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thank them enough. I invited him to the show last year, He said “ I don’t have much to show but I’ll be there if only to see customers and shake their hand” Central Maine Powersports has great leadership and their customer service is outstanding. The membership award’s: Rangeley Lakes SC, Washburn Trail Runner’s, Moosehead Riders, Madawaska SC, Northern Timber Cruiser’s, Penobscot SC, Bridgton Easy Riders, Red Arrow SC Arnold Trail SC and The Border Rider’s. Thanks for your support and making snowmobiling in Maine the best! On a safety note, we had many serious accidents from all over the state. Four fatalities and my heart goes out to those families. I’d like to thank Mike Grass for his friendship and leadership over the last few years. Also, the entire MSA team you make it happen and it’s proven with your winning reputation! Ride Safe! AL With the help of all of you, the MSA is poised to open the search of a new Spokesman or Exec utive Director to bring us forward into the next decade. This should open fairly soon and if you know someone, send them to us. As of the annual meeting, we now have in place one of the most devoted, experienced and true to the sport Presidents with Al Swett, and our future looks incredible. His new team’s loyalty is unwav ering and can’t be second guessed. Kind words aimed at the steering committee rung through out the annual meeting, on the recent track record and we all remain committed to seeing new leaps in areas of insurance, online mem bership and club agreements with the MSA and making them ALL flourish collectively. While a summer break is needed, behind the scenes, the gears will be a churning. While the Sunday hunting bill is dead, there is (as always) another pop-up backlash that has been stirred up for legality. From many on the landowner side, and clearly demonstrated from the IFW survey results, the subject is really getting a bit long-in-the-tooth. It just may be reaching a point where our long accepting peo ple are going to say “too much is too much” and call an end to it all. This is a clear example of “Careful what you wish for”. As always, we will continue to listen closely. Since it was 94 degrees in May, I am seri ously thinking it is time to roll on into summer. I would like to say thanks to you all for the great conversations, rides, meetings, interactions and all other events related to one of the greatest events out there! Snowmobiling! Be Well Everyone! John Monk I’ve had a great ride as VP and President. I’ve met some really great people over these years which includes all of you. I’ve had great trails, scenery, meals, conversations and mostly camaraderie with passionate snowmobilers all over this state. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it and appreciate all of you, the “MSA family”. I hope to continue to see and talk with you all at meetings, restaurants, trail side stops and anywhere else sled talk is happening. Think Snow and Thank You, Mike did the work and here we are today, having our Annual Directors Meeting and Awards banquet rewarding some amazing volunteers for their outstanding work. I need to thank some people. Al Swett, Lori Hemmerdinger and Brad Barker, thank you for being my VP, Treasurer and Secretary. Thank you to VP’s Matt Stedman, Eileen Lafland, Jack Lord, Jim Boyce and Dave Watson. To all my Regional Directors, Committee Chairs and Committee members, Thank you. You all work hard for your local club and then volunteer for MSA too. To all the MSA clubs and all of your members, Thank you. MSA starts with you and couldn’t function without all of you making it happen each winter. I’d like to thank the members of the Steering Committee for your countless hours making sure MSA is open for business every day. And I’d also like to thank our partners at the Dept. of ACF, Snowmobile Division, Joe, Lana and Candice. Our relationship with your office is irreplaceable. One last thank you to my wife Brandy, Thank you for letting me go wherever, whenever I needed to, sometimes on a moment’s notice and letting me do what I love.

H ello! Well it was quite a season, quick with lots of snow in some spots, not much in others. However, the clubs came through once again! They did an outstanding job with what they had to work, the signage has improved, the groomed trails could only last so long because some areas were overloaded with snowmobiler’s. It was good for the businesses and helped the groomer jars on counters at many stores. Snowmobile registrations increased as did MSAmembership. We are a great team that has a passion for Maine snowmobiling that is second to none. Everybody wants to come to Maine, rather it be from the far south or just next door with the Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, New Brunswick, or Quebec. It’s great to have these folks come to experience our trails and make new lifelong friendships. The annual banquet was a big success filled with real emotions. We have awarded some March took us to Island Falls and the Northern Region Showcase ride. Even a soaking rain couldn’t wipe the smiles off the riders faces as the trails were table top flat. Our lunch that day in Linneus and meeting that night were at new to me clubhouses as well. Wet but fun day. I finished up my riding season the last weekend in March by hooking up with my buddy Gary Marquis and heading to the Cold Mtn SC cookout at Therio-ville Maple products in Grand Isle. We found some great trails even though it was warm and our day ended in the rain. Overall, I had a pretty good season considering the roller coaster distributing the Maine ITS Map. Along with that we put on several “Trail Signage Workshops” across the State to try and raise awareness and to educate ourselves and our clubs on proper Signage techniques, to make it the best snowmobiling experience we can possibly make for our Riders. With that said, the committee is comprised of 40 or so likeminded passionate volunteer snowmobilers. The number of hours spent by these volunteers in the course of a season is really a tough calculation, but I can tell you for certain that the committee spent a little over 250 hours just on ITS inspections, and probably another 250 hours on everything else “Trail Related”. The committee processed and submitted well over 100 ITS Trail inspections to the Dept. of ACF, which totals up over 2,000 miles of trail, rode this past season. Once again, we as a whole state saw some very diverse conditions with a mid to late January start for most, and a warm up that ended the season in the Southern 2/3rds of the state way to early. The exceptions to that were Aroostook County and the Jackman area, which saw a late surge in weather to extend the season. The Western Maine Mountains and Millinocket areas saw marginal to adequate snow conditions, but somehow the season just does not seem long enough for most. So, I have to say I have thoroughly enjoyed the last 4 years as Trails Committee Chair, I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to work with, but I find myself continuing my MSA journey in a different direction which forces me to pass the torch back on to Mike Grass Jr. For a few years. Thank you for letting me serve you on this committee, and I’ll see you right back here this Fall as your executive vice president. I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable summer. Thank you, Mark. A long hard day but worth it in the end. On that trip, we hit a new place to eat, The Mill Yard in Danforth. Great Food stop if you’re in the area. I did my annual trip to Frenchville with dad and the crew but had to cut it short because of the impending blizzard at the end of January. I think they overrated it a bit. I got to ride from home for a couple trips with minimal snow in central Maine and ended up trailering quite a bit. We had another successful Eastern Region Showcase ride in Millinocket which also had “new to me trail” (Thanks to our guide Larry) with awesome views of Katahdin. The end of February brought another first time adventure for me as my buddy John Monk and I ventured to Island Pond, Vermont for the ISC, N E Chapter meeting and ride. Met some really great people with the same passion for snowmobiling that we have. Great interactive meetings, roundtable discussions and a fun ride on the Vermont trail system. Looking forward to MSA hosting this meeting next season in Caribou and showing them our great trails and scenery.

