30 | Snowmobile Vermont	
	
	
	
	
	
         
Club News
is the only member who has been 
with us since the very beginning — 
present and committed every single 
year. His unwavering dedication 
has helped build, maintain and 
preserve our trails through decades 
of changing seasons and challenges. 
His outstanding contributions were 
recognized long ago with the VAST 
Appreciation Award for outstanding 
trail contributions that he received 
over 40 years ago, along with other 
awards since then, but his quiet, steady 
presence has been the true foundation 
that so many of us ride on today.
Thank you for 55 years of passion, 
hard work and loyalty. You are the 
living history of our club, Ronnie, and 
we are incredibly grateful to have you!
Yvonne Rice, President 
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Hawk’s Mountain Ridge Riders
Unfortunately, we lost Barry Messer 
last fall following a long illness. 
Barry first became interested in 
snowmobiling in 1971 when he started 
seeing Debbie Woods (who later 
became his wife), and her whole family 
was big into snowmobiles. He worked 
a lot with Dave Bibens and his father-
in-law Chip Woods designing and 
building snowmobile bridges, became 
a groomer operator and vice president 
of our club and was involved in almost 
every project that we had. He became 
the Windsor county trail coordinator, 
which was a perfect fit for him because 
he had a very calm and collective 
Ronnie Rice works on the Hartland Hill 
Hoppers’ groomer. 
First off, we want to extend our thanks 
to the landowners who allow us to 
have a portion of VAST’s trail on their 
property. They are very generous and 
we appreciate their permission.
It takes many people to make us 
successful and we appreciate all 
of them. Our groomer operators, 
who spend countless hours not 
only grooming but maintaining our 
equipment; our volunteers who work 
fundraisers, do trail work and attend 
meetings; sponsors who support us; 
and lastly but not least, our members.
Our dedicated board members, 
many of whom are VAST safety 
ambassadors, attended our 
neighboring clubs events where they 
are happy to support other clubs. 
Chester Snowmobile Club President 
Stan Choiniere was just elected to 
the position of county director and 
Chester’s vice president, Lee Whiting, 
holds the position of county vice 
president. 
Joan Choiniere, Secretary
chestersnowmobileclub.com 
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Hartland Hill Hoppers 
On Feb. 7, 1971 thirty-five interested 
families attended the first snowmobile 
meeting in Hart-land 4 Corners with 
Bill Sumners of Woodstock, Windsor 
county agent, present, called by Mr. 
and Mrs. Warren Tessier to help 
Hartland form a snowmobile club. 
And so it all began, with history in the 
making. Boy, those were the days! 
Just six weeks later, on March 21, 
1971, the club’s first Family Day event 
drew 150 snowmobilers, with 50 
snowmobiles and a total of 150 folks 
in attendance. And now, 55 years later, 
we’re still out there enjoying the trails! 
This milestone also celebrates an 
incredible 55 years of continuous 
involvement by Ronnie Rice, 
groomer operator and trailmaster 
with the club. The club wants to say 
a heartfelt thank you for his many 
years of dedication to the club! He 
The late Barry Messer with his VAST Trail 
Coordinator of the Year award.
manner that was helpful with problem 
solving. He worked tirelessly securing 
a grant from the USDA to purchase 
a new groomer. He received many 
awards from VAST including a 
trailblazer’s award, founders award 
and County Trail Coordinator of 
the Year award. He also attended 
numerous county and state meetings. 
His riding included trips to Canada 
and the Northeast Kingdom as well as 
riding to a grooming rodeo. He also 
helped to pass the sport on to many 
of the younger generation and was 
involved in numerous other activities. 
We have people in the club to step up 
and take over his responsibilities, but 
there are still many gaps to be filled. 
Barry pretty much liked everyone; 
numerous people have made heartfelt 
comments, and he is missed by many. 
Our riding started late this year, but 
we are grateful for the snow we have 
now. As always, thank you to all of the 
generous landowners who make all of 
this possible. 
Steve Kruse, Secretary
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Little Ascutney Snowmobile Club 
Another short season this year has 
come to a close, but some decent snow 
was had when we COULD ride. This 
is where you look for a hero to make 
the most of what Mother Nature has 

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