Annual VAST Meeting

The Annual VAST Meeting was held on September 23rd at the Barre Auditorium. The Ridge Runners were represented by Art Dages, Cathi Dages, Marty De Heer, Lois De Heer, Red Goodman, Doug Wilson, and Tony Amenta. Club members attended several informative seminars during the day, learned more about recent Ancient Roads legislation, participated in the afternoon business meeting and enjoyed a chicken barbeque dinner.

One of the highlights of the afternoon occured during happy hour when Governor Jim Douglas was seen test driving a Tucker Cat around the parking lot.

Reggie's New Compact Brush Hog

Thanks to the generosity and ingenuity of our clubs resident fabricator Reggie Orr, we now have a new compact brush hog powered by a Honda 750cc powerplant to assist us with trail projects this fall.

Trail Work September 16 2006

After meeting up at Kenyons for coffee at 8AM, the trail crew headed to the upper half of Paul's Trail. The club's chain saws and pole saw got a good work out as we prepared the trail for excavator work planned for later in the fall. Thanks to the volunteer efforts of our hardworking club members and the generosity of our landowners Paul's Trail is destined to be one of our finest trails.

Trail Master Marty De Heer keeps himself busy during the week with various club projects including preparing VAST paperwork, ordering materials for bridge + trail projects and obtaining landowner permissions. Marty also helps with trail work on weekends.


Paul's Trail would not have been possible without the hard work of Assistant Trail Master and chainsaw specialist Paul Pizzale.


Many of us already know that Doug Wilson is one of the best groomer operator's in the Northeast. Doug is also very handy with a Husqvarna chainsaw.


Assistant Trail Master Paul Pizzale + Doug Wilson enjoying a well deserved break.


We finally have a pic of Vice President Tony Amenta doing what he does best.


Thanks go out to all of those who helped out today. Club members pitching in included Art Dages, Nicholas Pizzale, Paul Pizzale, Kerney Brown, Mary De Heer, Doug Wilson, Bobby Halpin, Reggie Orr, and Tony Amenta. We can always use more help, so please come out and join us at Kenyons at 8AM on Saturdays.

Trail Work September 9 2006

Work began today on a 3/4 mile trail re-route up on Crosset Hill in Duxbury. Special thanks go out to new members Logan and Howard for their help today.

September Newsletter

September 2006 Newsletter

President: Art Dages (496-2577)
Vice President: Tony Amenta
Secretary: Cathi Dages
Treasurer: Lois De Heer
Trail Master: Marty De Heer (496-7051)
Ass’t Trail Master: Paul Pizzale (496-4476)
Safety Officer: Skip Wallace (244-1580)

The first club meeting was held on Tuesday, September 5, 2006 at the Fayston Town Hall following a pot luck dinner. Fourteen members attended and enjoyed good food and great company. Two new members were welcomed.

Our Annual Raffle Dinner will be October 21st at the Elk’s club in Montpelier. This is the club’s major fund raiser and a 2006 Polaris 550 Super Sport sled will be raffled. To honor many requests for tickets we will offer an additional 25 raffle tickets this year. If you are interested in a new ticket please contact Art at 802-496-2577. The raffle tickets remain $110.00, including two dinners, and will be available for pick-up at Kenyon’s after September15,2006.



If you would like to donate a raffle prize or are willing to help request gifts from local businesses please contact Kathi Orr at 496-4161. Members are encouraged to avoid a “mad rush” and bring prizes to Kathi’s as soon as possible.

We have many new projects this year and trail maintenance is scheduled for every Saturday and will begin September 9, 2006. If you are available please meet at Kenyon’s at 8:00am. Bring a friend!

To receive newsletters via email or post information to the blog please notify Tony at vastridgerunner@gmail.com

Next meeting: October 3 2006 – 7:00 PM at the Fayston Town Hall.

Trailwork Begins This Weekend (Saturday 9/9)

The Mad River Ridge Runners Need Your Help!

We have several big projects planned and we need your help. Some of our upcoming projects include a 3/4 mile trail reroute up near Crosset Hill, replacing a bridge near Harwood Union, a trail reroute near the sandpit and a whole lot of brush cutting and general trail maintenance.

Club members meet each Saturday morning at 8AM at Kenyons on route 100 in Waitsfield. It's a great excuse to get out in the woods, talk about sledding, ride around on 4-wheelers, get in shape and best of all our trail system will be much improved with your help.

