Club Rant

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REVVERUP

New member
I just saw another comment about getting younger people involved in clubs and snowmobiling activities. I joined 2 separate clubs around 10 years ago in Northern WI and both clubs were very similar in their setup/meetings/etc.

Trail clean-up:
Meet at 5AM on a weekday morning. After 2 hours of coffee, get to the trail around 7AM. I ask the trail-boss what he wants help with, I can handle a chainsaw and help cut/move brush. I was told to walk ahead of the side-by-side and kick rocks off the trail. After 3 hours of that they were ready for lunch. I don't even know if they got back on the trail, I left and stopped paying dues.

Club Meetings:
Weeknights 4:00PM sharp. I had to take off of work to attend a single meeting. The meetings were mostly empty and mostly retired locals complaining that they don't get any help. (we have 100 members, why are there only 7 people here?) I offered doing the meetings on a weekend, or later than 4PM as not everyone in the club is local. It was like I told them I ride an ATV on the trail when it's 35 degrees out. ABSOLUTELY NOT!! WE'VE ALWAYS MET UP AT 4PM!

Resolution:
I joined a more local club, help put up signs every year (most years the trails are used to put signs up and take them down due to lack of snow.) I help out at fundraising events cooking food, serving drinks, helping out in the sport that I love. I just wish I was able to help out in the areas where I ride. I talked to another club member who also joined a different Northern WI club with a very similar story. Meeting times were impossible, trail cleanup was an absolute joke.

I doubt anything will come of this post, but I just wanted to get the younger side of the story out to some of the club members with seniority.
 
W

warner

Active member
Revverup
join the Superior snowmobile club out of Twin Lakes/ Greenland , MI those boys get shit done and are always looking for additional people to get involved. follow them on the book@ the up superior snowmobile club or join at the website , Superior snowmobile club.
Don't give up, the sport needs people like you.
 
ddhanna

ddhanna

Active member
Sounds like BS to me. No clubs I know of, let alone two, schedule cleanup at 5am and meetings at 4pm. Would you mind naming the clubs so they can defend themselves?
 
pclark

pclark

Well-known member
Just a couple of comments: I would not join a club that met at 4pm, as stated young people or most people are still working at that time. Our club’s meeting started at 7pm. When we did trail work I wanted guys who would take control of certain jobs and just get the work done, it took a year or so but our group was small but fast and we all knew what to do. We had a good time together and by the end of the day the job was done and done right. My advice, find a club that you fit into and like and it will work out a lot better for you.
 
goofy600

goofy600

Well-known member
I have a couple questions for the OP, first the clubs you are complaining about. 1 Are they in an area that has a lot of days the trails are used ( a lot like UP trails or a few like southern WI trails.) 2 If they have high usage how does the club do grooming, are they usually good or are they mostly garbage? If in the end they put out a good product it’s hard to complain about them and they way they run there club. If they are usually crap then you have a real complaint and should be told they are. I can tell you that the club I’m in does a lot of the things you don’t like like a 4pm meeting and don’t ask for much help besides the few that usually do but when it comes to grooming I feel we do some of the best I our area. Big thing is it take time to work out old problems.
 
J

jr37

Well-known member
A lot of great clubs out there and a few not so great. If you really want to be involved, you'll find a good one. I belonged to one club for 53 years. Then joined a different one the last 2 years. But, I think this year will be the 1st in my life that I don't belong to a club. I wish you all luck in the future.
 
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mspease

Moderator
Our club meets at 11:00 a.m. the 2nd Saturday of each month and we take August-September off. We rotate meetings each month to be held at our sponsors place of business. Trail cleanup starts at 8:00 a.m. the last Saturday in October and a business sponsor serves us all free pizza about 12:30 and we then head out to finish up in the afternoon.
 
R

REVVERUP

New member
To answer some questions:

I don't want to name the clubs, because this was several years ago and I have a club that I'm happy with.

Are they in an area that has a lot of days the trails are used - Northern WI, so they are open almost the entire season, and pretty heavily trafficked.

If they have high usage how does the club do grooming, are they usually good or are they mostly garbage? If in the end they put out a good product it’s hard to complain about them and the way they run there club. Great point, they do put out a great product and I can't really complain about the trails. I was more thinking about the longevity of the club and cleanup.

I just wanted to get this off my chest when I hear "The young people don't want to help or get involved."

