Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We were off to a great start with grooming and getting the trails ready for snowmobiling a couple of weeks ago.  The trails were in great condition and the riding was good.  Then, Mother Nature took a turn for the worse.  We’ve had a lot of rain and warm weather which has made a real mess of the trails.  Between rainstorms, the temp has fallen below freezing and made a lot of ice on the trails.  As I sit here typing this newsletter, we are getting heavy rain, freezing rain, sleet with a little bit of snow mixed in.  Things are sure to change here soon but it’s very frustrating waiting for it to happen.  The trails are still rideable.   A lot of people have been out there riding – but if you do decide to ride, please watch for icy conditions and be careful, especially on corners.  Always ride with caution.  Check the club’s web page for the latest trail conditions and if you don’t have computer access, you can call the club’s snow phone, 207-864-7336 anytime for a recorded message with trail conditions.  When the conditions change, the message is changed. 

Easy Bucks winners at the December meeting were David Borman of Oquossoc, ME who was present and won $100 and James Rogers of Winchendon, MA who was not present and won $50.

The January membership meeting will be held on January 8^th at the Rangeley Region Guides and Sportsman’s Clubhouse in Oquossoc.   Dinner will be served by the Rangeley School Class of 2010 and their parents.

Snodeo is coming together very well.   All we need now is a few good snowstorms and if anyone can help us out with that, we’d sure appreciate it!!  Seriously, we feel quite confident that we will have snow for Snodeo. 

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 by e-mailing Sandi at ccsandi@exploremaine.com.  There will only be 100 seats per sitting so please reserve early.

Everyone had a great time at the Christmas Party.  The food was terrific – thanks Ginny and Pete at Saddleback Motor Inn for a great meal.  The 50/50 drawing was won by Heidi Bliss of West Baldwin, Maine.  Heidi was at the party and she won a total of $525 and was generous enough to donate $425 of her winnings back to the club’s building fund for the groomer barn.  Thanks Heidi!

The Clubhouse Restaurant (formerly Peoples Choice) in Rangeley is now open for business.  Owner, Monika Taylor is a great supporter of the Club so when you are in the area, stop in at her restaurant and have a bite to eat.....  She’s right on the trail! D.C. Morton’s gas station has also changed hands and is now owned by The Jaffarian family.  The Jaffarians are long-time members of the Rangeley Lakes Snowmobile Club. 

We wish both of these businesses the best of luck! 

To those  of you who haven’t rejoined the club yet this season, you will receive a notice and membership form with this newsletter.  Please send your membership form in.  It’s important to both you and the club.  This will be your last newsletter if we don’t receive your renewal and you have already stopped receiving the MSA newspaper.  Every snowmobiler should belong to a snowmobile club.  It’s club memberships that keeps this sport alive.  Please support the club where you ride!

We hope to see you all at Snodeo.  As mentioned in the December newsletter, this year promises to be the biggest and best Snodeo with Rangeley’s Sesquicentennial Committee joining forces with us in organizing the event.  Along with celebrating the snowmobiling season, we will be celebrating Rangeley’s 150^th anniversary!  Come join the fun!  Bring your family – there will be events for everyone – young and old!  (see enclosed agenda).

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!