>> snoman think integration this year

SNOMANEXECUTIVE>>

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PresidentErnie Smelski,Whiteshell Snowmobile Club

Vice-PresidentAlan Butler,Snowtraxx Snowmobile ClubTreasurerJoe Thievin,South Interlake SnoRiders Inc.SecretaryAlbert WybornValleyview Sno-RidersPast PresidentAlbert Wyborn,Valleyview Sno-Riders

Snoman Inc.Ken Lucko,Executive Director,2121 Henderson Hwy.Winnipeg, MB R2G 1P8Ph. (204) 940-7533Fax (204) 940-7531Email: [email protected]

DirectorsCentral RegionTom Schindel,Cross Country Snow DriftersEastern RegionPaul Burch,Springhill TrailblazersBrad Wall,Lee River Snow Riders

Interlake RegionJoe Thievin,South Interlake SnoRiders Inc.Wayne Vandersteen,Northern Trail Blazers

Northern RegionKelly Martens, Thompson TrailbreakersRob Vipond,Kelsey Trail Sno-Riders

Western RegionBill Musey, Swan ValleySnowmobile Association Inc.Alan Butler,Snowtraxx Snowmobile Club

SPECIAL SNORIDERS SNOMAN REPORT

THINK INTEGRATION THIS YEARSNOPASSES ON EVERY SNOWMOBILE IS THE PROGRAM’S GOALBY ERNIE SMELSKI, President

The first thing I need to do is to thank a numberof people.

This past snowmobile season was the longestoperational season in Snoman Inc. history.Snowmobile clubs maintained designatedgroomed trails starting in early December andending in April in some areas of the province.Therefore, to all the club volunteers and their ex-ecutive, a huge thank you for your contributionto the snowmobilers of Manitoba. Your commit-ment has not gone unnoticed as many compli-ments were heard throughout this past season.These compliments were not only from snowmo-bilers, but Snoman partners, business communi-ties and government officials. This is due to yourdedication, volunteerism and hard work.

On behalf of Snoman Inc. I would like to thankLora Beddall, Snofund administrator, for herdedication and support to our organization. Loraleft our organization for other opportunities thispast season. Lora provided over four years of ser-vice to Snoman Inc.

Michelle McKnight, our part-time administra-tive assistant, left our organization this pastspring to pursue full-time employment. Thankyou for your service to Snoman Inc.

A special thank you to our office staff: execu-tive director Ken Lucko, administrative co-ordi-nator Carol Mikula and Trackstick administra-tive assistant Noel Martens for continuing tomeet commitments as well as program deadlines.Despite the extended snowmobile season andstaff shortages, our organization was able to meetadministrative targets in most areas. As well,they stayed on track with the new initiatives forthe 2011/12 snowmobile season set by the boardof directors. The office staff have exceeded ourexpectations and have had projects completedahead of schedule in order to provide earlier pay-outs to the clubs this year. They have providedinformation for our discussions with our mem-bership, Snoman partners, supportive businessesand political individuals. This information in-cludes ratification of the Trackstick program bythe end of July, map revisions for 2011/12, finan-cial club analysis, budget revisions for 2011/12,

excellence awards, mentorship program commit-ments, CCSO commitment followup, websitemodifications, lottery revisions, kiosk modifica-tions, AGM, banquet preparations, integrationpost-season review, and strategic planning fol-lowup with set commitments, just to name a few.

To our board of directors and executive, thankyou for placing your trust in my leadership. I wasre-elected as your president for one more term atour annual general meeting (AGM) in May of2011. This will be my last term of office, as I feelthat after three terms, this organization needsnew revitalized energy to continue to move thisorganization forward. As your president, the timecommitment to provide continued followup, di-rection and guidance varies from one to severalhours a day, all season long. Our next AGM is setfor October 28, 2011, and will be part of our firstannual Snoman Inc. Congress.