incredible people with much deserved plaques and trophies. But you’re all winners! From the club of the year Lexington Highlander’s and their awesome chicken cookouts, the new first ever MSA Youth Award to the Border Rider’s Sawyer Stone! To all the winners we cannot succeed without your dedication. The Hall Of Fame winners Marion Pinkham and Jim Splan....My buddy Ossie Stanley is the Snowmobiler of the year, The one and only Dwight Flewelling Groomer of the year, Shaker Hill Outdoors in Poland for Supporting Business of the year. Our dealers of the year always come out strong at Super Raffle time and donate two snowmobile trailers. From the industries two largest manufacturer’s right here in Central Maine ALCOM from Winslow and up the road in Pittsfield NITRO. Another Dealer of the Year this, is a dealer in Lewiston that wrote the book on getting involved with our snowmobile clubs they donate and donate to the clubs we cannot I think the MSA is in a good place right now, considering all we have been through over the last three years. Having our Executive Director and Office Manager/Editor of 20+ years retire and leave no road map, guidance or procedures in place. Covid 19 taking away our dinners, gatherings and events, only to make us learn how to “Zoom”. We were left wondering how do we make MSA work and what are our revenue sources going to be. Needless to say, we dug in, Steering Committee Chair Report weather. About 3 years ago now, I asked then President John Monk, our Executive Director and Al Swett to meet me in Waterville at Governors for dinner. That night, I asked Al Swett to be my Vice President. He was quite surprised but said he would think about it and talk to Val about it. Luckily, for me, He decided to take me up on it. Looking back now, that was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made as Al has been a godsend to me and MSA. Al has been the unofficial/official photographer for many years and had taken on the hat of safety officer. A role he truly loves, but unbeknownst to us, our Exec Director would retire and Covid would hit us within a couple months of each other. Al stepped up to the plate and drove to the office 3-5 days a week to make sure there was someone there to answer the phone. He worked with three different people until we found Liz. She and Al have been manning the office together since the Snowmobile Snow in October and they are a great team. Thank You Al, for being more than my VP. You’re a great man, friend, snowmobile buddy and more. You have made my time as President that much better having you by my side.

From the President

Mike Grass, Jr., 207-368-2316 249 Condon Rd, Plymouth ME 04969 mgrassjr@gmail.com E very year now for about 15 years, I’ve tried to ride with someone new, ride a new to me trail and try a new place to eat on the trail. This year I was very successful on all counts. This year I rode with Wayne Hawes of Newport (twice actually) and Steve Hennigan of Newport. Second try went better as the first time his Arctic Cat only made it a mile before a “Catastrophic” failure! I actually rode with more new people but I’ll talk about that in a minute. I rode new trail with my buddies Brent and John as we did a marathon run we call the Spaulding Sled Safari from EMSC clubhouse to Brent’s camp in Portage. 292 miles from 7:00 am to 10:15 pm.

From the Executive VP

Alan Swett, 207-872-7282 234 County Rd, Waterville ME 04901 snowtraveler@roadrunner.com

Trails Committee Chair Report

John Monk Chairman of Steering Committee monksdoomopars@hermon.net

Mark Chinnock,Trails Committee Chair 207-754-9874, napadude66@hotmail.com 435 Poland Corner Rd, Poland ME 04274 A nd just like that we’re knocking on the door of Summer once again, and by all rights coming off of another successful snowmobiling season. The MSA Trails Committee had a very busy but encouraging winter, and for those of you who are not very familiar with who the Trails Committee is and what we actually do, here is a quick synopsis for you. The M.S.A. Trails Committee is a committee under the umbrella of the M.S.A. and contracted with Dept. Of agriculture, conservation and forestry each year, and put in place to assist Joe Higgin’s office, the snowmobile division of the Dept. Of A.C.F. and acts as a liaison between the Dept. And the clubs to assist in the inspection of all ITS trail though out the state, as well as any Trail related issues that might come up, as well as we are responsible for preparing, printing and

H ello All,

Congratulations to the winners of the 21-22 year for their incredible showings of effort to Maine’s winter season. While they are all sig nificant, the Rangeley Lakes Membership Drive of making each and every rider carry a portion of the load goes above and beyond. These ladies behind this effort are some creative, resourceful souls. Additionally, if you have ever explored the trails of Easton, you’ll find arguably the most well placed, signed and manicured trail system in the state. Congrats to you, Dwight Flewelling for Groomer of the Year honors. I could go on infinitely, but I have a few points I should probably hit that are a bit more related to my topic. With all seriousness, congratulations to all our shining members of the year on their respective awards winnings.

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