Mother Nature giveth and she taketh away!  While we have had 30 inches of snow;   we don’t have a lot to show for it.  Hopefully there is better winter weather to come.

 

Membership Meeting:  On Thursday night, December 20^th the membership meeting was held at the Greene Township Building .  Attendance was 22 interested and supportive snowmobilers.  It’s a pretty busy time of year for most members.  Nominations for new club officers were opened for the pending elections this coming February.  Members leaving the Board will be; George Engesser, Ken Zambrzycki and Kent Kessler.  Barb Myers has also completed her two years as Auditor.  You should offer up your heartiest  Thank You   to these fine people for their past service and support of the club.  In their void we need to come up with some key members that are  “willing and capable”  to fill these positions.  Your thoughts and suggestions can be directed to our Nomination Committee - Fred Morris (899-6307) or John Matasowski ( 825-2067).  After the abbreviated meeting everyone moved on to munching down Christmas delicacies and chit chatting about our favorite winter recreation.

 

Charity:  The third and final collection for the area food pantry was taken.  It was the season of giving!  While our membership number is small, their hearts are huge!  An additional $120 was collected – which brings the member’s donation to $275.  The club voted to kick in an additional $100 for a grand total of $375.  Take that number and double it with matching funds, makes the club’s total gift to the Food Pantry - $750.  Wow ! !   That is just great!  The club, along with the Food Pantry, would like to thank you for your generosity.  The Food Pantry will buy $17 of food with each dollar donated.  So, the total charitable giving will provide $12,750 of food for needy area residents.

 

Memberships:  This year’s membership drive is now over.  The 2007 membership stands at 99 which is down from last year’s 124.  While we have lost a few previous members, there are 11 new first time members.  To our current membership  Thank You   very much for your support.  Snow or no snow the club continues to incur expenses of operation; insurance, postage and trail material and maintenance.  Without sufficient membership the club can not continue to provide a viable trail system.  The truth is that there are a lot of snowmobilers out there!  (Fact:  Erie County ranks second in PA in re gis tered snowmobiles (2103); only out done by Lancaster County where there is a lot less snow)    You see their tracks every time it snows.  They ride the trails that the club works so hard to maintain.  So, as you ride and talk to these snowmobilers, don’t be hesitant to ask them if they are a snowmobile club member.  And if not - give them an application.  Suggest they support the organization that helps provide the means to enjoy their sport.

 

What does Wales Sno-Drifters Snowmobile Club do?

 

·         Supports the Pennsylvania State Snowmobile Association (PSSA)

·         Supports the Erie Crawford Snowmobile Association (ECSA)

·         Maintains a working relation with Greene Township

                  Assists with Township cleanup days

                  Provides Wales & Knoyle Road cleanup

·         Club Activities:

                  Summer Picnic

                  Winter ride schedule

                  January Poker Run

                  Regular newsletters

·         Trail System: (over 50 miles)

                  Works with more than 150 private property owners

                  Provides trail signing and markers

                  Maintains and operates 2 groomers

                  GPS trail mapping

                  Improvements (just this past year)

                              Reduce additional wet areas off Dutch and Knoyle Roads

                              New access off Turner Road

                              Trail widening between Kuhl and Heibel Road

 

                  Trails just don’t happen !

 

Email:  – 74 of our current membership have shared their E-mail addresses with us.  They receive all their newsletters and club information via the internet which saves the club roughly $30 on each mailing – or over $240 a year.  That’s big savings that can be applied to trails.  If you receive this newsletter by regular mail and have internet access, would you like to add to the club’s savings by sharing your E-mail address?  Call me (899-8171) or E-mail me at  lkkglk@velocity.net  and we will gladly add you to our club’s E-mail address book.

 

Fund Raiser:  Our lottery fund raiser is progressing nicely.  Remember this is a particular drive to raise a portion of our 20% matching funds against our DCNR grant request for $127,000 and a real groomer.  To date, we have issued over 450 cards (207 by mail and balance by direct requests).  Today, 109 have been returned with payment.  We still have until the end of February to get all the cards sold before the March drawings start.  This fund raiser could reap anywhere from 1 to $3000.  Please consider selling or buying your allotted cards. If not, would you please be so kind as to return the unused lottery cards to out PO Box so they may be reapplied.  We still have an additional $17,000 to cover before the grant can be finalized.

 

Trails: If and when it snows (really I’m not trying to be negative) the Game Lands still are NOT open until January 15^th.  Remember that the East end of Sunshine Lane in Lowville has been posted by the Venango Township as NO ATV’s or snowmobiles.  Signs have been put in place!  The alternate route is south to Brown Avenue . 

Trail Riding Do’s

 

            Don’t drink & drive                                              Ride defensively

            Ride to the right                                                 Know and use hand signals

            Ride at a reasonable speed                                 Stay on the trail

            Carry current re gis tration & insurance                  Wear proper gear for safety & warmth

 

Be careful out there and enjoy the snow

 

Trails need signs with posts for mounting.  This year the club ran out of our wooden stakes.  Ken Zambrzycki was to check for price and availability.  Our normal wood source had been Mick Brother’s Lumber in Elgin .  They said they would see what they could do.  The Saturday after Christmas, Ken and I went to pickup the stakes (2 x 2 x 10ft pieces) with my trailer.  Mick Lumber would not accept our check but made a donation of the wood to the club in exchange for a couple trail maps.  What a great deal!  On the way home and the weather being decent, Ken called his brother to meet us at his place to cut and point the new stakes.  So at this point the club has over 150 new sign stakes stacked in the storage barn ready for use.  Thanks to Ken & Keith for their effort and a special thank you to the Mick Brothers for the wood donation.

 

Grooming:  Tom Dipko has gone over and has the two utility sleds and drags ready.  The groomers are positioned in their equipment building at Tom Hall’s.  Fuel and other groomer operating expenses are again this year being partially underwritten by the support from Offroad Express.  Remember to check out their full line of products which now includes Arctic Cat.

 

 

Ride Schedule: Interested in leading a ride or need a guide for a ride – call Marc Matczak 796-6666

 

  Date             Time    Meeting At        Event                            Contact               Phone

Sun  1/6                                          McKean poker Run

Sat  1/19     10:00am     GTMB         Wales Poker Run             Steve Hair              725-2132

Sat  1/26     10:00am     GTMB        Poker Run – no snow        Steve Hair              725-2132

Sat  2/ 3        1:00pm     GTMB        Family Hot Dog Roast             TBD

Sun 2/ 10       9:00am     PICH         ECSA  Dice Run

 

Remember to check the website for new listings:

                                               

Poker Run: See flyer or our website for details.  Pray for snow!

 

 

Next meeting:  The next membership is Thursday, January 24^th at 8:00pm at the Greene Township Building .  At this time, I’m not sure whether we will be bragging about rides we have had or one big pity party.  Either way, come out and find out.