Hope to see you there.

2006-2007 SEASON KICK-OFF NEWSLETTER

2006-2007 SEASON KICK-OFF NEWSLETTER

President: Art Dages (496-2577)
Vice President: Tony Amenta
Secretary: Cathi Dages
Treasurer: Lois De Heer
Trail Master: Marty De Heer (496-7051)
Ass’t Trail Master: Paul Pizzale (496-4476)
Safety Officer: Skip Wallace (244-1580)


It’s hard to believe it’s time to start thinking about the upcoming snowmobile season! But summer is coming to a close and we’ll have snow before you know!!

The first club meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 5, 2006 at the Fayston Town Hall. We start the season with a Potluck dinner beginning at 6:00 pm. Please bring a dish to share and your own drinks. Club business will start at 7:00 pm.

Our Annual Raffle Dinner will be October 21st at the Elk’s club in Montpelier. If you would like to donate a raffle prize or are willing to help request gifts from local businesses please contact Kathi Orr at 496-4161.

Trail maintenance is scheduled for every Saturday and will begin September 9, 2006. If you are available please meet at Kenyon’s at 8:00am. We have new projects and regular trail maintenance and will need lots of help.

To receive newsletters via email please notify Tony Amenta at vastridgerunner@gmail.com

Next meeting: September 5, 2006 – 7:00 PM at the Fayston Town Hall.
Potluck starts at 6:00 PM

Northeast Grass Drags

One sure sign that the snowmobile season is almost upon us is the upcoming Grass Drag season. We have recently added the Northeast Grass Drags website to the "Links" section on this Blog. This excellent website offers a schedule of upcoming grass drags, a forum, a photo gallery and an excellent links section that includes many northeast snowmobile club websites including the Mad River Ridge Runners.

Email us at vastridgerunner@gmail.com if you know of any other snowmobile websites that we should add to the club blog.

Snowmobiles, Trailer, and Accessories For Sale

SNOWMOBILE SALE
MUST SELL- LEAVING FOR FLORIDA

2003 SKI-DOO GRAND TOURING 700
2003 SKI-DOO GRAND TOURING 600
LIKE NEW - 930 MILES ON EACH
SNO-PRO V -NOSE INSULATED TRAILER W/ELEC BRAKES
2 SKI-DOO MODULAR HELMETS WITH HEATED VISORS
2 SKI-DOO PASSENGER HELMETS
SKI-DOO JACKET AND 2 PAIR OF PANTS WOMEN
2 SKI-DOO JACKETS AND PANTS MENS
1 PAIR TRUKKE AND 1 PAIR WOMENS SORELL BOOTS
1 PAIR MENS TRUKKE SNOMOBILE BOOTS
2 PAIR MENS GLOVES – 2 PAIR WOMENS GLOVES
COLLETT COMMUNICATORS-SNOWMOBILE DOLLEY
TRAILER DOLLEY-COVERS-SADDLE BAGS
ETC.,ETC., ETC.
CURRENT RETAIL VALUE IN EXCESS OF 15K
SELLING PRICE OF 12K INCLUDES ALL EQUIPMENT

802-496-3704 OR E-MAIL JDEJE@MADRIVER.COM

May Newsletter

MAY 2006 NEWSLETTER


We had our May meeting at the Fayston Town Hall on Tuesday, May 2, 2006. Thirteen members attended.

CLUB OFFICERS ELECTION RESULTS
President: Art Dages
Vice President: Tony Amenta
Secretary: Cathi Dages
Treasurer: Lois De Heer
Trail Master: Marty De Heer
Ass’t Trail Master: Paul Pizzale
Safety Officer: Skip Wallace

Special thanks to outgoing secretary Pat DeJesus for her service to the club

RAFFLE
We are in the process of preparing for our fall raffle dinner. This is the major fund raiser for the club and we are accepting donations for prizes earlier this year to try and avoid the last minute madness. If you would like to donate a prize please contact any club officer. If you would like to volunteer to collect prizes please contact Art Dages.

LANDOWNERS APPRECIATION
Maple syrup will be distributed to all landowners as a token of our appreciation. Without the support of the landowners we would not have a great trail system. If you are willing to help distribute maple syrup to the landowners please contact Art Dages.

