7817-R1_MSA_Nov2021_MaineSnowmobiler

MSA Club News

groomer has been purchased to assist with maintaining trails in both towns. Current and future fundraising events include Thanksgiv- ing Day Raffle, Hunter’s Breakfast, Santa’s Breakfast and Christmas floral arrangement class. The club wishes to thank MSA President Mike Grass Jr. for attending a meeting to offer his knowledge and assistance in many areas.

we need you! Respectfully submitted, Libby Nilsen, Club Reporter. Bridgton Easy Riders Bridgton, ME Hello MSAMembers, Our October meeting started with the usual Fabulous Pot Luck Supper at 6 PM in the Bridgton Community Center. There is always too much good food to eat! Blaine Chapman, President, called the meeting to order at 6:45PM and asked for a Moment of Silence to recognize the passing of member, Bob Calileo. The Club membership currently stands at 58 members and 26 Business members. Blaine mentioned that the maintenance crew has started work on the Tuckers and they are in great condition. The club has received a total of $840 in donations from too many names to list. Thank you all for your generosity. The Club discussed and voted to buy two new 16-inch Husqvarna Chain Saws from Hayes True Value which has been a longtime supporter of the Club. The Club voted to sup- port Bridgton’s Trunk or Treat Halloween Pro- gram on October 31st, and also approved the donation of the Club’s Food Wagon to a local friend of the Club. Last month, two sleds were generously donated by George and Dianne Veloso, for the club to sell. Thanks to them, and to Ron Mer- cier, who serviced the sleds in preparation for their sale. Blaine and “The Groomer Crew” attended the Maine Snowmobile Show in Augusta and purchased a 10-foot Merrill Limb Masher which was approved by the Club last month. This unit attaches to the side of the drag and cuts brush in a big way, saving many man hours of labor. Our next meeting will be on Friday, Novem- ber 12th at the Bridgton Community Center. 6PM Pot Luck supper followed by 6:45 busi- ness meeting. All are welcome. See us on Facebook. Bill Preis

As always, until the next time. THINK SNOW! Marge and Lee Livingston, Club reporters

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RIPLEY TRAIL RIDERS, sc Ripley, ME

EMBDEN TRAVELERS, sc Embden, ME Find us on Facebook

Like many clubs in Maine, it has been an interesting and challenging two years for us in Ripley. The virus has effected almost everyone in some form. In Ripley, we also got hit hard with a late storm in the spring and then again in the fall last year a heavy snow storm, both took a lot of time and labor to get cleaned up. As last fall snowmobile season started we got hit with a new owner of some land that encom- passed a major section of our trail system, and a big suppress the new owner didn’t want to allow us on his land. We did find options around the area but again it caused a lot of work, about 15 people and an excavator for a few days. Then we found two areas where woodcutting had been done and it wasn’t a pretty site that was left behind, again a lot of work scouting out the trail and an excavator for two days. I will say the new trail will be better than the ones we had before, so some good did come out of it plus the great time we all getting to know each other better and hav- ing fun working together. For the past two years, we have been forced to cancel our landowner dinner due to the virus. We did however make a big change in our only fund raising event, our annual pot- luck supper and auction in the spring of the year. We have choose to just have the auction in the fall outside at the Town Office facility; it has worked quite well for us during these try- ing times. As many of you know, we have had these events inside of the facility in the past. We are now looking forward to a great year of riding in Ripley plus a safe one. Many peo- ple don’t even know where Ripley is, keep your eyes open before entering Dexter on the ITS trail and head west, it is a connector to Bingham. If you like the wooded type trails and a little slower pace, there are some nice scenic areas along the way. Jay Hanson President When this letter appears in the MSA “Maine Snowmobiler” it will be November and hope- fully northern Maine will have had some early snow. Today, however, it is mid-October and mid-Maine is receiving some much needed rain. The trees are in full color and trail work will soon be starting in earnest. Members of the Blizzard Busters will be out pruning, trim- ming and generally getting our trails ready for snow. One of our bridges has already been replaced and there are two more to be done before the snow comes. On October 24th the Readfield Blizzard Busters will have served their annual Land- owners Appreciation Supper. Letters have gone out to all the wonderful landowners who are supporting the club, allowing use of their land to facilitate snowmobiling. Without these generous folks there would not be any trails. This year’s letters were similar to last year’s due to the ongoing Covid concerns. Rather than an invitation to a group sit down meal, prepared by club members, an invitation to receive a meal delivered to their respected homes was offered. Same great food, prepared by the same club members and delivered by club members. At this time it certainly appears the offer is well received with many Landown- ers requesting meals. Stay tuned for a report on how the event turned out. This year the annual MSA Snowmobile Show was held at the Augusta Civic Cen- ter. Old news by the time you read this letter but much appreciated by snowmobilers from near and far. As always, we got to see lots of friends there. Always a great place to check out ride destinations and new sleds, as well as pick up the newest maps and shop for lots of accessories. READFIELD BLIZZARD BUSTERS Readfield, ME Find us on Facebook