I would like to welcome our newest employee,Snofund administrator Christy Wieczorkiewicz.Christy, along with her husband and their family,are members of the Whiteshell Snowmobile Cluband Springfield Pathfinders Club. Christy bringsvery positive enthusiasm and administrativeskills to our organization—welcome.

As well, I want to thank Paul Burch, who wasthe vice-president for this past year, for his serv-ice to the Snoman Inc. executive, and TomSchindel, who was the secretary for the past threeseasons. I would like to welcome Alan Butler(Western Region director) as vice-president andAlbert Wyborn (past president) as secretary tothe Snoman executive. Gentlemen, thank you all.

Well, where are we with the most difficult chal-lenge which Snoman Inc. faced in recent years—integration!

We have experienced almost two complete sea-sons with the sale of Snopasses at Manitoba Pub-lic Insurance (MPI). The first year was donemanually by MPI vendors. This year, it was doneelectronically. Now you can purchase your Sno-pass year round along with your snowmobile reg-istration. Our Snopass numbers have slightlyincreased from 16,255 in 2009/10 to approxi-

▼Continued on page 2

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CLUB NEWS>>

hopefully lead to premium re-ductions.

Since our Snopass sales donot cover all of the expensesof providing a designated trailsystem, alternative means ofrevenue are very important.Advertising for the kiosks, adson the maps and links to ourwebsite help to raise muchneeded funding. We also ad-minister a raffle draw for anew snowmobile and directlyshare the proceeds with theclubs.

We are currently redesigningthe website and developing anew membership program tobring more members into ourclubs, which we hope will, inturn, lead to more volunteers.

Last year we were awardeda grant from the federal gov-ernment for a seniors/youthmentorship program that isbeing finalized as I write thisarticle.

We have advertised a Re-quest for Proposal for a livetracking system for ourgroomers that will help notonly track time and distance,but also provide for a saferwork environment for our vol-unteers.

The Snoman board of direc-tors will also be hosting theannual general meeting onOctober 28, 2011. This will bein conjunction with our firstannual Snoman Congress,which is slated for October 28and 29, 2011. Work has al-ready begun to plan the print-ing of this report. The Con-gress will also include agroomer workshop, presidentsmeeting and awards banquet.The planning for this event,which will be held at CanadInns Destination Centre ClubRegent Casino Hotel, is wellunderway.

We are also working on theExcellence Awards and theywill be presented at the ban-quet.

Through a good part of the

agement program, the Mentorship program andour Marketing program. As a result of these ini-tiatives, our liability insurance premiums havebeen reduced, thus increasing payouts to theclubs—a positive step forward. These programs,along with integration, will continue to be ourfocus until our next strategic planning session.

There are many benefits from recreationalsnowmobile activities—these can be in the formof both economic and social advantages. Oneonly has to travel in rural Manitoba to see theeconomic benefits, with busy restaurants andservice stations during a traditionally slow timeof year. The service that our members provide isdirected to the recreational, family-orientedsnowmobile community. A visit to one of themany shelters throughout the province will soonprovide you with an understanding of the socialbenefits. You will soon see that there are manyfamilies involved with snowmobiling and the fel-lowship that exists with groups of riders.

We realize that there is frustration for volun-teers throughout the snowmobiling season, con-sidering volunteer time requirements, meetingrisk management needs, spending countlesshours on the groomer, readjusting our signage ormeeting administrative requirements (i.e. trailcondition reporting for one) and so on.

We need to focus on how to further reduce ourvolunteer time, either mechanically—on theequipment—or by program sharing with others.There may be ways you are doing this withinyour club; please share with our organization.

