OVSA December Newsletter
OVSA Christmas Meeting Sunday December 6, 2009
President Jeff Fitch called the meeting to order at 11:10am and welcomed everyone to our Christmas meeting.
Secretary Deb Smith read off the minutes from last month and they were approved.
Treasurer Gail Lawson had handouts on the tables of her treasurer’s report. Gail also mentioned that we now have the NYSSA Super Raffle tickets which go for $5 each and our club gets to keep $2.50 of each one sold. You may get some of these tickets by contacting Gail 585 476 5701.09
Letchworth State Park Officers Mike and Mike were on hand to give night riding stickers to anyone that presented them with a registration and insurance card. This sticker information is done for safety reasons when riding after dark in the park. The phone number to contact the officers is 585 658 4692.
Park manager Roland Beck was there to explain the new route out to Portageville and that the sledding hill would be open this year with a food vendor on hand on the weekends when there is sliding. That is good news on both accounts for us. OVSA wishes to thank Roland and the Park Officers for being friends of snowmobiling and working with us.
Jay Zintel and Glenn O’Connor reported on our next safety course on Saturday December 19th at RNE Precision Machine in Gainesville by the RR tracks from 8-4pm. Lunch to be provided by us. OVSA would like to thank Jay Zintel, Glenn O’Connor, Tom and Jane Gebel, Chris O’Connor, Dennis Murphy, Keith and Vince Wolcott, Guss (railroad safety) for taking the time to help instruct these classes. This is a very valuable part of OVSA’s outreach to the public. Our first course was maxed out at 40 so the need was seen for a 2nd class. Again our thanks to all involved and my apologies if I didn’t mention your name.
Trail Coordinator Mike Black discussed markings for trails and that work would begin on groomers this week. Mike said to be sure when marking road crossings that the Corridor (ex. C4) sign be affixed to the back of the post when crossing so everyone is positive of the trail they are traveling as they cross the road and continue onward. Mike spoke of the large amount of work that has been done to the Rancher’s Choice trail over in Orangeville. Thanks to all involved with that project. The pictures on our website show the work that has been done there. A possible re-route of the Warsaw trail at Merchant/Oatka Road was discussed and is being pursued by Rich McDermott, Tim Rosenberg and Jeff Fitch. This is a valuable connection corridor for people coming from Warsaw/Attica area to Letchworth Park and other points.
Right after the meeting the Sportsmens Club will be putting on a great buffet for us. $5 for members and $10 for guests. Jim Hays, Keith Wolcott and staff do an excellent job for us each time. Thank you to them for hosting our meetings and putting on great buffets.
Trail Coordinator Mike Black brought up the fact that our older wheeler (1992) died so we discussed it’s replacement further at the board meeting. A vote was taken to replace it with a 2009 leftover Polaris 6 wheeler at 2009 pricing rather than a 2010 model for $1700 more. Our other Polaris 6 wheeler has been an excellent performer for us so we decided to stick with the same model for familiarity of use and servicing. Many people work in the background of this club creating and clearing trails, obtaining permissions, building bridges, marking trails, fixing wheelers and groomers and OVSA wishes to thank them for making it possible for all of us to enjoy this WNY winter season. Our season opens up December 23rd so we’re praying for snow and all trails to be ready to go.
Thank you to all members and we wish you a very Merry Christmas with your families and a safe snowmobiling season. Check out our new website at www.oatkavalley.org
Secretary Deb Smith, Jeff Fitch President
