b'TRAILS REPORTBy Matt Tetreault, VAST Trails AdministratorIt has been a slow start to the season,and was promptly awarded a huge but we are getting there. Patience issettlement. our ally right now with some positiveCommon Sense was preceded in forward thinking that Februarydeath by his parents, Truth and Trust, and March will be very kind to ushis wife, Discretion, his daughter, snow lovers. Some additional snowResponsibility and his son, Reason. accumulations coupled with theHe is survived by three stepbrothers; right temperature will help us outI Know My Rights, Someone Else significantly. A basic understandingis to Blame, and Im A Victim. Not of earth science appears to bemany attended his funeral because, missing. Where does 8 of powderso few realized that he was gone.atop bare ground and ice equate to grooming and riding like it is mid- He will be sorely missed by many!winter? This is a recipe for disaster! The intent of this was not to upset With this in mind, I want to shareCommon Sense lived by simple,anyone, but to broach the idea of some sad news with everyone.sound financial policies (donttolerance in all aspects of life. We Following is the obituary of a life- spend more than you earn) andare all entitled to our opinion, no long companion whom many ofreliable parenting (adults, notone owes us anything, and we are us miss every now and then. Youchildren, are in charge). His healthresponsible for our own path in have probably seen this obituarybegan to deteriorate rapidly whenlife. You can like snowmobiling or published on numerous websiteswell-intentioned, but overbearing,dislike snowmobiling; you can have and other places. Since no author isregulations were set in place, andthe opinion that the groomer should noted (I suspect possibly a Britishlegal firms and insurance companiesbe out on 8 of powdery snow or author based on the use of the wordspent more than a billion dollarsbe upset that it was out on 12 of plaster in place of Band-Aid and(each) in television advertising (somepowdery snow. Either way, there are the spelling of realise which Iof the ads are pretty funny though). reasons the groomer was out and/have changed to realize), I amCommon Sense lost ground whenor why it wasnt. Common sense simply going to share it with theparents attacked teachers for doingmight be the main reason. Until we snowmobile community in lightthe job they had themselves failedunderstand a situation fully, we of what I have heard and seen onto do in disciplining their unrulyshould probably not react. our trails so far this winter. I havechildren. It declined even furtherMany of us feel that we have paid added some of my own rhetoric andwhen schools were required to$130 to ride and that is that. The thoughts in a few places. May allget parental consent to administer$130 is merely a fraction of the cost who read take something from it andparacetamol (aspirin), sun lotion, orof building the trail and only part of apply it to their life in a positive way!plaster [band-aids] to a student butthe cost of the signs and purchasing could not inform the parents when athe groomer, the drag and the fuel OBITUARY:student became pregnant. to run it. This fee does not come Common Sense lost the will to liveclose to paying an operator to run THE SAD PASSING OF as the Ten Commandments becamethe machine. That cost would be COMMON SENSE contraband, churches becameexorbitant: the cost of an operator Today we mourn the passing of abusinesses and criminals receivedto spend countless hours away from beloved old friend, Common Sense,better treatment and had more rightsfriends and family, work, loved who has been with some, but notthan their victims. In history classones, ill family members who need all, for many years. No one knowsBC was changed to Before Commonhelp and climbing in and out of for sure how old he was, since hisEra and citizens took offense atthe machine to cut brush, repair birth records were long ago lost inthe recognition of Christophersigns, open gates, work on a broken bureaucratic red tape. Columbus. Common Sense took amachine in the middle of the woods beating when you couldnt defendto get it back out and working He will be remembered as havingyourself from a burglar in your ownonce again, volunteering their own cultivated such valuable lessons ashome, but the burglar could sue youtools, equipment, gas, money and knowing when there is enough snowfor assault because you protectedwear and tear on their minds, body, to ride a snowmobile safely, when toyourself and your own. relationships and lives! All of this proceed with caution, or other thingsso a rider who paid $130 can call up like when to come in out of the rain,Common Sense finally gave up theand complain that a trail was rough why the early bird gets the worm,will to live after a woman failed toor was ungroomed with nothing but that life isnt always fair, and thatrealize that a steaming cup of coffeepowdery snow on it!maybe it was my fault.was hot. She spilled a little in her lapRIP Common Sense!Winter 2020 | 11'