Rewards sometimes go unmentioned but arenoticed and this year many individuals were verypleased with the service in our province. I haveheard them, as have board members, so to all thevolunteers of all the snowmobile clubs—a verygood job! Be proud to be a part of your club asothers are pleased with your work.

mately 17,474 this past season (7.5 per cent in-crease in Snopass sales). The last number provid-ed was Snopass purchases under the newelectronic system. We need to go through anoth-er full year to fully determine the purchase trendsand final numbers. Therefore we need to be cau-tious in our financial approach. The concern isthat we have 29,477 registered snowmobiles asof March 2011, which means only 59 per cent ofsnowmobiles are Snopassed. What does this tellus? To confirm this information, the Snopasscompliance surveys were done by snowmobileclubs this past February. The surveys indicated65 per cent average compliance throughout ourdesignated system in Manitoba. So does integra-tion work?

Well, we all agree that MPI outlets are provid-ing a great service to us so that volunteers are nottagged with the countless hours of sellingSnopasses.

In terms of compliance, I would suggest not,and that is affecting our club operational budgets,especially with this past year’s long operationalseason. We need to remember that, along withthe MPI initiative, the province had provided acommitment to enforce the legislation to ensureSnopasses are on every snowmobile throughoutthe entire province. We understand that theprovince is still working on the interim legisla-tion, until a Snowmobile Act is developed. Thiscommitment has been outstanding for two years.We are awaiting their followup. This is a priori-ty; we will have further discussions at your fallregional meetings and at our president’s meetingat the first annual Snoman Inc. Congress held inOctober.

Our strategic planning session resulted in anumber of new initiatives such as the Risk Man-

▼ PRESIDENT’S MESSAGEContinued from page 1

Everyone asks us what we do during the sum-mer at the Snoman office. Well, one might thinkthat a snowmobile organization would not be thatbusy in the summer; however, that certainly isnot the case. Even before the season ends we arealready planning for the following season. Oncethe riding season ends we begin reconciling theTrackstick information to verify the kilometresgroomed as this is the basis on which clubs arepaid.

All of the club’s information—such as expens-es, equipment costs, fuel, insurance and assets—is also compiled. This information is used tojustify future fee increases and is shared with

other snowmobile organizations. We also havenext year’s budget to prepare along with provid-ing information for the annual audit.

New maps have to be prepared, checked andprinted. This year we have redesigned our mapswith less advertising on the map side and this hasenabled us to increase the size of the provincialmap by 40 per cent, thereby making it more user-friendly. We produce a special map for all of thesnowmobile dealers to display in their show-rooms.

There are insurance policies to renew as well asrisk management protocols to investigate that can

▼Continued on sidebar

▼ EXECUTIVE DIRECTORContinued from left

▼Cont’d. on pg. 3 sidebar

Summertime at SnomanAS ONE SEASON ENDS PLANNING FOR THE NEXT ONE BEGINSBY KEN LUCKO, Executive Director

FALL 2011 » SnoRiderswest.com 3

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CLUB NEWS

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New membership programSnoman, in conjunction with the snowmobile

clubs of Manitoba, is pleased to announce a newSnoman/club membership program for the startof the 2011/2012 season. The new membershipprogram will allow for the continuation of theSnofund Partner Program.

Under the new program all Manitoba snowmo-bile club members will also become Snomanmembers by virtue of their club membership. Bysimply filling in a Snoman/club membership cardyou will become members of Snoman. Clubs willset their own membership fees and criteria formembership. Club members will receive a Sno-man/club membership card; the membership cardwill entitle all holders to all Snoman and Canadi-an Council of Snowmobile Organizations(CCSO) benefits. In addition to the membershipcard all members will receive a membershipbrochure listing the many benefits they are enti-tled to through Snoman and the CCSO.Benefits of the program:

• The membership program will replace theSnopass card and will allow for the continuation

of the Snofund Partner Program. The SnofundPartner Program can provide discounts of up to15 per cent from the many businesses registeredas Snofund Partners.

• The membership program provides the oppor-tunity for clubs to tell prospective members theadvantages/benefits of becoming a club member(discounts received would easily exceed mem-bership paid).

