Frank (Chamber of Commerce) and Elaine (President, CNHSC) 

Copy of Speech:

Waterville Valley Chamber of Commerce – Volunteers of the Year Award – Fall 2009

It was great to see the snow this week, I hope you all were as excited as we were.

Central NH Snowmobile Club is a non-profit organization with over 400 members, 70+ miles of trails, and as of last season - 2 full size groomers and drags.

Our membership base consists of many local community members, as well as many out of staters.  Some have second homes here, some simply vacation here …they come from as far away as CT & MD.

The club has come a long way in the past 17 years that I have been involved.  From one very old groomer and regular snowmobiles with small drags, we stepped up every 5 years or so to where we are today -2 groomers strong.

What makes our club so successful?  Two things that come to mind,  Volunteers and a Supportive community

Our volunteers are a diverse group of people that come together for the sport of snowmobiling.  Some of the things we do are:

• Meet with Forest Service and private landowners to plan new trails
• Apply for grants
• Perform trailwork every other Saturday during the Fall focusing on making the trails safer by adding culverts and cutting trees that fell over the summer, as well as building new trails
• Process memberships
• Update the website
• And keep all of our financial records straight.

Then   -  the most fun of it all    -    is when the flurries start to fly    -     and the groomers head out to groom and maintain the trails.

Last year we logged over 1400 man hours in the groomers alone and over 500 man hours for Fall Trailwork parties.  All this hard work paid off last spring when we received the NHSA award for the best trails in Grafton County.

Our community is another reason we are so successful:

No matter the reason, when we ask, you listen and provide your support.  Whether it was:

• the Haunted Hayrides which we did for many, many, years with the Boy Scouts
• Lunch for trailwork crews

              OR

      Prizes for an event

You’re always there to support our endeavors.

In Closing–I would like to ask all club members in attendance tonight to please stand at their table ….

As we Thank you for this Award.