Why It’s Important to Join Your Local Snowmobile Clubs Regardless of Snow.
It might be early October, or maybe early January with little snow, so you might not be thinking about joining your local snowmobile club. However, club volunteers have been extremely busy. Over summer, bridges have been built, trails have been excavated, and grooming equipment has been repaired.
We’ve all heard someone say, “Why should I pay my club membership this year? There’s no snow.” Unfortunately this frame of thought is only detrimental for when there is snow.
As hinted to in the first paragraph, the clubs are largely responsible for area trail improvements. The funds from club memberships make up a large portion of the income that is then designated to bridge rebuilds, grooming equipment, and trail growth. Without that income, some projects may need to be put on hold or scrapped altogether.
Snowmobile Clubs, especially in southern areas, are forced to assume membership income will remain constant, but unfortunately it is not so simple. On good snow years, member counts often hit record highs. Bad snow years equal low membership income and empty bank accounts that handcuff what clubs are able to do in terms of repairs.
That is why it is extremely important to join your clubs and pay your dues each season regardless of Snow.
Jon Lavoie, Membership Coordinator of the Wilton-Lyndeboro Winter Wanderers Snowmobile Club gave his insight to this topic. “It’s understandable why these trends exist. When it's early season or there’s limited snow, people might not think to join their clubs, but it’s important to do so. Limited income for a bad snow year really ends up affecting the next season when there actually might be a lot more snow. Even if you choose not to register your sleds, it's extremely important to pay your yearly club dues”
Lavoie points out the fact that funding for next summer’s trail improvements is actually happening this winter.
NHSA issues grants in aid to snowmobile clubs all over NH but the grant totals are actually formulated by membership dollars from the past season. Trail improvements that will be seen this winter were paid for last winter.
So remember, even if we do have a poor snow totals this winter, DO join your local clubs anyways to ensure you have a great season when it does snow.
You can join the WLWW online now - Click HERE
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