• The Snoman membership list will identifythose who are eligible for Snoman liability insur-ance when performing club work.

• Reduced rates at many hotel/motel chains. • As a result of having a Snoman member data-

base all Snoman members will receive four edi-tions of SnoRiders magazine.

• Volunteer recognition programs at the provin-cial and national levels.

• Help with recruiting new club members andretention of existing members.

This new program will require you to first be amember of a Snoman member club before you

On October 28 and 29, 2011, Snoman Inc. willhold its first annual Snoman Congress. The con-gress will be held at the Canad Inns DestinationCentre Club Regent Casino Hotel in Winnipeg.The congress will be composed of three ses-sions—the 2011 Snoman annual meeting, work-shops, and the Snoman annual awardspresentation and banquet. On Friday, October 28,the Snoman 2011 annual general meeting will beheld and all member clubs are invited to attend.The 2010/2011 annual general report will be pre-sented and the Snoman election will take place.

On Saturday, October 29, there will be a trailgrooming workshop. Kim Rapp, owner of TrailsConsulting, will be the workshop presenter. Mr.Rapp has been involved in snowmobile trailgrooming since 1978 and developed the Interna-tional Association of Snowmobile Administra-tors (IASA) Guidelines for Snowmobile TrailGroomer Operators Training Manual. Mr. Rappwill cover all aspects of trail grooming; thisworkshop will prove informative and beneficialto all groomer operators. The workshop is opento all Snoman member clubs.

In addition to the grooming workshop on Satur-day, October 29, there will be a club presidentsworkshop. This workshop is open to all Snomanmember club presidents or their delegates. A

number of key topics will be reviewed and dis-cussed. The topics reviewed will provide clubpresidents the opportunity to review Snomanprograms and provide input and direction to theSnoman board of directors.

The first annual awards presentation and ban-quet will be held Saturday evening and is open toall those that wish to attend. Excellence awardsfor 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 will be presented.Also, presentations will be made to the four im-mediate past presidents in recognition of theircontribution to the Snoman organization.

A number of manufacturers and dealers haveindicated they will be present; this includesgroomers, drags and sign companies. Club repswill have the opportunity to ask questions abouttheir equipment and about equipment they maybe looking at purchasing.

Snoman is working hard to ensure this congresswill be beneficial to clubs and members. Atten-dance is expected to be high with most clubs hav-ing delegates attending. This event will providean opportunity to work together for the better-ment of snowmobiling in Manitoba.

For more information, banquet tickets and reg-istration applications, please contact the Snomanoffice at 1-204-940-7533 or send an email [email protected].

First annual Snoman CongressBY ALAN BUTLER, Vice-President and Event Chairman

▼ MEMBERSHIP PROGRAMContinued from left


can become a member of Sno-man. It is hoped that Manitobasnowmobilers will recognizethe many benefits of being amember of Snoman and jointheir local snowmobile cluband in this way help with thegrowth of Manitoba snowmo-bile clubs. It should be notedthat purchasing a Snopassdoes not provide you with aSnoman membership; it enti-tles you to use the Snomandesignated trail system. Join aSnoman member club and be-come a member of Snoman!

season we were short-staffedand have now hired a newSnofund administrator. Wewould like to welcome ChristyWieczorkiewicz to the Sno-man team. A special thank yougoes out to Carol Mikula, ad-ministrative co-ordinator, andNoel Martens, Trackstick ad-ministrative assistant, for tak-ing on many new tasks thispast season.

We have a great working re-lationship with Manitoba Pub-lic Insurance and meet withthem on a regular basis to en-sure that we can provide thebest service possible for ourSnopass purchasers.

There you have it—a briefoverview of some of the proj-ects that the Snoman office isworking on. It certainly isnever dull and we are lookingforward to this coming ridingseason.

