Summer 2018 | 17 It is with deep regret that the Drift Dusters Snowmobile Club announces the death of founding member Carl Hackett. Carl was part of the integral group of volunteers who not only laid the foundation for the club, but established the country’s first international trail into Canada. He will certainly be missed and we were lucky to have guys like him around to establish many trails that we have today. In the late 60s, the local Derby businessman and dedicated volunteer purchased a 1960s Ski- Doo Alpine and took it upon himself to build a homemade drag which he used to groom a 4-foot- wide trail from Derby to Holland, and turning around in what is now the State of Vermont Bill Sladyk Wildlife Refuge. “It would take us all day to get to the Ben Cole clearing,” Carl said during a recent interview, “We would turn around and head back home and get ready to go back out with ladies the next day. We wanted to make sure the trails were smooth for them, or they wouldn’t go out again.” The following day, the group would ride out to the Ben Cole clearing, have lunch and then return before dark. This was a 30 mile loop that nowadays takes less than an hour. The Ben Cole clearing still exists to this day, less than a mile from where we meet the Northeast Kingdom Snow Blasters in Norton. The use of an Alpine as a groomer eventually became impractical and the group decided they needed to try something else. Carl, along with Cecil Wright, a club volunteer, located a late seventies Bombardier Ski-Dozer 252 that was being sold by Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire. Carl and Cecil traveled to New Hampshire to pick up the 6,000-pound machine. They were able to acquire a used drag from Three Villages Snowmobile Club in Stanstead, Quebec, and they retrofitted it to work for the trails. “It had a gasoline engine and operated with two sticks and I couldn’t ever steer that sucker,” Carl said. “I had to add hydraulic cylinders to the drag to help maneuver it. It’s no wonder that Cannon Mountain sold it to us for so cheap.” The poor maneuverability of the Ski-Dozer never stopped the dedicated group from grooming the trails throughout the evening to maintain the trails for everyone to enjoy. In the early eighties, the club traded the Ski-Dozer for a newer Bombardier Ski-Dozer 302 Diesel groomer. “The newer groomer made the long trips to Burke tolerable,” Carl joked. Carl’s legacy will continue to live on as the snowmobile club he helped start continues to provide access to many of the Northeast Kingdom’s greatest scenery. He will truly be missed. Remembering CARL HACKETT By Roger Gosselin In Memory Carl’s grandchildren, Dan and Andrea Van Woert, pose with the club’s Tucker in the early 1980s.