The January 2017 Sno-Eagles board meeting was conducted at the World Snowmobile HQ museum conference room.  At the meeting, President Rusty Wolf and the board members heard that Bugs Mathieu and his crew are out selling Ride with Pride raffle tickets.  VP Dave Mroczynski was planning the second Annual Golf Outing.   The February Weekend Away to White Pine is being planned as reported by Marv Radloff.

New Trail Boss Brian Scheid reported that the club sold the Prinoth Husky Groomer to a club in Wausau for $50,000.  The Prinoth had electrical problems.  The Wausau club was aware of the problems.  Our Bombardier, BR 180 was burning a lot of oil again with its new engine.   Big Blue, our New Holland T7 tractor, was running great.  Trails opened on December 12, 2016.   Brian also mentioned the 1989 Tucker the club purchased for $18,000 was to be delivered this week.

President Wolf again questioned why the club is IRS charitable organization code 501c7 and not 501c3.  The 501c3 would make the club a tax-exempt charitable organization.  Fred reported he asked a lawyer and is awaiting a response.

Club member Terry Smith is working on groomer equipment each Monday and is asking for some help.

The Sno-Eagles will work with the Chamber of Commerce to host the 2017 VIP Ride for legislators coming to Eagle River February 25-26.  This is a great opportunity to showcase snowmobiling in Eagle River and our club.

The Ride with Pride drawing was held on February 24.  The Sno-Eagles share of the Ride with Pride fundraiser profits was about $6,200.

At the March Annual Membership meeting, elections were held, and funny awards presented.  Dave Mroczynski was elected Vice President with Fred Rockafellow elected Treasurer, and Ron Engels, Carole Linn, and Brian Scheid elected directors.

The “Big Dumper” award was given to past president Ken Storms in 2016 for having a small accident and given to President Rusty Wolf in 2017 for running out of gas on the trail.

The club sent a proposal to the Vilas County Fair committee to sell food at the County Fair.

New member Matt Van Skyhawk, a graphic artist, offered to create the trail map cover.  Matt has continued to create trail map covers for the club.

Member Chris Kloiber and his committee are working on an update to the club website.

The snowmobile trails closed on March 7 due to warm weather.

At the May 23 Board of Directors meeting it was announced by Brian Scheid that our club was awarded the Food Booth at the Vilas County Fair in August.  We need volunteers and we are working with Buckshot’s Saloon on the food order.

President Rusty Wolf worked with the Eagle River Fire Department to create a fundraiser for the Fire Department.  The Fire Department is building a new station in the Town of Washington and the Sno-Eagles are selling Fire & Ice raffle tickets to support the fire department. The club may realize some profits for the effort.

The September membership meeting was full of information for the club members.  The meeting was held at Sweetwater Resort.  The Ride with Pride raffle fundraiser kicked off September 1, with the Grand Prize being a 2018 Ski-Doo 600 or an ATV.  The Fire & Ice raffle fundraiser still has the rest of the month to sell tickets.

The food booth at the August Vilas County Fair had 44 members working the long weekend. The event raised about $6,000 for the club.

Sno-Eagle volunteers working the Vilas County Fair food booth

 

Scott Linn announced the dates for this year’s Snowmobile Safety Course, October 21-22.

Snowmobile Safety Class at Trees For Tomorrow in October of 2017

 

The club thanked Terry Smith, Jim Joritz, Ron Engels, Bugs Mathieu and President Wolf for working in the groomer shed this summer putting up insulated walls and painting.

By October, the club raised $4,500 for the Fire & Ice raffle ticket fundraiser and gave a check to the Eagle River Fire Department.  The club netted $1,000 profit after presenting the donation to the fire department.

The Golf Outing was canceled due to rain. VP Dave Mroczynski resigned due to work commitments.  The Board will recruit a replacement.

In November, our Trail Boss Brian created and installed “Welcome, You Are Here” trail map signs for our trail system.

Trail Boss Brian Scheid

 

The club crowned Miss Sno-Eagle for 2017-2018, Cara Swendson, a Northland Pines Senior.

Miss Sno-Eagle Cara Swendson

 

Sno-Eagles Trail Map cover designed by
graphic artist and club member Matt VanSkyhawk

 

Carole Linn and Treasurer Fred have initiated electronic payments on our website for membership, donations, and Sno-Eagles gear.

The club will have the Christmas Party at Catch 22, hosted by President Rusty and his wife Cheryl.

President Wolf has contacted the Marine recruiter in Wausau, and we will be collecting toys at the Christmas Party for the Marine Toys for Tots campaign.

Toys for Tots donation

 

The Sno-Eagles board has approved the purchase of an amphibious ARGO all-terrain vehicle to break the ice and prepare trails in the early winter.

 

The Weekend Away was changed to the Weekday Away and is being hosted by Marv and Carol Radloff.  The trip will be to White Pine, MI on February 1-2, 2018.

The passing of George Hallis, past president of Sno-Eagles 1988-1992, as well as treasurer for the Vilas County Snowmobile Alliance was announced in November.

In December, President Wolf nominated Chuck Bodie to fill the VP position for the balance of Dave’s term.  The Board approved this selection.

Trail Boss Brian reported the Tucker and the New Holland tractor are ready to go but the BR-180 has a broken fuel pump.

Steve Linn and his committee have done a great job with the Trail Maps and the map boxes are all out in the community.