Newsletter
North Country ATV Association, Inc. 
April 2012 Newsletter
NCAA Meeting Location and Date Change
Our monthly meeting location and date has changed for those who do not regularly attend the meetings. We are now meeting at the Superior Technical Ceramics building on the third Wednesday of each month. STC is located in the St. Albans Industrial Park off Route 7 on the south side of St. Albans.
Our next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 18th at 6:30pm.
NCAA Annual Meeting
On March 21st we held our annual club meeting. We had a nice attendance and lots of food to share. We voted Randy Nichols back in to the Treasurer position and Rusty Getty back in to the Vice President position.
Steve Carlin made an announcement that next years annual meeting will have a major change as Claire Willette is not running for the Secretary position and Steve will probably not run for the President position. So members you have been warned well in advance that we will need people to step up and lead the NCAA!!
Trail Updates
We will post updates on the website and Facebook as the trails are opened.
1. Currently the Town of Bakersfield roads are open as the ordinance states from April 1-December 1st ATV’s are allowed on the roads from 6am to 10pm. Please note that we do not have “trail” on every road in town. We have tried to use certain roads to get from one place to the other not run ramped all over the town.
We have heard from a lot of people that the townspeople are not happy with the ATV’s on the town roads and Rusty Getty just visited the selectboard to discuss what we can do to help. They have put us on an ordinance year trial, meaning that we need to prove ourselves this year or we risk the roads being shut down for next year!!
PLEASE, when riding town roads, slow down, ride single file, wear your helmet, turn on your lights and follow the rules. Stay on the road unless you have written landowner permission to be on private property! Don’t go tearing up someone else’s land as I am sure you would not want them tearing up yours!
2. Montgomery-we are still waiting to meet with the landowner in regards to this property as it changed hands at the end of 2011. Right now this property is not open as we have not been up to look at trails, see what is down across the trail, etc. We will be meeting with the new landowners in a couple of weeks so stay tuned.
3. Enosburg-we will be visiting this trail system soon to clear any trees, sign trail, etc. Currently this trail is closed until inspection.
4. Fairfield-Rusty Getty recently met with the town selectboard to apologize about not making the town meeting in March and to thank them for tabling the discussion and not shutting us out completely. It looks like we will need to re-petition the town’s people to get the item on the agenda for the 2013 town meeting if we want to pursue.
Trail Patrol
If anyone is interested in signing up for trail patrol for this riding season contact Mike Tedford at 524-7418. You must be willing to do actual patrols not just sign up and not participate! Thanks!
Parade Update
Parade season is quickly approaching and participant response seems to be strong so far. We will be participating in the following parades: Maple Festival in St. Albans, Georgia Memorial Day, Essex Memorial Day and Milton Forth of July. The maximum number of machines allowed for the Maple Festival parade has been met. The other three parades have no maximum number of machines, if you would like to participate call or email Greg Cadieux. His contact information is at the end of the newsletter. Thanks!
From the Vice President
I hope everyone had a great winter and you are looking forward to the new riding season.
If anyone knows of any land or trails that we may be able to get this is the time to come forward, we will take care of getting in touch with the land owner or whom ever. As you have read about Bakersfield's roads, please take this very serious, this is our last chance to keep the roads open in that town. I know that it’s not our members making the problems but we are tasked with trying to clean up the rests act, not going to be easy at all and the worst part is the illegal’s will still ride even if Bakersfield closes the roads. Be safe and have fun, T and I will see you on the trails (roads).
-Rusty Getty, VP
From the President
As you have read briefly on page one, there may be big changes in store for the NCAA in the coming year. With Claire undecided as to whether or not she wants to seek re-election once again, it has left me up in the air as well. If and when Claire is no longer the NCAA’s secretary, my commitment to her is complete. Years ago when I said I would step up to lead the NCAA I told Claire I would be involved until either she left her position or I was voted out.
Several times over the years I have been faced with the option to not say yes when I was nominated to continue as your president. I have always followed through with my word to Claire and commitment to the club. With the past year taking my life through a nasty, costly and long drawn out divorce, I now feel the time may be right for me to move on. Although I have been active behind the scenes I did not ride one mile last season, which took a lot of wind out of my sails.
At last month’s meeting we voted to create a new Executive Board position for the immediate past President, which means if I do not seek re-election and another individual takes over as your President, I will be occupying that seat. What this is intended to do is keep at least one experienced Executive Board member still on the Board in the event of a full Board change. In this position a past president will be able to act as an advisor to the Board with equal voting power as the rest of the members.
