Les Cheneaux Snowmobile Club Raises $500 for Easter Seals
By Amy Polk

The 2006-2007 Les Cheneaux Snowmobile Club Board includes (back row, from left) Stu Volkers, Mark Merchberger, Lyle Sherlund, Ollie House; (front row) Esther Engle, Jim Charles, Jeri Griffin, and Dee Dee Bickham, who were all introduced at the club’s annual meeting and Christmas dinner Saturday, December 2.

Les Cheneaux Snowmobile Club raised more than $500 for Easter Seals at its annual meeting and Christmas party Saturday, December 2, at the Albany Bar near DeTour. The group of women who participate in the annual For Women Only Ride in Grayling held an annual raffle at the meeting to supplement a number of fundraising activities like bake sales and car washes offered throughout the year.

“For the past four to five years, our club has had the highest participation in this event,” member Jeri Griffin told the snowmobile club. “These girls worked hard and kept together and are a good representation from the Upper Peninsula.”

February 9 through February 11 they will join nearly 200 women who collect pledges for the ride that benefits the Easter Seals disability services charity. The group of mostly Michigan riders, including nearly a dozen local women from the Les Cheneaux Snowmobile Club, raises approximately $150,000 annually. The For Women Only riders hope to raise $200,000 this year to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the ride.

Anyone who wants to participate in the event should contact a member of the Les Cheneaux Snowmobile Club, or Renee Wyatt at (989) 753-4773.

Also during the meeting, Snowmobile Club members collected bags of non-perishable foods that will be split between the emergency food pantries in Cedarville and DeTour.

President Lyle Sherlund announced a group trip Sunday, February 18, in Ontario. Anyone can participate in the 85-mile ride, which will take participants north of Sault Ste. Marie, from Searchmont to Halfway Haven lodge for an overnight stay. Stu Volkers of DeTour is also organizing a ride in the Keweenaw Peninsula starting Sunday, March 11, which will take about a week to complete, he said. Participants will travel 100-mile loops each day, and will stay at Krupp’s Resort. People interested in going should contact Mr. Volkers.

Mr. Sherlund announced that groomer work bees are Thursday nights, starting with dinner at 6 p.m. and work at 7 p.m. Anyone interested in performing mechanical work and maintenance on the club’s grooming machines is invited to come help.

Mr. Sherlund recognized the club’s officers, including Vice President Ollie House, Secretary Dee Dee Bickham, Treasurer Jeri Griffin, grant writer Esther Engle, and directors Jim Charles, Mark Merchberger, and Stu Volkers. He also thanked past directors Bob Vaught and Nancy Foster for their years of service.

Chuck and Margie DeNoyer were commended for their work on the snowmobile club’s donation banks, which the DeNoyers repaired and painted after many years of use.

Club member John Griffin spoke about national snowmobiling issues and reported that efforts to ban off-road vehicles from public lands also threaten snowmobile use on those lands. He said, however, that snowmobiling lobbyists like himself convinced the U.S. Forest Service to keep snowmobiles out of the definition of “offhighway”

or “off-road” vehicles. He attributed the organization of snowmobiling clubs and the number of members in those clubs to their effectiveness in lobbying for snowmobile interests.

“We want to protect our privilege to snowmobile on public lands,” he said.

Another threat to snowmobiling, Mr. Griffin said, is the economy. Gasoline prices and the $6,400 average price of a snowmobile are making the activity of snowmobiling too expensive in lean economic times.