WOW!!!  It looks like the Snow Gods have answered our prayers.  The month of December has been cold and “snowy”!  We started grooming the trails last week and all reports are that the riding is pretty good.  More snow expected this coming weekend – the weatherman used the words “lots of snow” headed our way.  People ask what, other than snow on the ground, determines when the trails can be opened.  The answer is our landowners, mainly the timberland owners.  They use December 15^th as a benchmark date to help plan harvesting operations in areas where we have trail easements or agreements.  This year they let us open earlier than the 15^th.  Thanks landowners!

The Christmas party/dinner was a huge success.  The food was excellent!  Thanks to the Rangeley Inn for making our event so nice.  Also, thanks to Larry Koob for making our party so entertaining.  Larry sold 50/50 raffle tickets at the party and got the prize up to $500 which was won by Pat Allen of Rangeley.  Congratulations!!!  Thank you all for bringing gifts and food to be given to The Giving Tree.  All this merchandise will be distributed to needy people in the Rangeley area. 

Easy Bucks winners for December were Gary Nash of Richmond, Maine and Richard Angelo of Middleton, Mass.  Congratulations!

SNODEO will be held on January 24, 25 and 26.  A tentative agenda is enclosed with this newsletter.  There may be a few minor changes which will be posted on our web page as Snodeo gets closer. 

If you’ve never attended Snodeo, this is the year to experience the fun!  The riding should be fantastic and the festivities are always great.  We have events for children and lots of fun for the adults!  We are considering having a snowmobile, clothing and accessories swap meet that would be free to Club members.  E-mail us if you would be interested in this event.  Several of our supporting businesses have events planned during Snodeo.  Please look over the agenda enclosed for information on all events scheduled for the weekend.  If you need a place to stay for the weekend, it’s time to make reservations before it’s too late.  Check our web page under Sponsors for motels and inns in the Rangeley area.

Our trail maps will be available within the next week or two (12/27 - maps are in now - webmaster).  We’re a little later than usual with the map but when you see the improvements, you will appreciate the time it took to get it all together.  The State wants snowmobile clubs to begin moving to a digital map with accurate GPS coordinates so eventually there will be a 9-1-1 capability on snowmobile trails.  Currently, if you are programming your cell phone, *22 is your most effective call for trail emergencies on the Rangeley trail system.

When we started our business year in June, our goal for the 2007-2008 season was to improve our trail quality.  We submitted our plans to the State and began an ambitious list of projects that included major and minor trail rerouting, new and rebuilt bridges, smoothing rough trails and widening narrow segments.  Our biggest project was rerouting ITS 84 between Oquossoc and the New Hampshire border. To the credit of many volunteers and in-kind donations of services and equipment, we completed all of our planned work except a couple small bridges.  The early snow put the skids on that work. Now, with all the early snow, we get to see how effective our work will be in making grooming easier and in providing a great riding experience.  You will not even notice the work as it will be buried under snow, but we do hope you notice the riding quality and that it a good experience.  Feed back is always helpful. Let us know what you think, good or bad.

New for this year is our approach to the trails.  We are going back to the “District” system we used for a few years ago.  There are three districts, each with its own manager (trail master).  The Eastern district is headed up by Paul Ferguson-Packard and Mark “Sparky” Bridges.  Matt Kennedy backed up by Clark Allen manages our Central district.  Mike Koob manages the Western district.  This approach cuts down on the total mileage under a trail master so that they can focus their efforts on trails they are most familiar with. Each District is responsible for a grooming machine, a drag, its trained operators and their grooming schedules.  Even divided into three parts, these are demanding jobs so give these people the thanks they deserve.

Remember that we have a number of key trail changes and closures as we start this season.  Check our web site before you take an  eight-gallon trip on five gallons of gas.  ITS 89 between Rangeley and Eustis is completely different this year.  We will update the new mileage total on the web site as soon as we are able to ride it and measure the mileage.

Don’t forget to send in your raffle tickets for the snowmobile which will be raffled off at Snodeo.  If you need tickets, just let us know by e-mail (info@rangeleysnowmobile.com) or drop us a note.  The tickets will be mailed out to you.  More information on the sled is available on our web page.

Enclosed with this newsletter are ten tickets for our SNODEO 50/50 drawing.  The winning ticket is drawn on Friday night at The Clubhouse Restaurant.  Typically, this raffle has brought the winner between $800 to $1000.  Who couldn’t use that???  It certainly would give you a few tanks of gas for your snowmobile! 

With the cost of fuel to operate the groomers this winter, we are depending on all of our members to participate in our fundraising efforts.  We need your help to make this program work!

Until next month,

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!