4 | Snowmobile VERMONT A message from VAST President Tim Mills The lazy, hazy days of summer are here in full swing. The smell of fresh cut grass, camping season, summer vacations and family cookouts fill the air. It’s that time of year when we participate in the other activities that we love to do together with our friends and family in the off season of snowmobiling. It’s also that time of year when snowmobile clubs around the state are taking care of their off-season maintenance. Rebuilding and redecking bridges, installing culverts, rerouting trails due to closures or additions, repairing or replacing trail signs and maintaining their grooming equipment. These are just a few of the items on the to-do lists the clubs have for the summer. It is a never-ending process that is cyclical in nature with just enough changes between the seasons to keep it interesting, to say the least. If you are not already volunteering for a club, pre-season is a good time to get your feet wet to learn the ropes. Learn your local trails and see what the footprint of your trail system looks like when it’s not covered in snow and groomed to perfection. This is also an excellent opportunity to be a part of the behind-the-scenes group. When you volunteer for your local club, you become part of a unique team. You can take part in finding workable solutions, easy workarounds and sustainable solutions to a sport that we all love so much. When volunteering, you instantly become part of a unique team. A team that doesn’t put ones needs above the others, a team where everyone counts and makes a difference. While volunteering for your local snowmobile club, you might begin to see new opportunities arise outside of the club. It can open you to other avenues that might also fit your interests. In my experience while I was the trailmaster for my local snowmobile club, I was offered the opportunity to be chairman of the Class 4 road committee for my town. Even though the Class 4 roads and snowmobiling may seem unrelated at first. In reality, they are both closely related, but still have their own characteristics. Some of our trail system across Vermont utilizes Class 4 roads. This gave me the opportunity to see parts of Vermont that I wouldn’t have seen. It also opens new opportunities to open new connector trails to fill in the sometimes much-needed links in our statewide snowmobile trail system. If I hadn’t taken the offer, I wouldn’t have been given such an eye-opening opportunity. Vermont is such a beautiful state, whether you choose to see it from the seat of a snowmobile or from one of the peaks on Camel’s Hump, just get out and see it. At the end of the day, volunteering can be an excellent way of opening yourself to new experiences and a new prospective on top of giving you the opportunity to give back to your community. If you haven’t already heard, VAST Annual Meeting will be hosted by Franklin county this year. Stay safe and smooth trails. – Tim Mills, VAST President VAST News 2018 TMAS As always, we try and get the new season TMAs out to clubs as fast as we can after the annual meeting this year. We will do that again this year, but we will also be going online as of Oct. 1 so we can promote TMA sales while we are out at tradeshows this fall. The VAST board voted unanimously to bring back the 3-Day TMA this coming season too since it seemed more popular than the 4-Day did last season. CLUB FUNDRAISER LIP SYNC CONTEST If you are on Facebook then you must have seen the lip sync video challenges flaring up mostly between first responder groups. Well, that gave us an idea! Currently, we are running a contest on our Facebook page. This is a club to club challenge. Submissions of your lip sync video (YouTube link) should be sent to Cindy Locke at cindy@vtvast.org. One video submission per club only please. The top three winners will be awarded at the VAST Annual Meeting on Sept. 15, 2018. Contest ends Sept. 1, 2018. Top club wins $500 and two second best awards of $300 each. Also, your videos will be linked to the VAST website. Have fun, and we look forward to your creativity! This is a great way to get youth involved in a club event too. Have your club members in it, groomer operators, trail workers, club banners, etc. You can find simple apps in your phone’s app store like Dubsmash or MuStar to record your lip sync video! We can’t wait to see what you come up with! 501 Wahconah St., Pittsfield 413-443-0638 Ext. 13 ronniesharleydavidson.com Mon - Fri 9am - 6pm • Sat 9am - 4pm • Sun 10am - 4pm R The Way Out. Wewillnotbeundersold! Your Winter Source for the Best Deals on 2019 Sleds