▼ EXECUTIVE DIRECTORCont’d. from pg. 2 sidebar

Consideringdrinking & riding?Consider this . . . ManitobaConservation and RCMP offi-cers are stepping up their on-trail presence . . . working tokeep our trails safe.


www.snoman.mb.ca

CLUB NEWS>>

Trilake Trail BustersBY BRIAN DOWNIE

The Trilake Trail Bustersgroomer headed out to do thetrail north of Ninette on De-cember 18, 2010. Things werelooking good until about twomiles in, when they reached theswamp area. Unfortunately, theweather had contributed to lessthan ideal conditions.

We had a significant heavysnowfall before it turned cold sothe ground never froze. That, incombination with the highwater levels and moving water,all contributed to the difficultyfor clubs to prepare the desig-nated trail system for the up-

coming season. Some trailswere never even opened lastyear. Thankfully, the groomeroperator was able to walk outwithout any trouble.

The groomer was extractedin three separate pieces,which were initially thoughtwould be nothing more thanscrap metal. The pieces weretransported by flatbed to thelocal Hutterite colony wherethey were thawed and re-assembled. Three weeks laterthe groomer was up and run-ning again and showed no ef-fects of its dunking.


New Snofund administratorBY CHRISTY WIECZORKIEWICZ

Hello all you fellow snowmobil-ers, my name is Christy Wiec-zorkiewicz. I live in NorthKildonan in Winnipeg andhave been a member of theWhiteshell Snowmobile Clubfor over 15 years. I have beeninvolved with our club’sfundraising efforts and havevolunteered at many of the func-tions that they have held.

My husband and I, along withour two children, snowmobileas often as we can whether it’s aride to Selkirk for dinner or offto Anola for coffee. Our week-end rides usually take us eastto Whiteshell, where we meetup with family and friends fora day of sledding. I have apassion for this sport and Ifeel I have found a positionthat will be fun and exciting, as well as being

very rewarding.We have more recently be-

come members of the Spring-field Pathfinders Club. Welook forward to supportingthem with their fundraisingefforts as we are using theirtrail system more and more.

Recently my husband andmy daughter participated inthe Chicken Daze Parade inOakbank, on the SpringfieldPathfinders float. This floatshowed the new versions ofSki-Doo, Polaris, Arctic Catand Yamaha sleds as well asthe old models.

I am thrilled to have been of-fered the position of Snofundadministrator at Snoman. I amlooking forward to learningmany new things in the weeks

Alexa (left) and Zbig Wieczorkiewicz takepart in the Chicken Daze Parade.

▼ SNOFUND ADMINISTRATORContinued from left

to come. I am also lookingforward to meeting snowmo-bilers from all parts of Mani-toba both in the office and outon the trail. I sincerely hopeyou all had a wonderful sum-mer and look forward to a nicelong winter of sledding.

Snoman welcomes new Snofund adminis-

trator, Christy Wieczorkiewicz.

Mooswa LakeSnoriders Club—by Audrey Mulla

As snowmobilers we arekeenly aware that we get aprecious amount of time topursue our favorite recreation-al activity each season, whichmeans even when Mother Na-ture does not co-operate, weare the dedicated bunch thatstill heads out for a day of rid-ing in less than ideal condi-tions.

However, this gives ussomething to talk about whenwe meet up with fellow sled-ders at a shelter or restau-rant— about how crazy theweather was, but we rode any-way. This is just the nature ofthe Manitoba sledder.

So on a bitterly cold Januarymorning, this group of hard-core riders hit the trails. Wewere prepared for whateverwas ahead of us. We travellednorth to the Belair, GrandBeach and Victoria Beach

▼Cont’d. on page 6 sidebar


www.snoman.mb.ca

Clarity Conferencing Inc.

The CCSO would like to thank oursponsors for the 2011/2012 season . . .

In June the Alberta Snowmobile Association(ASA) hosted a very successful InternationalSnowmobile Congress (ISC) with representativesfrom four countries in attendance. With 400snowmobilers from the U.S., Sweden, Russia andCanada talking snow, the antique sleds through-out the Calgary Hyatt Regency Hotel and thegroomers lining Stephen Avenue, tall tales andfun were had by all as plans were discussedfor the 2012 season. Well done, ASA!

