From the President

Let the Season Begin!

Greg Sorenson

The first magazine from the new publisher is now history. I like it! Please feel free to offer feedback. You can email the office, Scott Wakefield, or me with your thoughts. Chuck Gekas, Advertising Sales Manager from MWO Media spent the day with us at Hay Days. He was very impressed and learned a lot about the snowmobile world. If his energy and ideas are any indication of things to come, our new publication is sure to be a success.

Some of the fall shows are complete. I attended the Outlaw Grass Drags and Hay Days. Hay Days had beautiful weather and great attendance both days. I rode the trike over to Princeton on Saturday, knowing there was a chance of rain. The morning was fine, with a lot of people shopping, swapping and watching the races. In the afternoon some dark clouds started forming; we watched the radar and the bad stuff seemed to be going north. Then a very dark front moved in, and we were told it was packing 70 mile per hour winds!

We frantically started packing up. We were just starting on the tent when the civil defense sirens started blaring. Being on a bike, I decided it was time to head for home. I was traveling east so I was able to stay ahead of the storm…until Mora! The skies opened up and the wind-driven downpour started. I knew Caswell Cycle had a veranda that I could hide under. In the short mile to Caswell, I got quite wet.

After checking the radar I could see it would be a while before the storm passed, so I donned my rain gear and headed out. I could see better than the cars, so I was traveling a bit faster than they were. When I passed one of them I found that trikes hydroplane quite easily. The rear end slid just a bit when I turned to pull back in. Not a good feeling! Even though I slowed down I still lost slight traction three more times. I was relieved and very wet when I got home. It was raining so hard it soaked through my high-quality rain gear, and the water went through my helmet and dripped down my back. My hair, shoes and all my clothing was soaked. The things a guy goes through to attend a snowmobile event!

Vice President Scott Wakefield and I were reminiscing about the old days of Hay Days and how much things have changed. I remember several years when we were allowed to back my camper right up to the race fence and spend the weekend there. Somebody brought a fire ring and all the campers gathered around, had a few beers and talked snowmobiling. As the event grew we were not allowed to stay on site any longer. Too bad! We made many new friends and had a great time.

One year, when I was president the first go round, VP Randy Bannor and I took clipboards and walked through the swap meet, approaching every person we saw about becoming a MnUSA member. I’m sure we spoke with a few hundred people. If I remember correctly, we recruited less than 10 new members. It was a major frustration, listening to all the excuses of why snowmobilers could not come up with $15 (at the time) to be a member. One guy said he rode 9,000 miles on trails provided by MnUSA clubs, but he refused to become a member. On the other hand, it was nice to see how many were already members or were attending from other states.

I have to say I prefer the smaller events like Princeton, but I chatted with many old friends at Hay Days. It was fun catching up! The MnUSA booth did well at both events. I would like to thank everybody that helped at all the shows.

The Sled Season Kickoff, hosted by the sled manufacturers is October 29-30. Talk to your dealer, they should have information. If they don’t, you may have to plan something for your club or region. It can be at a dealer, your clubhouse or any other snowmobile-friendly establishment. It is rare these days, but the big 4 have finally got together and planned this event. Please try to participate in some way. I know from doing the celebration two years ago it is a great opportunity to recruit new members both for MnUSA and for clubs.

Hope to see you all in Fairmont for the Fall Workshop. Remember, nominations and elections for the executive board will be held.

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