October has been a busy month for the Club.  We had boots at the MSA Snowmobile Show in Augusta and at the Eastern States Exposition Center in West Springfield, Mass.  Members John Hooper, Marley and Mike Cerminara and Mac Dudley staffed the booth in Augusta.  They were pleased to visit with many of our club members who attended the show.  Congressman Tom Allen and his wife, Diana stopped by for a chat.  As you remember, last year the Club hosted a ride with Congressmen Tom Allen, Mike Michaud and those who traveled to Rangeley with them.  Thanks to the Rangeley Chamber of Commerce for paying the fee for our booth at the Augusta show.

The booth at the Massachusetts show was manned by Vince Banaitis, Gail Gavigan and Don Hayes.    The crowd was noticeably down at the Massachusetts show and we can’t help but assume this is due to the past two winters we have had with less than normal winter conditions.  Let’s hope for a great “wintery” season this year and bring back the interest we seemed to have lost.  Not just us, the whole sport of snowmobiling. 

Our first general membership meeting was held on October 14^th.  Ironically, that was the first time snow was visible on mountain peaks in our area.  Dinner was prepared by Mac and Steve Dudley and cooked by Chick Hembrow and Archie Lafebvre.  Members provided side dishes and desserts.   There was record attendance at the meeting for an October meeting.   Mike Grey, volunteer Trail Inspector for the MSA and  mapping guru, spoke to the members and showed his map making skills.  Mike has taken GPS coordinates along our trails for several years and has overlaid those onto topo maps.  Our newly designed maps promise to be a great improvement over what we have had in the past.  Thanks, Mike!!

Our major focus lately has been relocating parts of our trail system due to wood harvesting operations.  As soon as possible, the information on changes and re-routes will be posed on our web page and we will try to keep this up-to-date at all times.  Some of the re-routes we are working are will be a change in ITS 84 from Oquossoc to the NH border.  Riding to the top of East Kennebago Mountain (on ITS 89) will not be possible until at least mid-January.  ITS 89 will be re-routed to Quill Hill and then around the East side of Kennebago  Ridge.  There will be some other changes made also, so please, check our website often.  Of course, the trails will be clearly marked with changes before grooming starts.

If you haven’t yet mailed in your membership renewal, please do so soon.  Your MSA membership, including insurance expired on September 30^th.  You are also no longer on the the MSA News mailing list which is a valuable tool for latest information about our sport.

With this newsletter you will find an invitation to the annual Christmas Party.  We ask that you make your meal selection and return the invitation no later than November 26^th so that food can be ordered.  You will also find ten raffle tickets for for a 50/50 drawing to be held that evening.  You need not be present to win.  Just fill out the back of the stub with your name and contact information, mail the stubs along with a check to the club, and if your ticket is drawn, we will mail you the prize money. The cost of each ticket is $1. In the past, we have never had a prize of less than $300 for this event. If you would like more tickets for this drawing, please let us know and they will be mailed to you. Again this year, we are asking each person attending to bring a gift (unwrapped) to be given to The Giving Tree of Rangeley.  This organization distributes all donations to needy families in our area.  Especially needed are items for teens, both male and female.  You may also bring a non-perishable food item (cereal, canned goods, etc) for the Giving Tree’s food pantry. Please make sure your food item does not have an expired date on it.   This is the Club’s way of giving back to the community for all they do to make our sport successful.

Finally, as usual, we are very busy with trail work right now.  We are working on bridge repairs, re-routes, brush cutting, signing.  We welcome anyone who would like to volunteer to help out with this work.  Please call Steve at 207-864-5919 if you have time to help, or drop us a line at the club address or by e-mail through the web page.  You will be contacted with directions and work party times. 

The November membership meeting will be held on November 10^th. At 6:30 PM at the Church of the Good Shepherd on Main Street in Rangeley.    We will be serving a traditional turkey dinner and will need help with desserts and other side dishes.  Please call Steve at 207-864-5919 or Gail at 207-864-9047  if you can help out or contact us through the web page or by mail.  We are trying to organize donated dishes to have a good assortment. 

We sincerely hope you will attend the November meeting.  We are trying to make our meetings more interesting so people will enjoy attending.  It’s an inexpensive social event and can be fun!

Hope to see you there!

Snodeo plans are in the works.  REMEMBER, Snodeo will be held on January 24, 25 and 26^th this year.  (A week later than in past years in the hopes of more snow). 

Until next month………    Gail Gavigan

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!