Our hats are off in salute to the organizers of the Maine Snowmobile Show. Still hampered by COVID, the lack of new sled displays that could be associated with jammed harbors with parts, and caution, they presented a great opportunity to meet and greet on a common, friendly stage. Our Trailmaster, Jay Wilson, 566-5330, reports most of the system has been brushed and known blockages cleared. There may be a need to replace the Beaver Brook Bridge on the North west side of the pond. It was repaired last year after vehicles with four wheels dam- aged it heavily. But, again, efforts to pass on this bridge with larger than designed vehi- cles have caused repair issues. We may have to route around the area using an old route through the Sky Farm. Signs will be your guide. In the meantime, if you have time to help, please call Jay or Dan. At our meeting on October 8th, we voted to purchase a new wide track Skandic. We still operate with club owned 2001, 2004 and 2006 Skandics, a 1988 Alpine as back-up and the new Skandic purchased last year. Some groomers, when the mood is right, bring out their own Alpines and side by side with tracks. We should be able to meet the challenges and provide a smooth ride at safe speeds. Remem- ber, the best safety device on your sled is YOU. Amy reports the response for membership has been great and all the Super raffle tickets received to date have been sold while solicit- ing at some local businesses. The Snowfest is still being planned for Feb- ruary 12, 2022. Keep an eye on our Facebook or the Calendar in this publication. Also, our Christmas party is being planned for Decem- ber 11. The venue is still COVID sensitive. Again, refer to our Facebook page for final plans. Hope to see you soon, Your Cub Reporter Hi y’all, We’re back! Hosting our monthly meetings on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month, 7PM at our club house, located at 1654 Long Falls Dam Road. Come and see what’s happening in our area! Please be aware that there may be some tentative trail closures in neighboring clubs, that could affect our trail system and bring in a much higher volume of sled traffic to our area. That being said, we meet every Sunday at 9AM, again at our club house, to work on trail maintenance. If you can spare a few Sundays or even a few hours, we could definitely use your help! Please bring your tools, i.e.: chain- saws, or clippers, etc. with you. We’d love to have you join in, make some new friends and get involved with the community! We will also be hosting our annual Christ- mas party on December 4th. It’s a pot luck dinner with a $5 Yankee swap. It’s such a Hoot! And so much fun! Can’t wait to see all of you out on the trails working and riding! Enjoy the season! Think SNOW! Lori Nunes, club reporter LEXINGTON HIGHLANDERS Lexington Twp, ME

A good time was had by all. Michelle Gray, MSA director Mxmom92kx@gmail.com 207-341-1212

ROME RUFF RIDERS Belgrade Lakes, ME

Hello all, time is moving on and last night we had our election of officers and again our existing executives agreed to run for another year. With no nominations from the floor the present officers were voted in again. President Lincoln Nye, V.P. Doug McCosh, Secretary & Treasurer Hal Garnett, and Scott Chapman is again Trail Master. The progress on our trail system has been moving along quite well. Last month we spent most of the month on the West side trails. Trimming, bush hogging, and cut- ting a new connection to the ITS trail that will be open later this season. We also repaired 2 old bridges that we will be replacing next year if we are awarded the RTP Grant. On the East side we replaced the Mountain Road bridge that connects to Great Pond. The bridges that we are building are not like the old ones that were built from logs or old telephone poles. We are using steel beams on concrete bases covered with wood. These bridges should last for years with only minimal maintenance. Our membership is still quite low with only 8 paid family members and 3 Business mem- bers. Come join the club, we need you. We have ordered a small bush hog to pull behind a 4X4 for trimming. It should be coming in later this month (we hope). That’s about all for this month, so let me again ask those members that have not yet joined for this year if you can’t come to the meetings just drop a $25 check for the Club and MSA membership in the mail to Rome Ruff Riders, PO Box 575 and we will send you your receipt. Hal Garnett, Secretary WESTERN REGION PEJEPSCOT SNO-CHIEFS Lisbon Falls, ME Find us on Facebook Happy Thanksgiving from Pejepscot Sno- Chiefs! My favorite time of the year is winding down, but this year we got out & enjoyed the foliage on our new side by side. Why did we wait so long to get one?? We had another decent turnout at our October 12th club meeting, maybe having dinner tempted participation! I made venison chili, cornbread, & apple/pear crisp (from our trees!), & Steve brought apple cider. Bard Excavation did bring in sand for the area in front of the clubhouse, so we actually have a “parking lot” now! We discussed upcoming trail & bridge work, meet at the clubhouse on Sundays at 8am. We plan on having breakfast Nov. 7th before heading out to work on trails, and as always, all and any help would be greatly appreciated! A reminder our World’s Greatest Sleigh Ride fundraiser will be Feb. 20 th , 2022, mark your calendar! We decided to move the time of our regular club meetings from 7pm down to 6pm, begin- ning November 9th with our corn chowder din- ner meeting. Our December meeting will be one week earlier on the 7th, lobster stew on the menu and a Yankee swap. All members invited! Hope to see many of you helping on Sunday trail work, always plenty to do & never enough hands to help. It’s definitely one way to get out- side & enjoy this time of year, get exercise, & keep our trails top-notch! Stay safe, think snow, get active in your club,

BER Club Correspondent Bridgtoneasyriders.com

WELD WINTER WILDCATS Weld, ME facebook.com/weldwinterwildcat

Wildcats had their annual Elections for the year. We want to thank our former Officers’ Zach Fredericks and David Davol for their time over the past year. Welcome to our new President, Ron Healey. We will be having monthly meetings for the season on the 2 nd Wednesday of the month at the Skool House Variety at 6PM.

We’ve started our annual trail brushing. We meet every Sunday morning @10AM. If you’d like to help, please message our Trail Master through our Facebook page. We’ve been working on clearing out a three-way intersection in Mt. Blue State Park on ITS89 that has a great Scenic Overview of Webb Lake. We have a few bridge repairs to com- plete and general clean up to do before the snow flies. Any suggestions for some fun Club things to do this winter, please message us on Face- book and wishing everyone Happy Trails!

NIGHT DRIFTERS, sc Detroit, ME

Officers for the New Year have been elected as follows: President-Brett Salisbury, Vice President-Troy Tibbetts, Secretary-Jenn Bas- ford, Treasurer- Bobbie Hicks. Trail work has begun in both Detroit and Plymouth. Plym- outh has joined the Detroit club. An additional

Linda Healey Club Reporter

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