Merry Christmas and Happy New Millennium Year. Here’s hoping you and your family have a joyous holiday and a prosperous and snowy New Year. And don’t worry, your snowmobile club and the newsletter is Y2K compliant. Heh heh!!
On to that little incident with my truck that I mentioned in passing last month. I finally got the ok from the insurance company, got a screw driver and turned my Ski Doo plate on the front of the truck back around so it could be read and enjoyed by everyone. To those of you who just joined or forgot what was in last months newsletter, my truck was "vandalized" by some miscreant (an evildoer or villain – I looked it up). Even though it was the most heinous (grossly wicked or reprehensible – had to look it up too) of crimes on the police blotter, they have moved on to other, more forgivable crimes. Therefore we will probably never know who could do such a dastardly deed. At least it’s behind me and with only six more months of counseling, I should be back to normal.
Let’s welcome a couple of new members this month. Hello to Mark Kieffer from Bethel, PA and Jeff Tiesi from Sayre, PA. Bethel is just south of route 78 between Reading and Harrisburg. Always amazes me when members join from so far away. Jeff has recently moved into the area and is looking for where the trails are. Hopefully we’ll have some snow this year so we can show him. To both, welcome and I hope I get a chance to say hello in person this riding season.
Membership wise we are looking real good compared to last year. Printed out 80 dues paying envelopes for this newsletter. It really does make life easier for the secretary and treasurer if the bookwork can be mostly done before the snow flies. So a big thanks to all of you as you renewed in a timely fashion. Even got a couple of late renewals after having to send them a ‘hate’ letter. Even talked to one fellow who blamed it on his wife as he told her to renew and she forgot. Not going to mention any names here, but that is pretty low isn’t it Scott?
When you opened this letter, there were six green tickets that fell on the ground, I hope. They were enclosed in every dues paying members newsletter (if the envelope stuffers did it right that is). We did not put any in the complimentary or advertisers issues of the newsletter sent out. Those six green tickets are for the Arctic Cat Z370 the PSSA is raffling off again this year. Every year, Arctic Cat out of Thief River Falls Minnesota, donates a new sled for the PSSA to use. The PSSA has set it up for member clubs to sell the chances with the clubs getting half the monies collected. This has been a major fundraiser for us being the top seller in the state the past two years. With this fundraiser and the Winterfest, we do not have to spend any time in the summer months figuring out how to raise money to keep the club treasury in the black. What we have done is included them in this month in case you would like to take a chance in the raffle. If not, maybe you know someone who would like a chance and sell the tickets to them. If neither, send the tickets back to us and we will try and find a home for them. If you think you can sell more or would like to try, contact Dennis Smouse as he hoards the tickets. In case your wondering, PSSA = Pennsylvania State Snowmobile Association.
No real club events to report on this month. There is a group that gets together and takes a trip to Coudersport the Friday after Thanksgiving. We are in our third or forth year, no one can remember for sure. Anyway, it has grown to where this year we took a bus, generously supplied by Ed McGuire. What’s it all about? Well the Friday after Thanksgiving is traditionally THE shopping day of the year. So a bunch of us went shopping at all the snowmobile dealers between Towanda and Coudersport. Last year there were five or six vehicles so this year we took the bus. Thanks to Ray McGuire for a very professional job of driving. We left Wysox at 8:30 am sharp. First stop is Joe’s Sport Center in East Canton. Joe had advance warning we were coming this year so he had coffee, donuts, cider and cookies for us. Taking off from East Canton we landed in Alba to talk with Ron, member and advertiser, at his Alba Grocery and Gas (best Wings in Alba). Next we headed out rte 6 taking rte 15 to Covington to stop at A.J.’s Outdoor Power Equipment. After checking out what Ski Doo inventory Chris had, we backtracked to rte 6 and headed to Mansfield stopping on the other side at Lake Country Marine to talk with Bob. Even conned him into being an advertiser/supporter of our club this year. He is having a little bit of a rough go of it this year having had a minor fire in his showroom in September. Things look great and he invites everyone to stop in. Heading on out rte six, the next stop was at Canyon Motor Sports. John and the whole crew there were relieved the bus was not loaded with school kids. However on our departure, I am guessing they were wishing it was school kids and not us. Just kidding, we did leave the walls standing. Time now for something different so we stopped at West Pike Motor Lodge, convenience store, snack counter, gas station and massage parlor. Well I made up the massage parlor part, but most everything else is true. If we ever have a winter with snow, this is where we plan on booking our stay on the "Go West" trip. Roger Turner’s cousin Ron is the proprietor, avid snowmobiler, member and advertiser/supporter. Gathering our snacks we ventured further out rte 6 till we came across Larry’s Sport Center stopping to look at Yamaha snowmobiles, right Mark? They are adding on an addition that looks to more than double their show room size. They hope to have it ready to go the end of February. Not many Yamaha sleds left to buy there. Almost to Coudersport now and the last snowmobile dealer, Howard’s. He has Ski Doos and Arctic Cats on the showroom floor. Talked over the coming winter weather with the first Winterfest Miss Avalanche, Nancy. Billy (he runs the place) was amazed we would take the time to ride a bus all that way just to stop in and say hello. Turning around now we head towards home with one more shopping stop, Mountain Valley Sales & Service. They have used snowmobiles, parts and accessories. They service and repair all makes of cycles, snowmobiles, ATV’s and watercraft. This is right across from Potato City Lodge. We tried to talk them into advertising with us but they were leery of a bunch of nuts. We’ll send them a copy of our newsletter and seeing how professionally it is written, I’m sure they will change their minds, ya think? Being after dark, we headed back to Wellsboro stopping at Pizza Hut for some nourishment. Got a little foggy on the drive back to Wysox, at least inside the bus, especially towards the front, if you know what I mean. Got back to Wysox before 8:00pm with all agreeing the day was a huge success. Looking forward to doing it again next year. Going to make some changes though. First we will have to add Brinks Motor Sports as one of our stops. Then we will notify all the stops along the way so they can expect us. Then we are going to find a place out near Coudersport for our lunch next year. So mark the day after Thanksgiving as your shopping day next year and stay tuned as we will advertise how to sign up for it. Hoping to double the amount of participants as we need new snowmobilers to pick on riding out there.
