Picnic to be held on Aug. 14 at VFW

By Tucker Henderson

Reporter

The Otter Trail Riders Snowmobile Club is hosting its annual landowners picnic on Thursday, Aug. 14 at the VFW Club in New York Mills. Members, landowners and those who’d like to join the club are all invited to attend. A social hour will kick off at 5 p.m. prior to the meal which begins at 6 p.m.

The club, which began in 1992, has been working on expanding, maintaining, and grooming 143 miles of trails for snowmobile riders ever since. Between all of those miles of trail, which spans from the Vergas, Dent, Richville, Perham, Ottertail, Wolf Lake, New York Mills, Henning, Deer Creek, Bluffton, and Wadena areas, a total of 198 landowners have allowed the club to make trails through their properties for that purpose.

“They’re pretty happy,” said Kevin Dreyer. “It’s very seldom that we have to change a trail because a landowner is not happy. It’s critical for us to survive, that those landowners let us use their property. All of our trails are pretty much on private land except for road ditches.”

To thank the many landowners along those trails, the club hosts this annual picnic as a token of their gratitude. A meal of burgers, brats, hot dogs, potato salad, pickles, Texas toast, sundaes and floats will be available for all landowners, club members, and club wannabes who want to join the club for the upcoming year. Dues are $50 and include a membership to the state Minnesota United Snowmobilers Association (MnUSA) organization and new members will save $5 on their membership if they sign up at the picnic.

MnUSA was created to “encourage and promote recreational snowmobiling, to stimulate and advance the general welfare and safety of snowmobiling, to serve the interests of snowmobile owners, to promote favorable snowmobile legislation and regulations,” said its mission statement.

Among others, the statements ends with the purpose “to promote, foster and encourage sentiments and beliefs among the general public and persons in official positions within the snowmobile industry, recreation and port as to the advantage and desirability of safe snowmobiling as a wholesome outdoor winter activity and a strong positive factor in the winter economy in Minnesota.”

Membership fees also go toward club activities which includes grooming and maintaining the miles of trail during the year along with the landowner’s picnic. Monthly meetings are held from October through March on the third Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. at the VFW Clubhouse.

The club promotes trail maintenance, snowmobile safety certification, and a place for snowmobile enthusiasts of all ages to join in the camaraderie that is made between the combination of sled track and powdery Minnesota snow. Individuals interested in joining can pay their dues at the landowners picnic or at any of the monthly meetings going forward.

“We’ve got about 110 club members,” said Dreyer. “It’s a pretty mixed variety too. We have about 40 landowners and about the same number of members show up for the picnic with their families. It’s would sure like to see people make it, it’s a good time.”