Washington County November Meeting

The Washington County VAST meeting was held on November 7, 2005. This county meeting is held the first Monday of each month at the state VAST headquarters in Berlin. Representatives from each of the snowmobile clubs in Washington county meet to discuss issues pertaining to their individual club as well as to the entire county in general. This is a great opportunity to swap information about trail projects, land owner issues, and to meet the folks involved in our neighboring clubs.

Several topics were discussed and here is a brief synopsis of the meeting.

1) The 2006 trail maps should be available in early December.
2) A $2000 accidental death and dismemberment insurance benefit is now available at no charge to all VAST members through a recent agreement between VAST and American Income Life.
3) VAST is helping to establish a 4-H club for young Vermont snowmobile riders. 4-H clubs for young sledders have already become very popular in some of the western states and the hope is to get more kids involved in the sport.
4) Work is continuing to progress on the Lamoille Rail Trail and sections of the rail bed should be open this season. The rail bed from Danville to west of Hardwick has been cleaned up and will be ready to go.
5) Vermont Technical College is sending a team to compete in the Clean Snowmobile Challenge. VTC is soliciting contributions to help the team compete in this national competition. Vermont has not sent a team in several years.
6) Plans are underway for the International Snowmobile Congress which is scheduled for June 7-June 11th 2006.
The ISC is going to be held at the Sheraton in Burlington and over 600 delegates representing the snowmobile industry will be attending. The ISC is held in a different state each year and this is Vermont's opportunity to host the event. Many events are planned and VAST is currently requesting volunteers to sign up to help with the event.
7) The Make-A-Wish weekend has moved from Graniteville to Lyndonville this year and will be held on Presidents Day weekend. Make-A-Wish is a great way for snowmobilers to give back to the community and also promote our sport in a positive way. The event is going to be held at the Lyndon Outing Club and events will include a Radar Run, 120cc Racing, and new for this year, a Hill Climb!
8) The Vermont Traditions Coalition is seeking contributions from the county. This group has been very involved in the Green Mountain Forest process and also the Ancient Roads issue and has been a good friend to VAST. A motion was put forward to contact the coalition and invite them to attend the next county meeting and make a presentation.
9) The position of County Club Treasurer has recently been vacated and the position needs to be filled as soon as possible.
10) A round table discussion was held and the majority of the Washington County clubs reported severe damage to their trails from the heavy snowfall a couple of weeks ago. Almost every club reported a trail closure or reroute due to a new landowner moving in and closing down access.

The next county club meeting will be held on December 5, 2005.