Winter 2018 | 23 occasional group of riders who come through and tear up the trail just after we groom it.” Jeff went on to say that he appreciates all the groomer operators around the county and state who volunteer to make riding smooth trails possible. Carl Spaulding grew up with a family who enjoyed riding. His parents’ first snowmobile was a 1967 Evinrude 14 horsepower wide track, then a 1968 Ski-Doo Super 370 18 horsepower. Carl’s first sled was a 1970 440 Arctic Cat Puma. His grooming experience started with pulling a wooden drag behind his sled. His first “real” groomer experience was with the Hawks’ Bombi. Carl is in the schedule rotation and he grooms about a 7-hour run weekly, which is done mostly at night so the trail has a chance to set up well. Grooming is a great way to help a club and the overall VAST system. “It is a great feeling being a part of making some really nice trails,” Carl stated. One night while he was out grooming, he began to run out of fuel, as a sticky fuel gage misled him. He went from having fuel to no fuel at all in no time. This was not a good thing! He was fortunate that he was a very short distance from the road. The next day, he went back to the groomer with Barry and got it fired back up again. Carl suggests riders check out some of the interesting terrain on their trails such as the Hawks Mountain and Brown School areas. Carl encourages others to get involved. Start with helping a club with trail work, which is the main preparation for winter grooming. Jason Phelps has been riding on a sled since he was 4 years old with his parents, brother and sister. He officially began volunteering with the club in 2005 and soon after became a “spare operator” in 2008. These days, he does one or two runs a week in the groomer rotation schedule. He finds grooming for 6–7 hours is a great way to relax and unwind after a busy day at work. What does Jason likes best about grooming? “It is great to see the enjoyment people get from all of the volunteers’ hard work.” You never know what is going to happen when you are grooming. His first time grooming, he was a co-pilot for the north route to Brown’s School House and a rear track broke! Location was on their side that night and they were just 100 feet from a road crossing. Follow in Jason’s footsteps and ask to ride along with an operator to see if it is something you’d be interested in. If grooming isn’t your thing, don’t worry, there are many other ways to volunteer with a club. Volunteers are a welcome asset to any club! Dan Hadwen can blame a childhood friend for getting him involved in the sport. Dan was 12 years old and his friend had an old Panther they rode. He said it seemed like they rode a million miles around his friend’s yard and Hartness Park. Dan has been grooming for 20 years now. He was out riding one day and met up with the club’s groomer on the trail. He thought to himself, “I’d like to do that.” He volunteered for a few years and then started his grooming career. “There is nothing like pulling in a trail, cutting off moguls and laying down the carpet. It’s the most fun you can have at 6 to 10 miles per hour.” Dan encourages others to get involved with their clubs doing trail work, signing, debrushing, bridge building and if possible, helping with groomer maintenance and repairs. There are countless ways to volunteer with a club. Working on the groomer gives people a better appreciation for the costs and time associated with the repairs. For the past four years, Dan has also been grooming with the Little Ascutney Snowmobile Club to help the club president and his dear friend, Dennis Allen. Dennis recently passed away after a courageous battle with cancer. Who’s In The Groomer? Barry Messer, Chip Woods (retired), Jason Phelps, Jeff Messer, Dan Hadwen and Carl Spaulding (Patty Companik photo)