POT LUCK BBQ
Our last meeting for the summer will be a pot luck BBQ at the Dages’ Residence (119 Riverview Road, Waitsfield) at 6:00 pm. Please bring something to grill and a side dish or dessert to share. Also bring your own drinks and lawn chairs.


MRRR blog site is: http://madriverridgerunners.blogspot.com.
Please contact Tony ( vastridgerunner@gmail.com ) if you have anything to be posted. This site is updated regularly and provides current information about club happenings.


Next meeting: Tuesday, June 6th Pot Luck BBQ at Dages’. Hope to see you there!!

Club Meeting: Tuesday May 2 2006

Our May meeting will be held at 7:00 PM on Tuesday May 2 at the Fayston Town Hall.

The following nominations were made and will be voted on at the May meeting:

SLATE OF OFFICERS

President: Art Dages
Vice President: Tony Amenta
Secretary: Cathi Dages
Treasurer: Lois De Heer
Trailmaster: Marty De Heer
Ass’t Trailmaster: Paul Pizzale
Safety & Ed: Skip Wallace

April Newsletter

APRIL NEWSLETTER

We had our April meeting at the Fayston Town Hall on Tuesday, April 4th, 2006. Nine members attended.

TRAILS

The trails are officially closed for the season. The Mad River Ridge Runners membership was down about 40% this year and the State membership was down about 20%. Let’s hope that Mother Nature is kinder to us next year.

CANADA TRIP

The trip to Canada was a great success. Please contact Tony at vastridgerunner@gmail.com if you have anything to be posted.

SLATE OF OFFICERS

The following nominations were made and will be voted on at the May meeting:

President: Art Dages
Vice President: Tony Amenta
Secretary: Cathi Dages
Treasurer: Lois De Heer
Trailmaster: Marty De Heer
Ass’t Trailmaster: Paul Pizzale
Safety & Ed: Skip Wallace

Next meeting: May 2, 2006, 7:00 PM at the Fayston Town Hall. Hope to see you there!!

Club Meeting: Tuesday April 4 2006

The Mad River Ridge Runners monthly meeting will be held on Tuesday April 4 at 7PM at the Fayston Town Hall. All members are encouraged to attend.

The VAST website reports that the VAST trail system is closed for the season.

Canada Trip

Each season the Mad River Ridge Runners spend a long weekend snowmobiling in Quebec. This year we traveled to St Zenon, two hours north of Montreal and stayed at Auberge Le Cabanan. The plan was to leave Waitsfield at 12 noon on Friday and trailer up in a caravan to Quebec.

Several club members including Doug Wilson, Tony Amenta, and Lenny arrived a day early and met up at Real Masse. On Friday they went for a 230 mile loop through St Come and St Donat, it was a beautiful bluebird day.





The two groups met up at Cabanon Friday evening for dinner and turned in early in anticipation of an epic day of snowmobiling. We woke early Saturday morning and warmed up our sleds.

The plan was to loop through the Reserve Mastigouche and Mauricie National Parks, we proceeded north on Trail 345. After crossing over a dam the group stopped by the large hydropower station for a quick pit stop.


We stopped for gas and then headed south on trail 347. Trail 347 runs some 30 miles over a frozen river and we were able to ride side for a time.

It was lunchtime so we stopped for burgers and club sandwiches at Auberge Mekinac. The Auberge is located north of Shawanigan and is the perfect jumping off point for trips to La Tuque, the Ice Hotel and saddlebag trips to Mt Valin and other points north and east.

It had rained hard the week before and the river was glare ice. The lack of snow caused several of the sleds to overheat and a couple of breaks were taken to allow the sleds to cool down.


The next stop was at Auberge du Trappeur which is the gateway back into the park and located on Trail 318. When passing by Trappeur's be sure to check out the live mount Moose in the back room as well as their meatloaf special.

We continued on our way back to Auberge Le Cabanon eventually riding 200 miles. It was dinner time so we quickly changed out of our riding clothes and met in the dining room. Most everyone agreed that the desserts were the highlight of the meal.
Sunday morning we woke up early again and found that it had snowed during the night.

We warmed up our sleds and were ready to ride.

We decided to head over to Real Masse's for breakfast and then onto Koubek's Club for coffee. The conditions on the trail to Koubek's were excellent.

At Koubek's we found that the owner and a friend had recently restored a vintage Bombardier Bus. One club member was heard to offer the owner of Koubek's $8000 for the bus only to be turned down.


Reggie couldn't leave Quebec without saying goodbye to his special friend who lives at the lodge.


