newsletters

Island Falls Free Wheelers ATV Club
Newsletter June 2010

The club has hit the ground running this year. We have new officers, a new trail master, and new enthusiasm. Our membership, particularly locally, has blossomed this year and it’s great! We have had 20+ members at each meeting, which is fantastic.
The club has been active in getting existing trails signed (winter usually does a number on the signs and they need to be re-stapled, ink darkened, and replaced if missing.) Trails opened about a month early this year because Mother Nature was so good to us. But, in doing all the trail work, we fell behind in our secretarial and administrative duties. We’re working hard to learn and catch up.
We’ve added two new trails (one up over May Mountain to replace the trail that ran through the middle of Sue Ballou’s property and one from Porter’s to O’Neil’s along Sly Brook), put a double wide skidder bridge in on the trail between Porter’s and the Old Patten Road to replace a washed-out culvert, and re-opened Jeff Brooks’ pit off the Beaver Dam Point Road. (This is how we get between the condos and town.). We also have added a trail to Shin Pond Village thanks to Terry and Craig Hill. They obtained the permissions necessary to make the trail legal.
We’re working on more new trails, including a trail to the Hangar in Patten. And, we still have some “new” trails to sign in on the P.D. Roads.
The Belvedere Road is closed to ATV traffic this summer. When the Island Falls bridge on Route 2 is being replaced, Belvedere is the main re-route for traffic. The State told us we have to discontinue the road. We’re hoping that once the bridge is finished, we’ll be able to have the Belvedere Road open to ATV traffic again next year.
On Saturday, May 22^nd, the club had a garbage pick-up day on our trails. We had 18 members show up and we picked up an impressive 1,500 pounds of garbage, not including any metal. This was a huge success and everyone who showed up had a good time. Special thanks to Justin Sheen who loaded his entire truck (Spook’s Light Trucking) with garbage and would not accept any payment beyond a thank you. So, again, thank you for the use of your truck, the gas you burned, and the assistance in loading and unloading all the debris. Also, our thanks to the Katahdin Valley Recycling Center for helping us unload everything.
We’ve also been very active in community projects. We donated $310 to the VFW for maintenance of the war memorial in front of the town office. We donated $290 to the Island Falls Fire Department, which came from the Mutual Aid Dinner the club sponsored last fall. Finally, we’ve voted to donate two tricycles to be raffled during SummerFest for the benefit of the Island Falls Playground.
We’ve put together a list of club activities and rides for 2010. This can be found on the web site (www.islandfallsfreewheelers.com ) and we hope you’ll join us on the events and rides we have planned for this year.
The club by-laws have been updated and the updates were adopted at the June 13^th meeting. A copy of the updated by-laws is available on the web site, or you can ask any officer for a copy.
We’re behind in getting membership cards and stickers out. We ran out of ATV Maine stickers and had to order new ones. We had a new secretary on board, but unfortunately, she had to resign because of conflicts in her schedule that arose. And, in the middle of all this, Rick and Ramona’s hard drive crashed…so there went the updated web site and ability to get postcards out before the June meeting. Lewis, Ramona, Lloyd, and Margaret tried to call all of the local members to tell them about the meeting on June 13^th. If you were missed, it was not personal. We were trying to recover from the loss of a secretary and a computer.
If you’re interested in getting more involved in the club and want to step up, we have an open secretary position. It’s currently being filled by Ramona Robinson (who is also our treasurer.)
Please be patient and if you don’t have your cards, let Ramona or another officer know. We will work as diligently as possible to get everyone set with membership cards and stickers.
If you see a problem on one of our trails you’re riding and it’s not a problem you can fix, please let Lloyd, Lewis, Rick, or Ramona know about the problem. Specifically, we need to know where and what the problem is. That way, we know there’s a problem and what equipment we need to take to fix it. These trails belong to all of us and we should all pass along any problems; it’ll make our trails that much better.
With new officers, we’re learning. We’re excited about what’s already been done this year and what’s to come. We want your input and thoughts. If there’s a problem, we’ll endeavor to fix it. If you had a great ride and really like a particular trail, let us know. If you have comments that you’d like to share, we’ll listen.
Next meeting is Sunday, July 11^th at 4pm at the clubhouse. We’ll have a pot luck dinner immediately following the meeting. We hope to see you there.
Thank you and let’s keep the momentum of the year going. Get involved and we’ll see you on the trails!

Safe Riding,
The Island Falls Free Wheelers ATV Club