2008 Season:

"The state of snowmobiling in Eastern Ontario is strong and vigorous", was the message from the OFSC District 1 office manager John Boals.

He feels that sledders had a great season of over 14 weeks of snowmobiling with record breaking snowfall, as a whole the season was a success, "Thanks to the good old-fashioned winter weather from December to March with snow every few days and no thaws".

"On the business side of things, we've had a very busy year, as a district office, assisting the clubs and associations of District 1", he added. Mr. Boals explained that the clubs and associations of the district saw some very impressive numbers on how and where those hard-earned trail permit dollars went.

The 2007-2008 season saw 42 large groomers use over $180,000 in fuel over 14,500 hours of machine time to groom more than 5000 kms of club trails. The number of permits sold last season increased by 10% from the previous year, at a total of 8000. In spite of this long season, the club volunteers kept the groomers running with no major breakdowns did extensive trail clearing and re-routing and even built new bridges.

Trail permit dollars were invested in the future of the sport in District 1 via the purchase of new grooming equipment. Carleton Regional S.C. became home for a Bombardier BR180. Glengarry S.C. purchased a Massey Tractor, Osgoode Carleton S.C purchased a BR180 and Kingston & Pembroke S.C purchased a Tucker. With District One grants and clubs dollars, these purchases will be on the snow this coming season. The District 1 Office, itself, granted $30,000 to nine different clubs for trail improvement projects. However, these clubs put in a notable amount of $35,000 of their own to carry out these endeavors. This is why it is so important to purchase your permit from the club where you ride.

Clearly, trail permit dollars are going a long way towards providing sledders with quality trail development, improvement and maintenance. However, these accomplishments could not have been realized without the small corps of dedicated volunteers who, last year, put in over 90,000 hours of their own time performing these invaluable tasks.

Another great contribution one can make is to become an active member of a club. By doing this you would have a say in the decisions on future improvements and developments in your area. You just might have a great idea that will benefit every snowmobiler in your club.

All being said, District 1 and all its snowmobilers extend their greatest appreciation to the landowners of Eastern Ontario for their generosity in making their property available for our use each year. It would be difficult to imagine the state of the sport without their cooperation.

See you at the next club meeting or event, or better yet - on the trails!

The District 1 office of the O.F.S.C. is located in Morrisburg, and responds to administrative issues and fieldwork inquiries from the 25 snowmobile clubs and associations in Eastern Ontario.

The district consists of the area west to Napanee, north to Calabogie and east to the Ontario/Quebec border. It has over 5000 km of marked, groomed trails.

The clubs in District 1 sell over 8,000 trail permits annually to families in Eastern Ontario.

The O.F.S.C. mission is to provide strong leadership and support to its member clubs. It is the club members themselves who establish and maintain the quality of the snowmobile trails in an environmentally responsible manner for the safe enjoyment of organized snowmobilers.