Special thanks to all of the club members who were able to attend this years ride and especially to Art Dages and Doug Wilson for their hard work in organizing the trip and making it a success. We all had a blast!

March Newsletter

MARCH NEWSLETTER

We had our March meeting at the Fayston Town Hall on Tuesday, March 14th, 2006. Twelve members attended.

The 2006 season is almost over and it seems that it never really started. We are grateful that there has been good snow in Canada this year. Quite a few of our members went north to St. Donat and St. Zenon this winter for weekend rides and were pleased to find exceptional conditions. A group just got back so check back here in a couple of days for some pictures of the trip.

MRRR blog site is: http://madriverridgerunners.blogspot.com. Please contact Tony ( vastridgerunner@gmail.com ) if you have anything to be posted. This site is updated regularly and provides current information about club happenings.

Turner’s property was opened on February 10th. Unfortunately, there has not been enough snow to ride on it.

Our club membership, along with the overall State membership, is down considerably this year due to lack of snow. Thanks to everyone who purchased a TMA this year. VAST still needs funds to cover trail maintenance.

It is that time of year when we vote for a new slate of officers. At this time, we have the position of secretary open. If you are interested in this or any other position, please Contact Art Dages or come to the April meeting. The nominations will be made at the April meeting and will be voted on at the May meeting.

Next meeting: April 4th, 7:00 PM at the Fayston Town Hall. Hope to see you there!!

March 11 Update

Trails Closed.

The rain and warm weather during the last week has melted all of the snow we received last weekend.

March 4 Update

We have had over a foot of snow and the trails are opened. ( including Turners Farm) Use caution as there are still open water bars and late season trail conditions exist. Warmer weather is forecast for the upcoming week so get out and enjoy it while you can. We are still grooming. Peanut is going out Monday night.

February 19 Update

Our trail system remains closed due to lack of snow.

St Zenon Trip

Club members Art Dages, Reggie Orr, Skip Wallace, Ward Nebel, and Tony Amenta made the decision to travel north to find snow and spent several days this past week at Real Masse in St Zenon in Quebec. St Zenon is located approximately 2 hours north of Montreal and is a east coast mecca for snowmobiling. Real Masse is a resort that caters to snowmobilers and is one of the most secure places to stay in all of Quebec.

Conditions were excellent and snow depths exceeded 5 feet. Skip Wallace found the snow to be waist deep when he stepped off the groomed trail.

The group went on a couple of long rides including a 235 mile loop to the Maurice region which included 30 mile run on a frozen river.

February Newsletter

PROGRESSIVE DINNER: FEBRUARY 25, 2006
This event will take place regardless of snow conditions. There is a limit of 30 people for this event. Please RSVP by February 18th to Art or Cathi Dages at 496-2577. A donation of $5 per person is requested. Participants are asked to meet behind Kenyon’s Store at 5:30pm to begin the ride.

CANADA RIDE
The date of this trip has been changed to the weekend of March 18 and 19th. There is a limit of 20 members for this ride. Spaces are already beginning to fill. Thus, call Doug Wilson at 496-3836 as soon as possible to reserve a spot.

VAST SCHOLARSHIPS
There are two $1500 scholarships available from VAST for members, spouses, or dependents. Contact Art Dages(496-2577) to receive an application. Applications must be postmarked by March 1st.

VAST JOINS 4-H Program
VAST members are working to join the 4-H organization to form a snowmobiling program for kids ages 10-18. If you would like to know more about this endeavor, contact Stacy at 476-4674.

MRRR BLOG SITE
Tony Amenta has been busy posting news and more photos on this site. Please take time to check it out. He has done an incredible job. The site now has other links added such as the VAST web site. The address is: http://madriverridgerunners.blogspot.com

MEMBERSHIP UPDATE
As of February 7th, we have 115 resident memberships, 12 nonresident memberships, and 16 volunteer memberships.

NEXT MEETING will be 7pm March 14th at the Fayston Municipal Building.(NOTE: this is a change to the second Tuesday of the month – due to Town Meeting)

February 7 Update

We received 2-6" of light fluffy snow last night and the weather has finally turned cold. Our trails are still closed and will remain closed until we receive some more much needed snow.

The Mad River Ridge Runners February Meeting will be held tonight at the Fayston Town Hall on North Fayston Road at 7PM . Both new and old members are encouraged to attend.