Spring Edition 2008 is here.

Trails Condition Report

Thrusday, March 5, 2008 @ 8:00AM

Poor (0-1------------------------------10)Great

The Traiils are Closed THINK SNOW!!!! And lots of it

The trail conditions report will be updated every Thursday by 8:00 AM, and more often if condition require

Trail Beatersby Tom Coloutti

It's been a really strange snowmobile season with the wild weather we've had. Just last year, we had record snow. But this 2007/2008 season has seen a lot of snow in northern Vermont & if all the rain we had in this area had been snow, well I think we'd still be digging out. With sugaring season approaching us, I have no doubt that up north they're tapping trees on snowshoes.
With all the rain and warm weather, we sure had a lot of challenges with water crossings. It's bad enough when the weather presents difficult situations for us, but one of our water crossings even had a bridge in place - a fairly new bridge that took a lot of time and energy to build. Needless to say, I wasn't too happy when one of our members called me to say that the bridge had been smashed up. After taking a look at it, it appeared that someone with a really heavy wheeled vehicle decided to drive across it and the outside edges were completely gone. Certainly it wasn't a big deal for any sleds because they could still use it safely, but with the sides of it gone, there was no way to get the Tucker over it. That meant that I had to find another route around/through/over the brook. Granted, we'll be repairing it when the time and weather allows, but it's just another problem that the Trail Master and the club have to deal with.
Club…another interesting topic. Defined as "an association of people with a common interest", I sometimes wonder if people even know what being part of a club means. I see the same faces at our meetings, the same faces at our activities, the same faces out working on trails. It's really sad that there are between 250 & 300 members of the Poultney club but only a few of them take pride enough in our accomplishment of being one of the best recognized clubs in the state. It's true, we are really proud of having a great trail system, proud of being able to give back to the community, proud of what we've been able to achieve over the years. But, what if there was no 'we'?
What if YOU had to be more responsible? Think of it this way, after the season is over, it's going to be your responsibility to install about 10 culverts. You have to repair or install 5 bridges. Don't forget before you do that, you have to make sure you pull up the 500+ stakes & flags that mark the trails. In your spare time, you have to debrush the trails this fall. Then, you'll have to install some gates too - some of the landowners called you to ask you to do this. In the meantime, you'll need to meet with some landowners to have them renew the permission forms, hear their complaints, try to figure out possible reroutes. The list goes on and on. And just think, you can spend 40 to 50 hours a week grooming in the winter too. That's on top of working a 40 hour a week job. Are you having fun yet?
Don't worry, you're not done. You'll have to organize and work at the fund-raising events too. We need to make money to pay for equipment, gas, repairs, operating expenses. You also need to go to the meeting every month to decide how to make the future of the club better. You'll also need to attend the annual meeting to share your thoughts and idea, to discuss the budget, to determine TMA prices.
If you're a member, and have received this newsletter, it means you ARE a member of the Poultney Snowmobile Club and it means that you ARE equally responsible for the trails in Poultney. It is your responsibility to respect other people's property, to do your part to keep the trails in good shape, to give the groomers the right of way on the trail, to be proud to be part of this club.
Maybe you don't want all that responsibility. You could join another club - I think there's one northeast of us - and you can ride their trails. They have their share of riders who don't care and don't do any trail work. I heard you may want to use a jet-ski on their trails. I'm sure there are a lot of other clubs who would welcome members who don't want to work. I'm sure there are a lot of other riders who just want to hammer the trails all day long and make it really miserable riding for everyone else. They don't want to do their part to make snowmobiling safe and enjoyable. In that case, I encourage you ride somewhere other than Poultney. We've worked too hard to get this far.
For all the club members who did their share, and the share of many others, for this past year whether debrushing, signing and staking, installing gates and culverts, and all the tireless hours of grooming just to make our sport enjoyable, my hat's off to all of you.
Last but not least, I'll bow to our landowners and thank them for allowing us to use their property. It's a privilege. If it weren't for them, we would not be able to enjoy our passion of snowmobiling.

