b'Trails ReportBy Matt Tetreault, VAST Trails Administrator many years ago. We can plan rides inpamphlet that sought Americasembrace the wording in the chorus to the seasons to come, and maybe try toindependence from England. In thisthe new song recently written by Jon replicate some of our favorites frompamphlet, he wrote a section calledBon Jovi: the past -assuming those who madeThe Crisis, in which he wrote theWhen you cant do what you do, you it special are still able to make thefamous saying, These are the timesdo what you can next one just as special. Those ridesthat test mens souls. I believe this where you are almost home after ais very true of the current situationthis aint my prayer, its just a thought I spectacular ride, old farm equipmentin Vermont, New England, thewould sendpeeks out of the snow off the edgeUnited States, North America, andround here we bend but dont break of trail just behind you as the sun isthe entire world. As we all seek ourround here we all understanddipping low, sending beautiful raysindependence from The Virus, may of light across your Ski Doo cowling.we all make the right decisions. MayWhen you cant do what you do, you I had the great opportunity to ride awe all get outside where appropriatedo what you canfew miles this winter, putting aroundand recreate and enjoy the freedoms 600 miles between my backside andwe are fortunate to have. May we all the ground. I was able to ride with some great family and great friends alike. I was also able to ski 7 times with great family and friends as well. I am fortunate. I can sit here and look at photos and reflect, selecting to stay home and do my part so others and I can live to do all of this again next season. On to some official statistics for the season. The VAST grooming fleet traveled just under 80,000 miles for the season. This equates to around 10,000 hours of grooming if you figure an average of 8 mph. Many of these operators are volunteer (approximately 60 percent). You can thank them for approximately 6,000 hours of their time spent away from their families for nothing more than to offer up a nice trail for you to ride. For these efforts VAST will pay out approximately $1,050,500 in grooming expenses. In my next article I can provide a more detailed report and further analysis of all sorts of facts and figures everyone will soon forget. Coming up in the next few months, clubs will be looking for grant-in-aid funding for grooming equipment, trail construction and maintenance and debrushing. There are many signs to remove and much work to be completed so we can do it all again next season. We will continue to work on consolidating our grooming fleet in the coming months, reducing the capital investment in machinery and reducing costs while still providing a quality product for the membership. I will sign off with a couple of quotes that are relevant, tie into my past article, and make me feel good about life right now. In 1776, Thomas Paine authored Common Sense, a political(Nick Benson photo)Late Winter 2020 | 11'