14 | Snowmobile VERMONT Wednesday, June 13 The International Association of Snowmobile Administrators (IASA) began the congress on Wednesday with a day of meetings. Friends of Snowmobiling Political Action Committee (FOSPAC) held a pub crawl as a fundraiser. They also raffled off four large gear bags donated by the manufacturers. FOSPAC gives grants to states to attend political fundraising events for snowmobile friendly federal candidates. In the evening SANS (Snowmobile Association of Nova Scotia) hosted a welcome reception. Thursday, June 14 The 2017 congress officially opened at breakfast with opening ceremonies. The deputy mayor of Halifax welcomed all to Halifax. Chapter meetings: After breakfast, the chapter meeting began. The Northeast Chapter meeting began with the reports from the member organization. This was followed by scholarship and bylaw committee reports. NEC Scholarship program: Roger Wright reported that moving the submission date to March 15 improved the application process. The winners of this year’s scholarship were: Sander Gamache of New Hampshire, Cameron Burkhardt of Rhode Island and Jason Cambridge also of Rhode Island. Nominations were opened for the officer’s positions. All current sitting officers were nominated and accepted those nominations. Elections will be held at the chapter meeting on Friday. After the chapter meeting, the U.S. states of the NEC met to discuss the ACSA issue and the action that occurred in Washington at the DC Fly-in. The members agreed that the Winnipeg agreement submitted last year was our current position. Roseanne from N.Y. will bring it forward at the ACSA meeting. The president of ACSA also promised that this item would be on the agenda at an impromptu meeting held after breakfast. Off site: Pier 21, Canada’s equivalent of Ellis Island, was located directly behind the conference center. We wandered over to enjoy a social hour at the museum after which we were piped (bagpipes) into the dining hall for a lobster dinner with all the fixings. After dinner, entertainment was provided by SANS which included a Celtic dance group of youngsters; local singer/songwriter Jon Cyr; and the Celtic rock band, The Donny Brooks. A good time was enjoyed by all. A reception followed at the hotel where Jon Cyr visited and ended up bringing in his equipment and playing for a couple of hours. Friday, June 15 Breakfast began at 7:30 a.m. with a presentation from the Michigan Snowmobile Association (MSA) who will be hosting the 2019 Congress in Grand Rapids Michigan. The president of the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association (ISMA), Ed Klim, gave his annual report on the health of the snowmobile industry. Worldwide sales were up 3-5 percent. 1.2 million snowmobiles were registered in the U.S. Canada had 600,000 snowmobiles registered. His complete presentation is available on the ISMA website. He introduced the new snowmobile safety information, available on their website at www.snowmobile.org. Vendor Presentations: Many vendors were set up. They covered businesses from groomer manufacturers to the Nova Scotia Blueberry Growers, Woody’s, VOSS, The Shop, Mountain Grooming Equipment, Tucker, Prinoth and Piston Bully were only a few vendors present. They were available to meet with delegates and had information available. Breakout Sessions: Throughout congress, several breakout sessions were held for attendees. They were: “Our Youth, the Future of Snowmobiling,” “Survival Tips for OHV Riders,” “Safe Snowmobiling in Norway’” ”Off-Trail Riding – Present and Future” and “Repeatable Traction Performance – New Technology for Safer Riding All Season.“ The VAST contingent attended several of the presentations. We were very interested in the Off-Trail Riding presentation, presented by BRP representatives. They described the same issues that we are seeing here in Vermont. It has become an issue for all areas. The bottom line of the presentation was to find a way to work with these riders and include areas for off-trail riding in our systems. In a few states and provinces, it may be possible but in others, like Vermont, it will be difficult at best. Chapter meetings: Once again, the NEC met to conclude their business. Election of officers was held. No further nominations were made, so all officers were re-elected as follows: chair, Gary Broderick; co-chair, Roger Wright; secretary/treasurer, Marie Hixson. There was discussion By Pat Poulin