Did You Know?????
The snowmobile safety course given on December 1st was well attended and very successful. We had 30 students of which about 20 were in the 12 to 18 year age range and the rest in the 20 to 40 plus age range. Our four instructors kept the lectures and demonstrations active; while, all instructors and students, participated in the question and answer sessions. All students passed.
The next event on our winter calendar was the club's annual pancake breakfast. We fed over 250 people a good breakfast of pancakes w/maple syrup, scrambled eggs, maple sausage, hash browns and toast. All beverages necessary to complement a good breakfast; including orange juice were available.
The Torch Light Parade was the next event on the schedule and came in just after we had enough snow to pull it off. Our luck finally changed for this year's parade. Over 30 sleds made the trip down Main Street to the Methodist Church for spaghetti super sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. Our group filled the hall and we ate plenty, but saved room for the delicious desserts.
The winter carnival the next day was a huge success! There was plenty of snow on Chesnut's sliding hill and 300 plus people came from all over the area and beyond to join in the fun. We had people from Granville, Bomoseen, Hampton, Connecticut, and New Jersey. The NJ people saw the "Calendar of Events" on our Web Site and drove down from Bethel, VT to join in the fun. The sliding hill was covered with people, young and old, enjoying a fast ride down on sleds, saucers, tubes etc. and then a quick ride to the top to do it again and again and again. Bob Chesnut and Myron White fabricated an old truck hood with a stiff hitch for towing behind a snowmobile for the quick ride to the top. Chris Higgins spent from 10 am until after 4pm ferrying people to the top. This is a fun day for all of our members. Some were giving introduction to snowmobiling rides, some giving guided tours and some were cooks. Our chefs prepared 15 lbs (120) hot dogs, 30 lbs (120) hamburgers and 105 lbs of French fries. Our volunteers made 8 crock pots of a variety of dishes ( corn chowder, chili, sausage stroganoff soup, beans etc). A special thanks to Shirley Dumas for her fantastic "fried dough". And let us not forget the desserts. We received many compliments for a great day.
At the February meeting the club voted on their annual donation to the following community group:
Poultney Voslunteer Fire Dept., Young at Hearts, Grade and High School Bands, School Booster Club, Scholarship, Project Graduation and 4th of July Committee.

Thoughts by Harry Drum
I just heard an interesting statement from my wife, Nancy. "But we have nothing to get away from. We're here." Taken out of context it might sound strange so I'll let you know what lead up to that statement. We usually go to Arizona in late winter to visit our friends and relatives. Just a beautiful place in Scottsdale where the temperature this time of year is warm, not hot, the grass is green and there may be new flowers blossoming. Just like a nice May or June spring day in Vermont.

We made our plans with flights and lodging and were talking how nice it will be to see our friends and relatives again. But the same old spark of desperation wasn't there. We were excited and enthused to travel but anticipated no exonerating sense of relief, liberation or reprieve from our lives. That's when Nancy said "But we have nothing to get away from. We're here."

Nancy was right, especially for us, we found our bit of paradise right here in Vermont. Of course you have to or should like the winters to a degree (hey that's funny). We happen to love snow, being out in it walking, snowmobiling, sledding or anything else we might have a liking to do. The last snowfall we had covered virtually all the trees, the pines and the deciduous, bushes, everything. What a beautiful sight the next day against the dark blue skies. It was so beautiful that if you painted what you experienced it would look artificial. How about riding our well groomed trails during these conditions? For me the most picturesque encounter is riding through a grove of pines that are laden with heavy snow to create a tunnel like effect with traces of sunlight coming through at selected intervals. Wow! It doesn't get any better than that!

The saying that the "grass is greener on the other side" doesn't apply to us in this instance.
The grass is greener here. We're looking forward to our trip but at the same time are happily anticipating our return. It sounds crazy but it is what it is.

Buy the way the people we visit in Arizona visit us in the summer, it's too hot for them!

We hope you take advantage of our surroundings while snowmobiling. It's great to stop in the middle of the woods, shut off your machines and take in the views and sounds as well. As they say, "Smell the roses."

Safe riding and enjoy what you have, it's temporary as is everything else we have.