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April - June 2008

Be sure to submit your email to sledsofstafford@rochester.rr.com to continue receiving newsletters. They will no longer be printed and mailed, but will also be available on the website. Thank you!

The Sleds of Stafford would like to Thank all of the landowners, and our generous sponsors!!

May 18th is the annual Landowner appreciation Chicken BBQ at BW’s. We will need anyone available to help deliver the dinners. Please contact Ken Radley if you can help for a few hours!

We have scheduled this years Vintage Snowmobile and Snow show for September 14th. Also on June 22nd the Sleds of Stafford will be hosting our first annual Golf Tournament. Anyone is welcome to attend these events. Proceeds will also help fund fuel and necessities for our trails next season!

Elections for Club Officers and Board of Directors were held at the meeting on April 2nd. Ken Radley, Jeanne Freeman, Lynn Smith and Gerry Ivison remained unopposed. Newly Elected were Dave Merica as Vice President, and Mat Gartz & Reneé Merica for the Board of Directors.

We will not be holding meetings during the summer months. Our next scheduled meeting is September 3rd at 7:30pm at the Stafford Fire Hall. Enjoy the summer, and we hope to see you then!!

Recently our funded trails were cut to 63 miles. We were assisted by members of the Genesee Sno Packers in performing a GIS survey on the trails, and will be receiving funding for 72 miles. Thank you to Rob Church and Bill Ognibene for your time and help!

The Pink Ribbon Riders held their 4th Annual breast cancer awareness ride on March 1 at the Ole Barn in Inlet, NY. Over 300 snowmobiles rode to raise over $56,000! Members from the Sleds of Stafford attended the ride – Rich Furstoss, Mark Harper, Doug & Lynn Smith, and Dave & Reneé Merica. www.pinkribbonriders.com

BW’s Banquet room has been renovated and completely finished with improved acoustics. The large banquet room is also capable of being separated into 3 smaller rooms to host events of any size, or as few as 30! Call Dave or Larry for Details 585-584-8450

Tickets are out for the Sleds of Stafford Cash Raffle. Only 2000 tickets will be sold, and there are 10 chances to win. The top prize is $3000! Check the website for details. We welcome all members to take tickets to sell them. Contact Dave 734-3361 for tickets and posters.

I would like to thank all of our 120 landowners that make our trails possible. Without our landowners we would NOT have any trails to ride.
I would also like to thank everyone who helped out with our club this year whether it is for being an officer, a member, stake pounders, trail markers, groomer operators, or our sponsors, etc.
On April 20th we had our worker appreciation luncheon at BW’s. We had a fine lunch, and we gave out some awards to our workers. I gave out 5 awards to;
Under 5 years member of the year to Bill Wagner of LeRoy
Over 5 years member of the year to Jeanne Freeman of Byron
Special Recognition award to Dave Penders of Pavilion
Groomer operator award to Dale Davis of Pavilion
THE OOPS award to Zack Merica of Byron
(Photos below)
I also gave out 5 door prizes: Merlyn Pocock for riding 6800 miles this past season, also to Mat Gartz, Chris Jeffres, Tim Freeman, and Mark DeFelice for their extra efforts on our trails.
I have to say thanks to our TRAIL BOSSES and their crews for all of their HARD WORK. Doug Smith on the Byron trails, Ron Brown on the DEC trail, Mark DeFelice on the Genesee County Park trail, Chris Jeffres from Shepard Rd to Route 63, Larry Brown from Route 63 to the DEC trail and from 63 to BW’s, Tim Freeman from BW’s to the Cloverleaf, Dave Merica, Bill Wagner, and myself on the Stafford to LeRoy trails, & Scott McKenzie and Brad Crocker for the West Bergen Rd to Route 19.
We had a SAFE Riding season with NO reported accidents this year, but not much snow .We had a bad water hole south of Route 5, due to a plugged culvert pipe. We found this out on a Sunday, and by Monday at 1:00 pm it was fixed by a neighboring landowner - A D CALL & Sons of Stafford. We had complaints about this, but I would like to say that’s what happens when you ride your snowmobile in spring conditions.
Next year I’ll have a snow making machine on order, it should be here in January or February!!!
THANKS AGAIN to all and have a Happy Summer - Ken Radley

NYSSA District Directors Report – Gerry Ivison
NYSSA Forum and Meeting – April 11-13, 2008

Over 700 snowmobilers from across the state attended this session at the Niagara Falls Conference Center. Dave and Reneé Merica, Ken Radley, Bill and Jeanne Freeman and Gerry Ivison represented the Sleds of Stafford. Ginny Ivison represented the Genesee County Snowmobile Association.

Friday afternoon’s schedule included a grooming seminar and a trail signing seminar. Saturday morning and afternoon were busy with seminars on Tourism, Insurance, Club Memberships, Automated Work Logs, Volunteerism, Signing, Roberts’ Rules of Order, Media and PR, Club Fund Raising, Grooming Guidelines, NYSSA Budget, 501c3, GPS and Parks Presentation. Saturday night was the Awards Banquet which included Senator, George Maziarz as the featured speaker as well as comments from the State Commission of Motor Vehicles, David J. Swarts. All the drawings for the NYSSA ticket raffle were announced. One of the sleds was won by a couple in Hilton and the ticket sold from that club. Sunday was the Annual Meeting with committee reports, budget approval and election of officers. Incumbent president, Bob Perry, was not re-elected. Michael Fischer from Chittenango was elected after being nominated from the floor.

