Happy Holidays,

This month is ending too quickly.  I really cannot believe how warm it has been!  Deer hunting was not successful again this year, with the deer finding a place to hide from me.  Bless them!

I hope that you were able to spend time over the Thanksgiving holiday with your family and friends.

Trail work has been going on every weekend with perhaps one exception since October.  Michael and his crew have been very active this year with reroutes and everything.  They have been doing trail work on Saturday and Sunday as well.  I think the trails are pretty much done except for some bush mowing, but I could be wrong.  If you have not been assisting with trail work, and would like to give Michael a hand, please give him a call.  If you have not seen the information about the reroutes, here it is again.

There is a new route across Broadway.  Once you cross Broadway on the opposite side of the road from the churches, you will see that there is construction there.  Be very careful.  We have signed it but things may change there before the snow comes.  They are in the process of putting in a road.

Once you cross Broadway bear left through the field.  This means a whole new route through the woods.  Once you get past the power line, the trek through the woods is VERY VERY rough and will remain rough until we get heavy snow.  Bomarc marks the end of the rough stuff.

The next reroute is by Hammond Lumber.  Hammond Lumber has expanded their yard and we needed to move the trail.  We are up by Jay Rental.  The trail comes out behind the airport near Bangor Motor Sports area, and goes behind and now beside Jay Rental and crosses the road there.  You can actually get to Jason’s Pizza this year! Yeah!  Please be careful crossing the road here and be mindful that there are many stops as we cross quite a few drives to connect with Hampden.  The Hampden Connection has only changed a little this year – crossing the I-95 ramp – this is a multi-use roadway.   The one thing I would caution folks on is to follow the signs because if you try to get to the trail before the signs, the drop is quite steep and sharp. 

Remember to check out the Schedule of Events on Calendar tab.

Meetings are at the clubhouse on Union Street.  Yes, the furnace is working and it is warm, some might say too warm.  This is a good time to plan activities for the remainder of the year. 

Remember to do the maintenance on your sled(s), register them, pack your safety bag and let someone know where you plan to go before heading out.

September was membership month.  Did you forget to send in your membership check?  It isn’t too late.  You need to belong to a club in order to receive the MSA paper.

 If you did not receive your renewal letter please contact us our drop us an e-mail and we'll fix you up.

The Paul Bunyan Snowmobile Club is planning an activity soon to gain new membership this year.  Watch the next MSA paper to find out when and where.

Friday is game night again this year.  We have popcorn, coffee, TV, card games, outside fires by the pond, and we either call out for pizza or bring our own food to warm in the microwave.  Join us and have some fun!

We are sending special thoughts to Lynn & Frank Noyes and family.  Lynn’s father passed away just before Thanksgiving and we want them to know that our thoughts and prayers are with them. 

Warm wishes go out to Josh Shaw and Brandy Sheldon.  The next time we see Josh & Brandy they will be Mr. & Mrs. Josh Shaw.  Congratulations!

Wow!  What happened to summer?  It seems like we just got a start on it and it was over in a flash! 

Not much happening as far as the club is concerned.  We did have a get-together barbecue that you all were invited to.  Also this past month we did the parking cars at Car Quest for the Folk Festival and made some money.  This next Wednesday will be our first meeting of the new season.  We will find out what plans are in motion for doing trail work and hopefully set up some time for rides unless folks want to wait for that elusive snow to hit before setting up that schedule. 

A draft Calendar of Events is now posted on the website.

A big thank you to Car Quest for letting us do parking on one side of their building for the Folk Festival and to Bud, Lynne, Corey, Jen, Marcia and Marcia (yes, we have two of  them) Michael, Frank, Kevin, and Brian for taking time out of their busy summer to spend most of the weekend covering the parking area. 

Start thinking about the Haunted Hayride we will be offering again this next month, so please plan ahead to join in the fun of the hayride, whether it be out on the trail as one of the gremlins or in the game room selling tickets or food.

This year we are going to make a concerted effort to send information out via e-mail.  Remember that our web site has our Schedule of Events plus other items of interest to you our members.  You can either send back your updated information with your check or bring it with you to the meeting on the 13^th. 

We all owe another thank you to thank our supporting business members for last year.

Although the amount of snow received prevented us from sending a lot of business their way, perhaps this year will be a terrific year for significantly snowfall and allow us to show our business members how much we appreciate them.  Our business members for last year were (hopefully I have them all):

Automatic Distributors, Car Quest - Main Street – Bangor, Greenworks, Hammond Lumber, Hammond Street Exxon, Leadbetter’s Super Stop, The Ninety-Nine Restaurant – Mall Blvd, University Credit Union, Varney Agency

We also owe a great deal of thanks to our landowners.  Each year they are supportive of our sport and give permission for us to utilize their land.  Most of our landowners have given permission since the inception of the club and we do value their support and continued authorization for trails.  Michael will be sending our permission slips for the upcoming year soon.

Is it really over?  Yes, unfortunately it is.  The Bangor area trails didn’t even have a chance to be groomed this year due to the shortage of snow.  Unless you went north, your sleds probably never left the trailer.  Only a few sleds actually ventured through the city trails once and it must have been a rough ride.  Next season will be here before we know it.

Some updates.  The May meeting is CANCELLED.  We will be having a get-together sometime in June at the Paul Bunyan Campground to celebrate summer and recognize our landowners for allowing us to put up our signs this year. We do hope to do more than put up signs next year though.  We also are planning some fund raising activities for summer and early fall we will be discussing at the get-together in June. 

As our February and March newsletters indicated we proposed by laws changes that were discussed and approved at our March meeting.  A copy of the new by laws will be sent with membership information or you can pick up a copy at our first fall meeting. 

Is it really over?

The trails here in Bangor are now closed!  Michael and his crew have been out on the trails each weekend closing them down, pulling signs, moving bridges, and putting up barriers where our landowners want them.

As I am sure you read in the Maine Snowmobiler there will not be a newsletter next month.  I was wondering what I was going to say anyway, but now I don’t have to submit another newsletter until next fall. 

Our meeting is scheduled for this weekend.  Trail work is scheduled for 8:00 a.m., the Board meeting at 5:00 p.m., a pot luck at 6:00 p.m., and our regular annual meeting and election of officers, etc. begins at 7:00 p.m.  Evening events will take place at the PAL building on Watchmaker Street.

We will plan our schedule of summer events at this meeting, but will hold off on the schedule for next season until the fall.  One of the things we would like to schedule is a summer outing – perhaps a 4-wheeler trip or something.

Thank you all for your support this past year and hopefully we will have even more fun next year and more snow so that we can groom and ride here in Bangor.

Please join us this Sunday.