b'VAST NewsFROM THE GROOMER SEATR.I.P. BOBBERBy Bill DavisSometimes you hold on to things longer than you should. Our club has an old drag affectionately called The Bobber. It was cut down a little from a longer drag decades ago. Due to age, abuse, cracking and quick rewelding, it had developed a sway back. It has come back broken way too often. It was quickly becoming a retirement vehicle for Jeremy, our local welder. The Bobber was the first drag I learned to groom with. It was a little shorter and lighter and easy to pull around. The problem is, other than cracking welds, it became difficult to get a flat surface with it. You had to pay attention and keep lowering it as it tended to ride up on you like a terrible pair of underwear. We dont call it the Bobber for nothing. After time, I got used to it and was able to do a reasonable job with it. Roger and Nolan, the more intelligent parts of the groomer team, both knew I was particularly fond of the Bobber and the clowns even put a sign on it: Bills Bobber.Last summer, the club was given another drag. Not new by any means,it was to do a good job with the newtoo. Only the hemlocks know for sure!but it is a little longer and a littledrag. It was straight and level and theDriving a groomer gives you time to heavier. I wont lie, I was nervouspan in better shape. I did have somethink. I mean, like a lot of time. The about it. Well, Roger and Nolan knewproblems. Misjudging the length, Iworld goes by at an incredibly slow my reservations and they deliberatelyjackknifed at one point and had topace. Certain trees, stumps, and rocks de-commissioned the Bobber so theredisconnect it in the woods. I futzedare more recognizable than the cousin was no going back. I pulled the longaround for an hour disconnecting andyou see once a year on the 4th of July. drag for the first time yesterday. Uponreconnecting the thing. Some possibleWhile plodding along yesterday, I doing so I realized how much easierbad language spouted from my lipsbegan thinking about how change can be a good thing. There are times when old things need to be retired because they arent feasible to support. There was this bad early 70s movie Soylent Green, starring Charlton Heston, where all the old people, past their prime, were turned into food for the younger people. (Ive started my own list should this come to pass.) The Bobber is like this. Used for generations of groomers and operators. Loved and hated. It was time for it to go. A few parts of it may live on in our new drag. The new drag yet to be named.One last thing. We are over eight feet wide. We groom at any hour. Take it easy on blind corners and hills. Have a safe and fun season.10 | Snowmobile VERMONT'