Steve Lewis, Director of the snowmobile unit from OPHRP, disclosed during the Parks Presentations that 1 million dollars was swept from the trail fund. NYSSA’s lobbyist, The Capitol Group, was preparing a plan for contacting the Office of Budget, The Governor and State Legislators. Club presidents and County Associations have sent letters to State Senators and many of our Assembly people are circulating petitions against this “sweep” of our funds.
Gerry Ivison
Genesee County District Director to NYSSA

2008 Worker Appreciation Luncheon
4/20/08

We had a great turnout this year from the volunteers that help make everything happen for the club. Ken reminded us that every single thing that volunteers do for the club, helps greatly in the overall workload. Thank you to Dave Penders, Dale Davis and Larry Brown of BW’s for serving us a great lunch that included Salad, Lasagna and Fresh strawberry shortcake for dessert!

Special Appreciation - Dave Penders	Member of the Year under 5 Years - Bill Wagner	Member of the Year over 5 Years - Jeanne Freeman
The Oops Award - Zack Merica	Groomer Operator of the Year - Dale Davis	Special Thanks to Batavia Legal Printing Received by Kelly Maher

Thanks to ALL of the followings volunteers: Dave Stephens, Ron Brown, Al Secash, Doug & Lynn Smith, Mat Gartz, Jake Pocock, Merlyn Pocock, Dale Davis, Larry Brown, Dave Penders, Rich Furstoss, Mike Bradley, Jason Jedrewski, Gerry & Ginny Ivison, Bill Wagner, Jeff Thompson, Brian Thompson, John Brewster, Dave & Reneé Merica, Zack Merica, Mark DeFelice, Bill & Jeanne Freeman, Don Lewis, Steve Beach, Todd Sloat, Rick Bezon, Joe Malovich, Scott McKenzie, Ron Richenberg, Craig Holly, Jack Ellsworth, Sue Duyssen, Jack Redick, Dan Penders, Martin Dilcher, Jake Ludwick, Tim Freeman, Ron Radley, Chris Jeffres, John Tillotson, Steve Kling, Todd Sloat, Chris Starowitz, Rick Moore, Lorie Yasses and Ken Radley!

Genesee Co. Step Signage Program Review
3/21/2008

Genesee Co. hosted a trail signage training session that was led by Dave Perkins and well attended. Eight people were certified as Step Safe Trails Advisors.

Genesee Sno-packers and Sleds of Stafford updated their Groomer Operator Guidelines and conducted groomer operator training sessions

Reasons for conducting our own County program
• No one likes someone from outside the area telling us how things should be done. We know our own people and how to motivate them.
• Difficult scheduling in the past – when there is snow, Club reps. and inspectors would like to ride, groom, etc. Landowners do not want ATV’s so impossible to do inspections by wheeled vehicles.

MAY

2007 – 2008 Sponsors

Thank you for your sponsorship this year!

SUBURBAN ENERGY DISCOUNT

A GREAT BENEFIT OF JOINING THE SLEDS OF STAFFORD! As a Sleds of Stafford member or landowner you can receive $20.00 off your bill on three (3) separate deliveries at the Batavia Suburban Energy office and their delivery area only. The discount can be applied towards propane, oil or diesel fuel. Here is how it works:

1. Your payment must be sent to:
Suburban Energy Products
8412 Seven Springs Road
Batavia, NY 14020
2. In the amount enclosed box write in $20.00 less than the amount due and SOS after that.
3. The 2007-2008 landowner and club member list is at Suburban Energy office and it is updated and checked weekly.
4. Discounts will be honored beginning November 1, 2007
5. Any questions call 585-343-5522.

New trail maps are available for $5.00. Pick one up at one of the following places:
BW's Restaurant
Byron Hotel and Trailhouse
Rays Snowmobile
Spirit's
Saucey Sisters
Nu Look Collision in Bergen
Sloats Tire Shop
G's Gas & Grocery
7S Cycle Supply

Communication Safety System (CSS)

The C.S.S., short for Communication Safety System, is a streamlined housing of high-intensity LED lights. This light system warns oncoming trail traffic of the riders in your group, eliminating the need to use the unsafe, outdated hand signal system. The group leader and his/her followers all display yellow, while the last rider displays green. Yellow indicates caution, riders approaching while green indicates the last rider of that group. This system also has a hazard mode which is indicated by a flashing yellow. The hazard mode alerts oncoming riders of trail hazards.
Key benefits
Keeps hands where they belong – on the handlebars
Keeps immediate access to the brakes
Gives rider total control over rough terrain and ice
Powered by the off-road vehicle
Impact resistant
Weatherproof
Trail grooming operators greatly appreciate the warning
Possible insurance discounts
Affordable
Easy system to use and understand
100,000 hour rated LED’s
One year warranty on light assembly
Can be used as hand-held hazard light
Quick, Easy Install
Quick Disconnect Feature
Help Preserve the SportFor more information visit their website at http://www.communicationsafetysystem.com.