8 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT Submitted by Cindy Locke Greetings VAST Membership! Like last year, this summer is hot, but all I am thinking about is the snow and winter ahead. Before I get ahead of myself, let me tell you about some things that happened this past year at VAST. As some of you are busy volunteering for VAST, working on trails, holding fundraisers and getting landowner permission forms, the staff at VAST is working hard partnering with you to make sure you have the tools you need while running this large and very important organization. Like the winter before this last one, we had some great riding out there, but also a major defrost in early February that put a stop to riding in some regions. While the clubs did what they could with what we got for snow, we had some great riding for sure from Bennington up to Essex County and in between. I rode every single weekend this past winter to visit with clubs, enjoy the trails and attend and support VAST events. I hope you had a chance to take advantage of the areas with snow too. I was also able to get to some club systems I had not ridden before such as Washington, Rutland, Wyndham, Windsor and Bennington Counties. I would like to thank all of you who showed me around and introduced me to your trail network, and a hearty thank you to those maintaining the VAST trail network! So much that we do here at VAST is tried and true and going back 20, 30, 40 and 50 years, so much is the same. The need for hands-on volunteers, volunteers getting older and the need for younger ones to step up, bad snow years and great snow years, focusing more money into trails, stagnant membership numbers and why, are all still very relevant issues. So let me tackle the membership one first. There are a few reasons that we all know about, like the mandatory liability insurance laws in Vermont (2008), the economic down turn (2008), the cost of snowmobiling (machines, gear, gas) which has out-priced some who used to enjoy this sport. While we can always look at the cost to ride in Vermont in registering a sled and buying a TMA, that