Sno-Drifters Seek Community Input

Written by admin on 04 June 2010

Manitou Sno Drifters Annual General Meeting

by Ron Jung

The Sno-Drifters' new 2002 Holland Sur-Trac purchased this past winter.

As an Incorporated business, not-for-profit clubs, such as the Manitou Sno Drifters must not only hold regular meetings with the Executive members but also must hold an Annual General Meeting open to all members of the club. We are accountable to the public as we are funded by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation. All trail permit holders are automatically members of the club and therefore are invited to the meeting to learn of the affairs of the club over the preceding 12 months. We also open the meeting up to the public as it is an important method to provide information to all snowmobilers’ whether they are members or not and new memberships often come from such meetings. This is a great opportunity to ask questions and get direct factual information from those that are managing the company. At the meeting there is also an an opportunity initiate change or show support of the current activities by nominating and voting for a new executive and other available positions. All positions are held by volunteers; people who are passionate about what they do and work hard to make the community a better place to live.

As with most clubs the Sno-Drifters have suffered from a declining membership. There are many reasons for this, not the least of which is Manitouwadge’s declining population – it has dropped to about 60% of what it was during the 80’s. This, along with the changes in weather resulting in shorter snowmobiling seasons, has people reconsidering the benefits of membership in clubs such as the Sno-Drifters.

The many benefits of membership and the successes of the club have been presented in previous articles, here is a short recap of the past year:

we installed a bridge over Nama Creek that can be used for all 4 seasons,
we have acquired a new groomer,
we reopened the scenic trail down the power line to Marathon,
we have positively contributed to the annual Frosty Days with the Drag Races

these are a few of the many successes celebrated by the Maniou Sno-Drifters during the 2009 and 2010 seasons. We would like to add to these successes, to continue working for the benefit of the residents of Manitouwadge and promotion of tourism within our town and region. Visitors may choose to make this their home for future years; many new residents fell in love with Manitouwadge while on “short visits”.

The Sno-Drifters Snowmobile Club is a member in good standing with the North of Superior Snowmobile Association (District 16) and the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs and have been so for approximately 20 years thanks to the hard work of many volunteers. Membership in the OFSC provides many benefits to the club and its members, these benefits ultimately affect the community in a positive way. The financial return to the club by being a member far exceeds the revenue generated by our club. Declining membership brings into question our long term sustainability and continuance of the support of the OFSC.

We look forward to seeing all snowmobilers, outdoor enthusiasts, and business owners at the Annual General Meeting on June 8 at 7 PM in the Town Council Chambers. Your input is valuable and will have an influence on making this area the snowmobiler’s destination of choice.