So please give this some thought. The NCAA might be having some big changes within a year. The time to get involved is now, to see what’s going on with your club. It would be great to see some new faces and have folks interested in the future of the NCAA. There is still a lot to be done in several different areas.
On another note, we are on the verge of another riding season and the buzz is that there will be more ATV activity in Vermont as far as what clubs have planned. With the weather cooperating, many clubs are hard at work getting their trails ready for the year. If you haven’t travelled to other club’s trails yet, you’re missing out on some great riding. I know with the rising cost of gas, seemingly daily, many people will cut down on riding. There is always a way to save money if you want to go on a club ride, or even a ride with friends to another trails system. Many people don’t mind sharing a spot on a trailer and giving you a lift for a share of the gas money.
Wherever you ride this year, if you come across illegal riders, help us spread the word about riding legally. If you’ve enjoyed legal riding, let them know. If you have participated in club functions and had a good time, let them know that also. Law enforcement will be stepped up in many areas this year throughout the state and the illegal riders will become the minority. Many areas of the state legal riders have made huge steps forward and are being accepted in their communities.
So, get involved and get out there and ride. Enjoy the season and ride safe.
Newsletter Schedule Changes for 2012
For those of you who may be new we will be making some newsletter schedule changes this year. We are looking to only mail out two or three editions but will email and post on the website four to five editions. Please check our website frequently for rides and information about what is going on in 2012. If you have any feedback on this, please feel free to contact Claire Willette at: secretary@ncaa-inc.com .
NCAA Website and Facebook
Please visit our website www.ncaa-inc.com for updates on rides, general information, etc.
You can also friend us on Facebook. Search North Country ATV Association and you will find us.
We have many ways to keep you informed.
North Stratford, NH Ride
June 23-26th a group of us will be heading over to the Grand Ole Lodge in North Stratford, NH to ride their trails, visit the Errol trails and hopefully go to the Jericho ATV Park trails. We have been assured that there is no need for a NH registration to ride. As long as your machine is registered in NH or VT you will be fine. I hope to get a definite answer about this by the first part of May.
We decided to change our Maine destination to NH as the price of gas at the time was steadily rising.
If you want to join us for the day, weekend or the 4 day stay let me know and I will add you to my list. Other than that if you know you are going, you can call Cathy at the Lodge at 603-922-3838 and make your reservation.
We always have a good time visiting Ted and Cathy at the lodge. Very inviting, family friendly and relaxing!
-Claire Willette
Calendar of Events
April 18, 2012-NCAA monthly meeting at Superior Technical Ceramics in St. Albans, 6:30pm.
April 29, 2012-Maple Festival parade in St. Albans, 1:00pm.
May 12, 2012-Mothers Day ride leaving Bakersfield at about 10am.
May 14, 2012-VASA monthly meeting, 6:00pm at the VASA office in South Barre.
May 16, 2012-NCAA monthly meeting, 6:30pm at Superior Technical Ceramics in St. Albans.
May 19, 2012-Georgia Memorial Day parade, 10:00am
May 26, 2012-Essex Memorial Day parade, 10:00am
Contact Information
Executive Board:
Steve Carlin, President-363-9523 (cell) or email to: themadcatter1@gmail.com
Rusty Getty, Vice President-309-8419 (cell) or email to: outlander800@comcast.net
Claire Willette, Secretary-849-6729 or email to: secretary@ncaa-inc.com
Randy Nichols, Treasurer-782-8080 or email to: 1mrwinter@comcast.net
Directors:
Marty Koldyk, Ride Director-238-2782 or email to: unca.marty@yahoo.com
Greg Cadieux, Parade Director-309-0780 (cell) or email to: g_cadieux@hotmail.com
Brian Willette, Trail Director-849-6729 or email to: briclair@hughes.net
Mike Tedford, Trail Patrol Director-524-7418 or email to: m44jmt@myfairpoint.net
Crystal Woods, Public Relations Director-393-5815 (cell)
Lisa Bourgeois, Events Director-868-2231 or email to:
Matt Laroche, Director at Large-370-0812 (cell)
Ron Lawyer, Director at Large-868-4121 or email to: lawyerr1@hotmail.com
Steve Leedy, Director at Large-827-6680 or email to: vtatver@comcast.net
North Country ATV Association, Inc.
968 Ellsworth Road
Fairfax, Vermont 05454
802-849-6729