CCSO Excellence Awards were pre-sented at the President’s Awards Ban-quet Gala on Saturday night at ISC.Congratulations to all the nominees anda special thank you to all for your effortsto highlight the many success stories. Theaward winners in each category were:

Outstanding Snowmobile Dealership: the2011 CCSO Snowmobile Excellence Awardgoes to Enns Brothers from Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Outstanding Snow-Related Company: the2011 CCSO Snowmobile Excellence Awardgoes to SnowandMud.com from Alberta.

Outstanding Snowmobile Promotion & De-velopment: the 2011 CCSO Snowmobile Excel-

lence Award goes to Cycle Works West from Al-berta.

Outstanding Snowmobile Club: the 2011CCSO Snowmobile Excellence Award goes tothe Wasaga Snowmobile Club from Ontario.

Outstanding Snowmobile Family: the 2011CCSO Snowmobile Excellence Award goes to

the Byman family - Greg, Barb and his sonBryce from Revelstoke, B.C.

Outstanding Snowmobiler: the 2011CCSO Snowmobile Excellence Awardgoes to Laurent Caoutte from Quebec.

Outstanding Youth - The PeteGreenlaw Award: the 2011 CCSO

Snowmobile Excellence Award goes toBlake Schofield from Gravenhurst, On-

tario. CCSO Environmental Recognition Award

for 2011 goes to the Alberta Snowmobile Asso-ciation (ASA).

The Canadian Council of Snowmobile Organi-zations would like to thank everyone for theirnominations and wishes to congratulate all of thisyear’s winners of the 2011 CCSO ExcellenceAwards.

CCSO Excellence Award winners

Coast to Coast by Dennis Burns

Election allows forlong-term planning

The CCSO is working on be-half of organized snowmobil-ing in Canada to partner withthe newly elected Harper gov-ernment.

Look for more informationafter the summer break as thenewly appointed ministers getup to speed with their portfo-lios. The Conservative majori-ty will allow for longer-termplanning as the next election islikely four years away.

Volunteers and snowmobiletrails create over $6 billion ofeconomic activity for Canada.Speak to your MPs directlyand ask them to support thesnowmobile grant programs—the groomer fleet alone is esti-mated to be worth over $180million. Imagine the total in-vestment in the 104,000 kilo-metres of trails whenincluding initial construction,annual maintenance and oper-ational costs.

The grant programs recog-nize the work and effort by thethousands of volunteers andlandowners who give so muchto the sport they love.

Trails surveyseeks your input

Trail leaders from acrossCanada met in Banff last fall.A report and followup surveyhave been compiled and arenow ready for your input.

Go to the CCSO website athttp://www.ccso-ccom.ca/,enter the main site, then readthe report and complete thesurvey—we need your help.The survey can also be direct-ly accessed at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NTRsurvey.

Please offer your feedbackto the National Trails Round-table Working Group.

Dennis Burns

Please support businesses that support the CCSO—the national voiceof organized snowmobiling!


www.snoman.mb.ca

CLUBNEWS>>

chemin Loop of our trail. This loop was about 75kilometres in length with checkpoints at Beau-chemin Shelter, White Lake Resort and RedRock Shelter where lunch was served—pulledpork on a bun with baked beans and coleslaw. Iam told that approximately 130 lunches wereserved and it was delicious.

Our first-place winner came in with a hand offour eights and went away with $1,100 in cash.

Our second-place winner drew a flush and won

On March 5, 2011, the Whiteshell SnowmobileClub held its first (and possibly annual) pokerderby.

As the weather goes, we couldn’t have askedfor a nicer day. We noticed that a lot of our par-ticipants were families with little people. Thiswas a great day to be out on the trail with familyand friends.

