WE HAVE SNOW ON THE GROUND HERE IN RANGELEY!!!  Won’t be long now, a couple more storms and the groomers will be out on the trails.  Now we have to hope for cold weather to get the lakes frozen over.

Easy Bucks winners at the November meeting were Peter VanMater of Southold, NY and Wes Reed of Haverhill, MA.  Neither were present so their winnings were $50.

There will be no membership meeting in December.  Instead of the meeting we will be having our Christmas party on December 11^th.  We will be taking a vote on the by-law change needed to make us eligible for the USDA grant which, if we are awarded the grant, will cover approximately half of the cost of the new groomer.  You still have time to reserve your seat at the X-mas party, just e-mail me at gavi2@verizon.net.  Also, you still have time to send those 50/50 tickets in, looks like it’s going to be pretty nice cash prize for whoever wins the drawing!

Snodeo is shaping up well.  A Snodeo schedule is enclosed with this newsletter.  This is not the final program.  We are hoping to add a couple more events, but to date they have not been finalized.  We still desperately need a few guys for a couple hours on Friday, January 21^st to create the track for the obstacle course.  We are also looking for poker and black jack dealers for Casino Night. 

You will notice a few new events and attractions that are planned for Snodeo such as the Ice Sculpture Contest. Weather and ice conditions permitting, Steve Philbrick is planning on building an “ice castle” for Snodeo, Turkey Bowling is back this year and will be run by the Rangeley School Class of 2010.  Please consider decorating your snowmobile for the parade.  It’s a lot of fun and we are awarding trophies for first, second and third place entrants.

2005 marks Rangeley’s 150^th year and a “Sesquicentennial Committee” has been formed to make this anniversary of the Town’s existence a year to remember.  This Committee is helping enhance Snodeo by providing extra events, and money to enhance our usual events and this should help Snodeo be bigger and better than ever.  Let’s keep our fingers crossed for a good freeze in the next couple weeks so the lakes will start freezing over.  We need ice!!!!!!

On Friday, January 21^st, (during Snodeo weekend), the Catholic Women’s Club, in affiliation with the RLSC, is hosting a full course turkey dinner at the Masonic Hall on Richardson Ave. in Rangeley.  Your participation in attending the dinner will benefit the club. For every person attending the dinner, the club nets $2.  There will be two seatings, one at 5 PM and one at 7 PM.  The cost is $10 for adults, $5 for children under 12 yrs.   Tickets can be reserved by calling Sandi Dumont at 207-864-2775 or e-mail at ccsandi@exploremaine.com.  There will only be 100 seats per sitting so please reserve early.

The groomer barn is up, the roof is on and it’s looking like we’ll be using it to house the groomers this winter.  When you are in the area, stop by and check it out – It’s the first left after the transfer station on Loon Lake Road.  There is still plenty of work  to be completed and any help would be appreciated. 

We have had several crews working on the trails.  Thanks to everyone for their help.  A list of people who helped out with trailwork and worked on the groomer barn will be in a future newsletter.

The new trail maps are in and can be purchased by mail for $5 plus $1 postage & handling, or you can pick one up at local businesses in town when you are here.

Don’t forget – if you are planning to attend the Christmas Party, please bring an unwrapped toy or a non-perishable food item to be donated to the needy in the Rangeley area.  This is one way we can give back to the community and help a lot of families to have a Christmas where they would be none without these donations. 

We have plenty of fleece vests and pins left for sale.  These items make excellent Christmas presents and the proceeds from these sales go into our building fund.  You can see these items on our web page.  Plenty of time to order in time for Christmas giving.

Until next month..........

Gail Gavigan, Secretary

 Please visit our Sponsors page to check out businesses who have donated or pledged to donate to our grooming and trail maintenance program for this season. Be sure to patronize these businesses when in the area. It is due to their donations that we have the great riding conditions we all enjoy!