Late Winter 2018 | 39 Club News participated in our club ride to St. Johnsbury this year. What a great ride! We had lots of snow, fairly good weather and made a visit to the Dick Page Chicken BBQ. Another great event we were able to attend, and ride-in to was the Justin Morrill Drift Skippers Second Annual Ride or Drive Spaghetti Supper. We had three different groups from our club ride that day and support them. Thank you for the great meal! Overall, we are very happy with the weather we’ve gotten this season, the success that clubs all over have had and the continuing support from our landowners who make it possible to have hundreds of miles of trails to enjoy! As the season comes to an end, we hope that you cherish the memories you made this season and look forward to many more to come. This can be passed on for generations to come! Jillian Hatch, News Correspondent uppervalleysnowpackers.com Like us on Facebook Andy Moore, Dave Ulman, Christopher Bacon and Art Sinclair flip the birds at the Upper Valley Snow Packers’47th Annual Chicken BBQ. Washington Snow Flyers It’s been a tough mid-February into early March for snow lovers. It is discouraging to see gorgeous snowmobile trails go from white to brown in the heart of winter. March is known for some big snow, so hopefully it happens sooner rather than later. At our last club meeting, we set some tentative dates for upcoming events in 2019. The first event is the vintage rally tentatively set for Jan. 5, 2019. The second event is our club raffle/dinner. That one is tentatively set for Feb. 2, 2019. It is a couple weeks later than the past few years and will probably start around 5:30 to avoid going so late. Trails were in really good condition prior to the latest stretch of warm weather, thanks to the dedication of club volunteers. Hopefully, March provides snow for our volunteers to get back out and get the trails back into shape for a few more weeks of good riding. Happy and safe riding. Jim Wild, Media Manager Like us on Facebook Country Riders Our club certainly has been busy this season. On Jan. 20, we had an amazing turnout at our Annual Poker Run. We had over 100 participants and a great time was had by all. The weather cooperated with us this year and we were able to actually ride to all the stops. A big thank you to our local businesses that helped us out: Kingdom Brewery, Hilliker’s Store, Junction Restaurant, Wayne’s Family Restaurant, Boutin’s Market, Jay Village Inn, North Troy Legion and Memphremagog Press. We could not ORLEANS COUNTY have done it without you all. Our lucky first place winner was Cindy Goodreau. She took home not only the first prize of $500, but she won the 50/50 raffle as well. Our lucky second and third place winners took home $200 and $100 prizes. A generous donation was given to our local food shelf. The bonfire at Tetreault’s on Feb. 10 was also a huge success. People drove in from all directions to enjoy hot dogs, hot soups and many other goodies. Lots of laughs were shared as well as stories of recent rides and trail conditions. Please save the date of April 21 for our annual Spring Fling to be held at The North Troy Legion. There will be lots of raffle prizes, 50/50, snacks and a DJ. Please check our website and Facebook page for details. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our landowners for their continued support of our club. Kathy DiCarlo, Activities Director Like us on Facebook Drift Dusters Snowmobile Club Another year and another thaw. It hasn’t stopped us up here near the Canadian border. We still have high elevation riding into Island Pond, Canaan and Norton areas for those willing to trailer. The news is predicting a decent storm later this week that will put us back to business if it lives up to the hype. This past weekend, we held our Second Annual Northeast Kingdom Poker Run which spanned Derby and Norton areas. Thanks to all those who came out for the great event. During our poker run, we dedicated Trail 105D to the late Dave Berube and Dana Parenteau. Friends and family came to the trail ribbon cutting and shared stories, remembering why that trail was so important to Dave and Dana. Last month, we held our annual Winter Bash with the grand prize being a 2017 Ski-Doo 600. The winner this year was Stephan Isabelle. Thank you to all the local businesses who donated money and prizes.