Oatka Valley Snowmobile Association Newsletter January 13, 2009
President Jeff Fitch called the meeting to order at 11:15. Minutes were read from the December meeting and approved as read. Gail Lawson handed out treasurer reports and mentioned that we had received our final 30% of trail funding from last year. We are making progress with our 501c3 status but it is slow going. Gail will order 300 of the NYSSA raffle tickets for us to have at our next meeting. The cost is $5/ticket and it is sponsored statewide with lots of prizes. Gail also has the big tickets for our May steak raffle which will be held at the North Java Fire Hall.
Trail coordinator Mike Black reported on trail conditions and mentioned that we maintain 134 miles of trail. The total in the county is 260 miles so you can see how many we are responsible for. If you would like to groom give Mike a call and he can direct you. So far we’ve had 3 new guys volunteer in the Perry area and I’m sure more have in other areas. Thanks to all who take the time to make our trails the best with grooming and maintenance. New trail maps are available either at the meetings, local merchants or through the mail. Because it costs $1.26 to mail each map please send $6.50 when ordering through the OVSA mailbox.
President Jeff spoke with Roland Beck at Letchworth State Park and was informed as to the reason that the Trailside Lodge had been closed. As you can probably guess it’s due to budget shortfalls within the state and desire for each Park to cut out a certain amount of their operating budgets. This is unfortunate as many young people use the tube sliding area as well as cross country skiers and snowmobilers warming up in the Lodge. There will be pressure to reopen this up next year.
This past Saturday January 10th Mike Black, Gail and Tracy Lawson and President Jeff attended the western region NYSSA meeting held at BW’s in Pavilion. There were many topics and committee meetings and Mike attended the morning session as well as the afternoon with us. Communication between NYSSA and the Clubs was emphasized and it is remarkable the amount of work that is done at that level on our behalf. I was glad to be able to attend a meeting that important so close to our system where we can voice our concerns directly.
OVSA member Jay Zintel is active in the Pink Ribbon Riders events that raise funds for cancer patients. Jay will be participating in the big ride up North in February and if you would like to donate please make a check out to Pink Ribbon Riders and mail it to Jay Zintel, PO Box 122 Silver Springs, NY 14550. Thank you Jay for your time and efforts in this very worthy matter and for all who can donate.
I made a mistake in previously stating the website address for Bliss, it should be www.blissnewyork.com. My apologies to all as I like everyone in Bliss. Now that we have great riding conditions please be careful in your sledding operations. I came upon several accidents this past Sunday afternoon January 11th. One was right near my house on Suckerbrook Road where the sledder blew through the stop ahead and roadside stop sign, flew over the road and landed upside down off the trail. A broken leg was the result but it could have been much worse had a car/truck been traveling the road at that moment. All trail markings were in place and it was a beautiful sunny afternoon at 3pm. No one has a good explanation as to why it happened but the rider is a member of a club in Rochester and probably didn’t know our trails that well. All the riders I spoke to on the trails Sunday were not OVSA members. They come here because we have the snow and awesome trails. Please note the conditions where you ride. Are the stop ahead and stop signs all in place? I and others have replaced a number of them already this year to make our trails as safe as possible. If you note signs missing please contact the person in that area who handles that trail section and offer to help them to fix it quickly. The officers remarked to me last Sunday that all the signs were in place and the trail was correct. Let’s keep all of our 134 miles that way. Mike Black also has a brand new shipment of stop signs available. Thanks to all our members for all you do on our Club’s behalf. Personally I’m having a lot of fun this winter. Next meeting is Sunday February 1st at 11am…
Respectfully submitted Deb Smith, Secretary and Jeff Fitch, President
