OPTA News

Town Loop Trail Repair

Club member, Kris Kirk, used his Bobcat today to repair a washout on the Town Loop trail. This was a significant hazard for snowmobiles which is now eliminated, thanks to Kris and his machine.

OPTA Volunteers Honoured!

OPTA honours local club volunteers with awards at a volunteer pancake breakfast held at the clubhouse on December 3rd. Volunteer of the Year (a hat) for the 2010/11 season went to Gerald Rogers with his many hours of volunteering. Gerald keeps all the equipment in running order, grooms the trails and marks and clears the trails for the season. Gail Sayers received the Volunteer of the Year award at the district level. Gail received this award (a new jacket and pin) at the AGM held in Markham this year. She spends many hours volunteering at the district level (NWOSTA) and at her local club (OPTA). Family of the Year (a plaque) award went to the Schultz/George family, for their work on and off the trail. Trail Patrol (a below zero pen) went to Ron Lemmon, always a great ambassador to our club, with over 40 years of volunteer time. Last but not least was the Rookie award (a T-shirt) for a new volunteer to the club. Randy Henrickson received this award for the hours put on the trail last year for the club. You are never to young to be a rookie! He also received the district award for Rookie of the year (a plaque). OPTA has a total of over 3000 hours put in by volunteers last year, thanks again to all of the volunteers of the Ojibway Power Toboggan Association. Remember to support your local club and purchase a permit!

Groomer Operator Training Session Held

On December 4th a groomer operator training session was held at the clubhouse after the volunteer breakfast. Six people attended, four experienced groomer operators plus two people who are interested in grooming in the future. Information was provided on the grooming equipment, grooming techniques, using a GPS to identify signage and a run down on the new groomer tracking system. Our two larger groomer now are tracked by satellite and the club members will be able to know where a groomer is at any given time. The system also allows the groomer operator to signal for help and ask for assistance. This will greatly enhance groomer operator safety since a lot of our trail system does not have cell or radio coverage. If you would like more information on this system visit BSM Wireless. Our system is the Fleet Management through Sentinel FM.

Those who attended were:

• Bryan Matte
• Randy Henrickson
• Ron Lemmon
• Gerald Rogers
• Ken Shultz
• Brad Woodrow

New Trail at Butterfly Lake

On November 12th volunteers cleared the new Butterfly Lake trail. Eleven people came out to volunteer, this was an excellent turn out. As a result the trail was completed and new signs and posts were installed. This trail is part of the L701 trail which bypasses the Butterfly Lake boat launch road which is ploughed part of the snowmobile season. This trail is 125 meters long and connects Butterfly Lake with the old access road to Ojibway Park at highway 72 and on to Hudson. Thanks to all who volunteered, great work everyone! This trail is now complete except for the lack of snow! The volunteers were: Ron Bennett, Ron Lemmon, Garry Rattai, Dianna Ayotte, Ian Paolin, Brad Woodrow, Ivan Wilson, Nathan Bryne, Richard Shultz, Matthew Odonovan and Cam Starratt

Raffle Sled Tickets Available NOW

Ticket are available now for a 2012 Arctic Cat F570. The draw will take place on Boxing Day, December 26th. The sled is being displayed around town and tickets are only $20! Only 800 tickets will be sold, buy yours now!

We've got a new work sled!

The year we purchased a new 2012 Arctic Cat Bearcat XT! This sled will be used as our small groomer and when grooming, will pull a 10 feet long by 52 inch wide drag. Using this as out small groomer will allow us to groom earlier since it is much lighter than our other groomers. We'll also use the bearcat at a general work sled when pegging lake trails.