A while back I asked the question on this forum from members of other snowmobile clubs about how they handled their volunteer program. I was interested to hear just what their initiatives are regarding the enlistment and abilities to attract a healthy volunteer group. I also said that I would like to come back at a later time and offer up what our snowmobile club has done to initiate a program to get a strong list or group of volunteers. I’m proud to say that we have had a modicum of success and we hope to improve and build on our current history.

Groomer Personnel & Equipment – Our club grooms somewhere in the vicinity of 1,200 plus kilometers of trails. We have two groomers, sleds and a standing volunteer roster of three trained active operators who groom our trails. We also have a couple of other candidates interested in performing this task and they have been taking training. I’m proud to say that since we started operating again during the 2003/04 season until the present time, we have not had one mishap or “dunking” any of our equipment into the water, nor have we had any personal injuries. We also have not had any riders, who stayed on the trails, go through the ice. Our groomer tractors are equipped with a telephone when they operate in areas where there is cell phone coverage. For the areas where there isn’t any cell phone coverage, we rent a satellite phone and the operators carry that with them when they operate in that type of territory. Since our trails run over large amounts of water, our groomer personnel each have a floatation suit assigned to them personally. We also have a "call list" of people to call when the operators have a predicament in which they require assistance.

Trail Captains & Volunteers – We have trail captain volunteers who have adopted trails with which they are familiar or live close to. They in turn have their list of volunteers to maintain their adopted trails with regards to clearing the trails, ensuring signing and staking is done according to the prescribed standards. They also monitor ice levels to ensure that there is sufficient ice for the operation of groomer equipment.

We also have our website up and running the way we would like it to be and our main focus of the website is to provide the most up to date and current trail conditions and information regarding all of our trails. The trail report is being constantly updated at the time that information is available. Sometimes the trail report will be adjusted two to four times a day. We also put out a groomer report which advises of the groomer activities for as far as we can plan ahead. At the beginning of the season it is a daily plan, but as we get into the season and the trails have been elevated to the status of “OPEN”, the groomer plan looks farther ahead. We ask any riders who use our trails to forward information on any hazards or dangerous conditions so that we can post this information, take corrective action to eleminate the situation if possible and to make other riders aware of these anomalies. We also encourage viewers to participate in asking questions, offering suggestions and letting us know what they think of our operation. And now, a “shameless” plug for our club -- www.strkenora.com

Young Riders & Initiates – This year alone, the Sunset Trail Riders snowmobile club and it’s volunteers have given snowmobile classes to well over 150 young people who are entering into this sport. We are also encouraging our young people who are still at the school level age to ride safely and to come out and volunteer their time in order to earn their school credits for public participation.

Every volunteer gets credit for their time. Each hour of volunteering is worth two dollars towards the purchase of the next year’s snowmobile pass up to the early bird purchase price, which in our situation is $180.00 or 90 hours of volunteer time. We also host an annual volunteer appreciation dinner evening at season’s end for our executive, all of our volunteers and private landowners who all contribute to making our snowmobile club a success.


The above are only some of the things that we are doing to try and raise the level of our sport, promoting safety and keeping our trails well maintained. We are presently involved in the planning and development of a “town corridor’trail” for the 2006/07 season which will enhance the commerce of our City plus it will contribute to a prescribed method of getting in and out of the City of Kenora.

I’d like to thank those that advanced their suggestions and club practices in this forum last year – both US and Canadian. We adopted some of those ideas, flavoured the operation with a few of our own and so far we are enjoying some success.

My apology for such a lengthy epistle but it was intended to have a two fold purpose. The first to inform and perhaps persuade more volunteers to help out the clubs in the areas that they ride in. Also, to let the public know that there’s a lot more going on than just selling trail passes. Second, to provide some clairity to what we are doing to keep our club healthy and vibrant which might also assist other clubs in knowing what we have done to get to this point.

Thanks.