I hope we have a long snowy season this year!
 
goofy600

goofy600

Well-known member
Revverup, thanks for the response and glad they in the end do a good job. Only advice I could give is if you really want to be a part of the club and help, be persistent and let them know your serious and helping.
 
E

euphoric1

Well-known member
mspease said:
Our club meets at 11:00 a.m. the 2nd Saturday of each month and we take August-September off. We rotate meetings each month to be held at our sponsors place of business. Trail cleanup starts at 8:00 a.m. the last Saturday in October and a business sponsor serves us all free pizza about 12:30 and we then head out to finish up in the afternoon.
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interesting rotating meeting locations with club/trail sponsors.
 
indy_500

indy_500

Well-known member
REVVERUP said:
I just wanted to get this off my chest when I hear "The young people don't want to help or get involved."

I hope we have a long snowy season this year!
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On the quoted. Like I mentioned in the other thread, we’ve been hearing the same thing for the past 20-30 years. And, Like I said, 20-50 yr old guys don’t have the time, or inclusion in most clubs. Clubs tend to be ran by 55-75 yr old guys because kids are grown and out of the house, they’re retired or semi retired, and they have the TIME! I don’t think that’s ever going to change. 20 years down the line, and another 20 years down the line and another 20 years down the line, you’re going to continue to cycle thru ~60 yr old guys to run everything.

Like mentioned in the other thread, my local towns trail system is dwindling due to urbanization and the current guys running it have been in charge for about 10 years and don’t have any interest in expanding or rerouting to accommodate. I tried for a few years and was a dead end. I was apart of the club 5 years prior to these guys running it as well (15 yrs ago). The prior, let’s say “board” had club rides, trail clean up days, install days, maintenance days, even participated in the town parade, etc. Currently, the new “board” doesn’t open any of that to the club members, and they take it upon themselves (2 or 3 guys) to put up signs and take them down mid week (they’re retired), but then complain they don’t have any help, and brag they did it all themselves. If they aren’t allowing any such participation, how do you expect to bring any youth into the club? There are plenty of clubs that operate this same way, I know my local one is not alone…

Sorry to sound so negative about clubs, as I’m EXTREMELY EXTREMELY appreciative of the work everyone puts forth to allow us all to ride every winter (whether I agree how they do things or not, the work still has to get done). Without clubs in existence, NO ONE would be able to enjoy this wonderful sport. But most long time club members that complain about the lack of youth need to take a good look in the mirror and ask themselves why.
 
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SledTL

SledTL

Active member
As a 28 yr old I have had a very different experience with my club after 7 years with them. We are on the edges of the northern twin cities suburbs so we are heavy in the fighting of developments and such. The majority of the older club members have stepped back (not to say there hasn't been some tension) but I think they have come to the realization that they cant do the work or manage things as well anymore. It is still common that the guys who's kids are getting out of the house or just retired are taking the brunt of the work. But again, they can go spend 6 hours on a tuesday morning rebuilding a drag when I am at work. We have really become an involved group, and everyone sees how fun it is. We meet on Saturday mornings in the fall and spring to actually do work and have a google group send emails out for other times when people have free moments. We now have a vintage show we put on in march, have bought new equipment in the past few years, and consistently ride/take club trips throughout the season. I wish more people had the same experience, because I've made some great friends and gotten to do a lot of fun things from it! Rice Creek Trail Association is our facebook page as well.
 
pclark

pclark

Well-known member
SledTL said:
As a 28 yr old I have had a very different experience with my club after 7 years with them. We are on the edges of the northern twin cities suburbs so we are heavy in the fighting of developments and such. The majority of the older club members have stepped back (not to say there hasn't been some tension) but I think they have come to the realization that they cant do the work or manage things as well anymore. It is still common that the guys whose kids are getting out of the house or just retired are taking the brunt of the work. But again, they can go spend 6 hours on a tuesday morning rebuilding a drag when I am at work. We have really become an involved group, and everyone sees how fun it is. We meet on Saturday mornings in the fall and spring to actually do work and have a google group send emails out for other times when people have free moments. We now have a vintage show we put on in march, have bought new equipment in the past few years, and consistently ride/take club trips throughout the season. I wish more people had the same experience, because I've made some great friends and gotten to do a lot of fun things from it! Rice Creek Trail Association is our facebook page as well.
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Great post, there is hope after all!
 
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