Our start and end checkpoint was at BreretonLake Resort. We registered approximately 150hands and about 100 riders to travel the Beau-

Whiteshell Snowmobile ClubBY PAT LEDINGHAM

▼Continued on page 7

Picture this—sitting on a dock, the waves gen-tly lapping at the shore, the temperature about33°C and guess where the conversation goes: theday I went sledding at -33°C. Oh wait, that wasthe day I refused to go.

I sure am enjoying this beautiful summerweather but more often than not my thoughts andour family conversations are about snowmobil-ing trips this past winter or winters. It is hard tobelieve that in just a few weeks the club willgather for its annual corn roast and start planningour weekend away and when the members willget together to prepare the groomer for the2011/2012 season.

We ended off the sledding season with a“Groomer Rodeo.” It was held at the groomer lo-cation and all members were invited to sit behindthe controls of the groomer andtake it for a spin. Just tomake you aware, the headof the grooming commit-tee was sitting right next tothe “wannabe groomers”for safety reasons. I’m sureI heard that the women did abetter job at running thegroomer than the men. Theyhad a bonfire, with hotdogs,hot chocolate and birthdaycake for Pat Neskar, our newclub president. The membersthought it was a great afternoon and we’ll proba-bly try it again next year.

In April we had a very successful bingo bowl atthe Selkirk Bowling Lanes with many club mem-bers in attendance. Once again, without the vol-unteers to arrange these events they wouldn’thappen—thanks to all who helped out.

I would like to take this opportunity to thankclub member Louise Machinski for welcoming

the club to her home on the Red River for oursummer barbecue. It turned out to be a beautifulday, and there were over 40 members enjoyingthe festivities, good conversation and great food.I would also like to thank Angela, Pat, Bridget,Al and Darrell for helping Louise make the after-noon such a success.

I would like to tell you a little about the club,which has been in existence for over 40 years.The club has weekly organized rides starting assoon as the trail conditions permit, a weekendaway to different locations in the province,monthly meetings, and the Todd Stabner Memo-rial Ride. We hold special events during the off-season such as a fall corn roast, Christmas party,bowling or golfing in the spring and the barbecue

in the summer.We are also a grooming

club that involves manyhours of volunteer time froman elite group of memberswho are willing to spendtheir valuable time keepingyour trails in as good acondition as Mother Na-ture will allow. It requiresa great deal of money tokeep this groomer on thetrails and without the sup-

port of monies from the purchase ofSnopasses this would not be possible.

If anyone out there reading this article is inter-ested in becoming a member of the SpringhillTrailblazers we are always welcoming newmembers. You can contact us through our web-site at springhilltrailblazers.ca or the Snomanwebsite. You can also contact me at 204-896-4807 for club information.

In the meantime, enjoy the rest of the hotweather— it will be over before you know it.

Springhill TrailblazersBY SUSAN ROGERS

areas. We then stopped towarm up and have a spectacu-lar lunch at the BirchwoodMotor Hotel.

Our second largest ride inJanuary still had Mother Na-ture frowning upon us. Weheaded out first thing in themorning as we were not aboutto let blizzard conditions stopus. By mid-afternoon the bliz-zard had dissipated and it haddumped a fresh, powdery sixinches of snow. It was a won-derful time in Manitoba’sgreat outdoors and we lookforward to the next opportuni-ty to ride and share eachother’s company.

▼MOOSWA LAKECont’d. from pg. 4 sidebar

Snoman welcomesCrystal Cann

Hello, my name is CrystalCann and I am the new admin-istrative assistant at SnomanInc.

I have lived in Oakbank,Manitoba all my life and oneof my favourite memoriesgrowing up was snowmobil-ing. Each year, my brothersand I would pray for the firstsnowfall and then beg my fa-ther to take us out. The waitwas unbearable but eventuallyeverything came together andwe would rush outside andhook a toboggan to the back ofthe snowmobile. Rule ofthumb was the more bruiseswe got from falling off themore fun we had. Of course,we would wear our helmets.

