b'Annual Meetingclinics for the operators and held training runs for grooming with the newer operators so they could learn the ins and outs of the trail system.He is usually the guy doing or overseeing maintenance and repair duties, which includes getting parts ordered. As many of you know, this is a never-ending task.The nomination reads, He has shown great leadership and initiative getting our clubs grooming operation on solid footing, accomplishing all that is associated with the program with competence and a smile.Eric Baruzzi from the Mad River 2020 Best Groomed Trails riders along the trails, the 2020 BestRidge Runners of Washington Groomed Trails award goes to TheCounty is the 2020 Groomer of the Prior to last season, this club wasEast Montpelier Gully Jumpers ofYear.grooming its trails with one of the oldWashington County.leased PistenBullys from the first year of the 21st Century. After significant effort by the club, they were able to purchase a newer PistenBully from a southern Vermont club and proudly placed it onto their trail system in December of 2019.One of the clubs seasoned groomer operators took it from there, bag of pretzels by his side, spending some 14-hour days in the machine, grooming from one end of Washington County to the other twice per week. The club even took the time to help the neighboring clubs, whose trails they also groom, with trail maintenance2020 Groomer of the Yearprojects that allowed for easier grooming and nicer trails.When a clubs long-time groomer of With a positive attitude and a passion30+ years announces he is ready to for grooming, the club made sure itsretire from grooming responsibilities,2020 Project of the Yeartrails were flawless all season long.the club needs to put things in motionSome projects take years to complete, The base held up through the upsquickly to fill that critical void. Thisand this one was one of them. and downs of early rain and warmclub cares for approximately 76 milesMeetings were held with the State temperatures followed by dips belowof trail network covering 5 towns.of Vermont, landowners, and local freezingsometimes all in the sameFortunately, someone stepped forwardbusinesses. This past spring, all week. and expressed the desire to care for theapprovals were in place and the trailThat trail was OUTSTANDING, aclubs grooming operation. work began.reader told the groomer he happenedThat person has recently retired fromThis trail project was made possible by upon while riding. It truly was a teamthe United States Coast Guard after amany:Bethel Mills, C Small Sugaring, effort as the clubs other operators also24-year career.He is very organizedDunklee Excavating, D&D Excavating, chipped in, happy to be at the controlsand detail-oriented; he developed aRobbins Powersports, Inc, Harpoon of the new machine that brought themseries of check lists for himself and theBrewery, Petes Quality Auto Detailing back home each time they went out. other groomer operators for pre-runand club volunteers.For their tireless efforts groomingand post-run purposes.smooth trails, building positiveHe trained new operators and evenThis particular project took months to relationships with their neighboringsome veteran operators in operatingcomplete:spring, summer and well clubs, and spreading smiles to all thethe groomer. He conducted severalinto the fall, the club worked hard to get this done in time for the upcoming Fall 2020 | 15'