting for those freezing nights where the ground finally firms up and then those first flakes of white gold start to drop. Hopefully that’s coming in the next few weeks. The members have been busy every Sunday in getting the trails cleaned up, bridge decking replaced, and grooming equipment tuned up. Most of our road crossing signs are in place and we’ll be doing the fields shortly. We consider ourselves to be good sportsmen and women, so we do our best to do our trail work on Sundays and allow the hunters to have them the rest of the week. The Pathfinders recently held a Hunter’s Breakfast on two consecutive Saturdays. We had never done this before so we didn’t know what to expect. They were a nice success and we will be planning an opening day breakfast for next year as well. We have to give a huge shout out to the Leary family who donated all the eggs and potatoes for the breakfasts. The Leary’s have an expansive multi-generational farm in Saco and are also one of our largest landowners. They allow our trail system to crisscross their land all over North Saco. The Leary’s are the perfect example of a generous landowner willing to share their land. Speaking of landowners, we push this logic every year. Thank them!! Whether the land- owner has a thousand acres or the quarter acre lot that our trail goes through, without them, our sport is done. If you happen to run into a landowner, stop your sled and thank them. And, be respectful of their property. Stay on marked trails, don’t spin your track, don’t be loud, etc. Trails are being shut down all over the state because people are being disrespectful. Lastly, we were in Saco’s annual Parade of Lights down Main St. on December 4 th . The Pathfinders always have at least three trailers in the parade showing off some of our mem- ber’s sleds, some of our grooming equipment, and handing out candy to the crowd. It’s become one of our favorite events of the year and lets the locals know who we are and what we do. We hope your holidays are wonderful and think snow!!! Cheers Doug Doherty, President Excitement is in the air! We will soon be rid- ing the beautiful trails of Maine! The Sebago Branch Duckers continue to work on the trails every week. They are looking EXCELLENT! New and improved trail maps are complete and going to print! Thank you to JB Grooming Equipment for our new snowmobile drag and snow roller. We always appreciate help on the trails. You don’t have to be a club member to volunteer. Thank you to all the landowners for their generosity! Our trail system wouldn’t exist without you! All snowmobile trails are oper- ated on privately owned land. Landowners have the right to stipulate what can and cannot be operated on the trails that use their property. The Sebago Branch Duckers welcome new members to join our club! Maine has 289 snowmobile clubs with a total of 28,000 members. We’d love for you to be part of it! Did you know? Children must be 10 years of age or older to operate a snowmobile that is unaccompanied by an adult and on land not SEBAGO BRANCH DUCKERS Sebago, ME

SOUTHERN MAINE SNO-GOERS Sanford, ME

Heading into winter full steam ahead in Southern Maine. Getting to 28 degrees at night regularly and pretty frosty in the morning.

We have been out doing trail work and have had several meetings. Our next meeting will

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