This summer I was able totake an opportunity to travel toSt. John’s, Newfoundland andLabrador. It was quite an ex-perience. From kissing a fish,

▼Cont’d. on pg. 7 sidebar


www.snoman.mb.ca

CLUB NEWS

>>a set of snowmobile dollies donated by the Spe-cialty Tire Group (Kyle Allan), and a gift certifi-cate donated by Brereton Lake Resort along witha few pieces of club outerwear.

Our third-place winner camein with three queens withking high and took home abeautiful long-sleeved Ski-Doo shirt and toque donatedby Enns Brothers, a gift cer-tificate donated by BreretonResort, and some club out-erwear.

We also had prizes foreight other participantswho came in with handsvarying from three queens withfour high down to two pairs with fours and nines.All of these people went away with items of clubouterwear, gift certificates from Brereton Resortand/or Ski-Doo toques from Enns Brothers.

We would be remiss if we didn’t give a hugethank you to all of the participants who came outto support our efforts. We are also grateful to Br-ereton Lake Resort and White Lake Resort for

their hospitality in allowing us to use their prem-ises as checkpoints.

Many thanks as well go to all of our volunteerswho assisted at the checkpoints—Barb Albinet,Jenny Jones, Jordan Ferguson, Wayne Erickson,Wayne Kulczycky, Roger Hogue, Les Starink,Pat Ledingham and our co-ordinator of this

event, Kris Mutcher. Welldone Kris.

Finally, thanks to ourcrew that was stationed atRed Rock Shelter to makesure everyone got fed—the Jones and Fergusonfamilies. They orchestratedthe lovely meal that all ofour participants enjoyed. Itis a huge challenge to pre-pare all of the food, haul itall the way to the shelter and

bring in all of the equipment necessary to pull offthis kind of event—especially if you want a hotmeal. Well done folks.

In closing, thank you again to all of our donors,volunteers and participants. Without your helpwe would not have been able to boast of thishuge success.

▼ WHITESHELL SNOWMOBILE CLUBContinued from page 6

1st Annual SnomanCongress Awards Banquet

Saturday, October 29, 2011Canad Inns Destination Centre Club Regent Casino Hotel

1415 Regent Ave. West, Winnipeg, MB

Tickets available at the Snoman office2121 Henderson Hwy., Winnipeg

Phone 204-940-7533 • www.snoman.mb.ca

Tickets $50 each

eating fresh lobster and listen-ing to fiddle music on GeorgeStreet—I had a wonderfultime. However, it was nice tocome back home to thePrairies where the ground isflat. I still have nightmares ofwalking up all those hills.

Presently, it has been verybusy for Snoman Inc. There isa lot to do and already there isa buzz of excitement for theupcoming snowmobile season.I look forward to helping outand getting to know all of thepeople who work hard tomake each snowmobile seasona success.

▼ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANTCont’d. from pg. 6 sidebar


www.snoman.mb.ca

MXZ TNT 550Fretail price $8,899

PHASER GTretail price $8,999

600 Rushretail price $11,399

SNO PRO 500retail price $9,999

“May not be exactly as illustrated”

Winner may choose to accept $7,000.00 cash in lieu of one chosen snowmobile. * Winner is responsible for pick up of selected sled. Snoman will be responsible for GST. Winner will be responsible for all other applicable taxes.*

License # MGCC 2789 RF 40,000 Tickets Printed Tickets $2.00 each

MXre

Proceeds benefit recreational snowmobiling in Manitoba through Snoman and its member clubs.

Draw DateJanuary 18, 2012 at 2:00 p.m.

Draw HeldSnoman Office - 2121 Henderson Hwy. - Winnipeg, MB

DRAW OPEN TO ALL TICKETHOLDERS

>> snoman think integration this year

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