The ‘New Millennium Ride’ is still on at Steelhead Lodge. The last I knew there was one room left in the house and a big room that holds six in the motel part. You have to reserve a two-night package, Friday Dec 31st and Saturday Jan 1st. Cost is $20 plus tax per person per night. Make your reservations directly with Steelhead Lodge at (315) 298-4371 as they are on a first come first served basis. Ask anyone who went last year, we had snow, cold weather, great riding and good fellowship. Roger Turner is chairing this event.
The balance of the club calendar has been set. Check it out
Calendar of Events:
Dec 8th Next regularly scheduled meeting of the club at Steward’s Family Restaurant. Starts at 7:00 pm in their back room. Tell us what we are doing right or wrong. Hope to see you there.
Dec 31st thru Jan 2nd New Millennium Ride, Steelhead Lodge in Pulaski, NY. Minimum two night package with a cost of $20 plus tax per person per night. Reservations on a first come first served basis. Telephone (315) 298-4371 and talk with Big Earl to make your reservation. See more info in this newsletter.
Jan 8th Slalom Run Need a chairperson.
Jan 15th State Game Land trails open. Fun Run. Need a chairperson.
Jan 21st thru Jan 23rd Go West Trip. This is the trip we have tried to set up for at least two years and the snow has not cooperated. The plan would be to stay at the West Pick Motor Lodge. Need a chairperson.
Jan 30th Fun Run. Need a chairperson.
Feb 5th thru Feb 6th Winterfest Aught Aught (’00). We will again be involved with this great snowmobiling event by selling a little bit of food. The Winterfest Committee of Alparon Park is hard at work setting the stage for another great festival. More surprises being planned for this year. Radar Run will be back bigger than ever.
Feb 13th Charity Ride. Need a chairperson.
Feb 20th Fun Run. Need a chairperson.
Feb 26th Slalom Run. Need a chairperson.
You probably see several events that don’t have much information after them and the words "Need a chairperson". That is because no one has volunteered to run these yet. All these events were set so we could get our club liability insurance sent in. That does not mean we will have all these events, just that we could. If we do not get volunteers to step forward to be the front person to get whichever one moving, it will not be held. So if you have wanted to know who the nuts are that you keep reading about in here, give one of the officers a shout telling them which event you would like to chair. You will get lots of help. Trust me it is not hard to do, we have done several and haven’t maimed anyone yet. One last warning, no chairperson, no event.
Remember, save the second Wednesdays for the regularly scheduled membership meetings. That is where the think tank comes together to plan the intricacies of the club’s activities. Meetings are held at Steward’s Family Restaurant located on the Golden Mile in Wysox, PA right off rte 6. We meet in Doug’s back room the second Wednesday of every month year round starting at 7:00 pm. That makes the next meeting December 8th. Come on out and join the fun. We are always looking for new and fun ideas.
Let’s get in a few words about trails before we run out of room this month. Leroy Township has done all the advertising and they have sent me a copy of the final ordinance. Franklin Township has advertised their ordinance and will wrap it up on Monday December 6th. This will be the documentation needed to forward our request to the DCNR (Department of Conservation and Natural Resources) for the proper signage needed to comply with state law. I am not sure how fast we can get what we need from the DCNR. Maybe we can contact our Regional Director from the PSSA and have him get on it to see if he can hurry it up. I am hearing rumors that the gated road from Sunfish Pond to Laquin (labeled Forest Road on your map) will be available for snowmobilers to use as in the past. This road is not in good condition and makes for a bumpy ride. No confirmation on that so check next months newsletter for more news. Hopefully we will know more by then.
Check out our advertisers. Notice the list has grown again. Must have been our nastygram. The bus trip to Coudersport helped out a lot also. I have to eat crow again and make apologies to Glen Hurd, Hurd Landscaping. I inadvertently left his ad out of the last newsletter. For that I am sorry. You’ll remember Glen as the one who graciously volunteers his time and small backhoe to help out at the clubhouse. Would have been next to impossible (or a LOT more expensive) to get the trailer/clubhouse set up if Glen was not as generous as he is. Next, as mentioned earlier this month, we have a new advertiser, Lake Country Marine. Bob Bolt is the owner and sells all kinds of Polaris snowmobiles, watercraft and ATV’s. He is off rte 6 on the other side (west) of Mansfield. Stop in, say hello and when you spend money there, tell him it was because of his generous support of our club. As I have preached here in the past, make sure any of the businesses that advertise and support know of your appreciation when you stop in. Say it, then prove it by spending your hard-earned money at those places that support us.
We’ll close now as ‘Legs’ Field shows us the latest in snow dancing.
November '99
October '99
September '99
March '99
February '99
