Let it Snow...Let it Snow....Let it Snow!!!!

Hello Club Members!

It has been a while since we last chatted.  Hope you have all enjoyed the winter so far, we do need more snow though, would you agree?  At least around this area we do.  I hear up north there is still plenty of decent snow and great riding.  If you are receiving this newsletter for the first time that means that you are a new member to our club and we welcome you.  It has gotten to be so late in the season that rather than do a mailing via snail mail with all the decals & stickers etc. I have decided to do it all via e-mail, much more efficient and cost effective in this economy.  So new members, welcome to our club.  Old members, well, hello to you too!! 

 The main reason for this newsletter is to get you all caught up on a few things.  First of all there is a scheduled Belknap County Ride this weekend, snow conditions permitting.  You will need to check our web site to be certain it will happen but this is the scoop – the plan is to meet at John Lyman’s field on Hoyt Road in Gilford at 8:30 a.m.  This will be via sled of course.  For those of you who cannot ride from your house and need to trailer, you can park at the Cinema parking lot in Gilford, next to the Airport Country Store & Deli in Gilford down by the airport, you can trailer over and park at Waldo Peppers, across from the Hannaford/Wal-Mart Plaza or there is room for a couple of trailers right at Lyman’s field where his sign is.  I wouldn’t like to see 8 or 10 trailers but a couple would probably not be in anyone’s way.  We will be leaving 8:30 a.m. and heading in the direction of the Belmont Dog Track on Rte. 106 to meet up with the other clubs at 10 a.m.   From there we will take a tour of the trails in Belknap County with a ride back to the Dog Track for a buffet lunch/early dinner (?). Not sure on the time frame so not sure what to call it.  For those of you who can’t be at Lyman’s by 8:30 you can always trailer over to the Dog Track for 10 a.m. and ride from there once we all arrive.  This, of course, is dependent on this snow storm that the weathermen have promised us (ya right) will happen Wed. night into Thursday.  So be SURE to check the web site or if you don’t have access to a computer give us a call at 528-3310 (home) and my cell is 630-0671.  Call anytime from Thurs. – Sat. 8 a.m.  We hope to see some faces that have expressed a desire to do a club ride this year.  This County Ride is something we have done years ago with the other clubs and we have always had a great time.  We hosted it one year and had a huge bon fire up where the trail ends at Belknap Mtn.   We also had it at Russ & Carol Ann Beane’s property in South Down one year and had a gigantic bon fire as well.   We all had a fantastic time so this should be fun as well.  Would love to put some faces with the names we see. 

 I would like to commend our groomer operators this year on another great year of keeping our trails in shape.  We have had many many positive comments from people and know for sure that the guys have been out grooming their tails off.  Thanks guys, it’s much appreciated.  Without our groomer operators our trail system wouldn’t exist.  That is what this is all about, keeping the trails in great shape (providing there is enough snow to do that). The RR tracks have been a bit sketchy as the snow on the rails has been marginal.  With just a few inches of heavy wet snow the boys assure me that we’ll be back in business!!  We have had little to no problems with any of the equipment this year, just a few minor repairs but nothing that the guys couldn’t take care of themselves. 

 I would like to send our condolences to Paul Haskell and his family on the loss of his mother recently.  Our thoughts are with you Paul, I am sure she will be missed. 

 I would also like to congratulate Bill & Sally Bickford on the opening of their new restaurant, Kitchen Cravings.  If you haven’t been there yet you MUST try it.  The food there is superb and I am not just saying that because they belong to our club.  We have eaten there on several occasions and have yet to receive a bad meal.   They are open 7 days a week from 6 a.m. until 2 p.m.  They are located via sled on our “Airport Trail” along Rte. 11A, heading towards Patrick’s.  You can access it by crossing Rte. 11A at the VW Garage.  You can also get there by car if you drive past the snowmobile entrance (please people, it really is a snowmobile trail, not a road as some people have tried to drive over our trail) you will find the road just down the street not even ¼ of a mile.  I promise you that you will not be disappointed and if you do get something that is not to your liking just ask for Sally or Bill and I am sure they will see to it that you leave happy and with a full belly!! 

The guys have cut a small trail to gain lake access just past B. Mae’s, which I guess is now called        Fireside Inn.   You cross the road at Patrick’s Pub and follow the trail around the parking lot and cross Rte. 11C and it will get you to the lake.  It’s groomed just into the woods where the groomer turns around and it’s a much easier and nicer trail to the lake than it used to be. 

Once again we are asking that you respect the landowner’s property when driving thru fields and around their houses, etc.  We work tirelessly to gain permission for these trails and it only takes 1 or 2 hot shots to shut a trail down.  Please keep that in mind when riding our trail system and if you meet up with the groomer while out riding, please don’t think that just because the trails is freshly groomed that it gives you the right to “gun it” and “get on it” after  you pass the groomer.  More likely than not a freshly groomed trail hasn’t had time to set up yet and you are doing it more damage than good so if you could just take it a bit easy on the freshly groomed trail our operators will thank you for that. 

 Oh ya, new maps!! I almost forgot. Our new County maps are done and available for purchase.  They came out pretty awesome and have all of the trails in Belknap County. All six clubs in the county went in on this map and Tyson did a super job putting this project together. My granddaughter, Morgan, and I drove to Berlin to pick them up a few weeks ago.  They are $5.00 each and you can pick one up at either HK Powersports in Laconia, I think the Tilton store as well has them, or Airport Country Store & Deli in Gilford, Kitchen Cravings, when you stop in for breakfast or lunch,  D&D Market on Rte. 106 in Belmont and the NHSA Office in Tilton.  You can also get one thru me here at the house as I work here so am pretty accessible.  I am not too sure about mailing them out as they are larger than a #10 envelope and would rather not if I can help it.  I don’t mind at all if someone wants to stop by the house, you would just need to give me a call to arrange it.  Cell # is 630-0671.  Thank you again Tyson for taking this project and running with it.  I know for sure it was a lot of work and it didn’t come together smoothly but in the end the result was decent. 

 Well, I think that is about all we have for this month.  Normally John signs these newsletters but of course you all know that I, “Jill”, am really the one who puts them together so I figured this month I will type it and sign it myself.   Should you have any questions, comments or concerns, as always, drop an e-mail or give one of us a call.  We are going to be doing all newsletters via e-mails only as the cost has gotten out of sight for mailings.  So obviously those of you who chose to receive the newsletters via snail mail will not be receiving this newsletter unless you check the web site.  We are still up in the air about sending out renewals in the fall as well. It seems I send out 600+ renewals along with a newsletter, etc. and only a handful of members send the memberships back to me here.  Seems like each year more and more of you join the club at HK Powersports when you go to register your sleds.  We will be debating the best course to take with regards to renewals over the summer.  So periodically check the web site – www.belknapsnowmobilers.com   

 Until next month or the next newsletter….hope to see some faces this Saturday if/when we have our Belknap County Ride. 

 Jill Ferguson – Secretary/Treasurer