It’s been sarcastically said that 50 is only an excellent age if you’re a bottle of wine. But what if you’re a snowmobile club that’s turning 50? Now is a wonderful time to celebrate five decades of accomplishments while planning for even better years ahead.
With that in mind, the Kasoag Trailblazers snowmobile club is planning to spend 2024 celebrating the 50th anniversary of its founding back in 1974, culminating with an October event.
But this isn’t a club that’s only looking backwards. They’re also planning for the future with various efforts to build membership and outreach.
Learn more from the answers provided by club member Kelly Miller. To have your club considered for exposure, fill out our information form at https://tinyurl.com/GreatSnowClub.
What’s your snowmobile club’s best in-season activity that makes membership fun?
“Our poker run that’s held at Buck’s Family Restaurant in Williamstown has a great turnout. We have folks from all over New York as well as from neighboring states. The Kasoag Tavern, which is where the club was originally founded, has added an ice drag event that attracted folks from all over the East Coast last year.”
What is your snowmobile club’s best off-season event or activity?
“We are currently doing something each month to raise funds to celebrate our 50 years in 2024. September is our annual Steak Bake. While our summer residents are packing up their cabins and wrapping up summer fun, they come out to sign up for their membership and enjoy a day of music and raffles at the Williamstown American Legion. Also, every July is a car show with live music, BBQ and great memories.”
What are your club’s best means for finding new members in recent years?
“Social media has been awesome. For example, while attending the Big East Powersports Show in Syracuse, folks that saw our Kasoag Trailblazer banner mentioned, ‘I saw Jay from Kasoag Lake Tavern live on Facebook.’”
How do you make new or prospective members feel welcomed?
“In addition to a heartfelt ‘thank you,’ we send members a current Oswego County trail map and a club sticker, and our board sends invitations to our monthly meetings. We listen to members’ ideas and comments on how they want to help as well as those from property owners that allow the club access to their land. We welcome new volunteers for trail duty, raffle donations and event planning. The camaraderie is always amazing to see.”
Aside from safety training, what else does your club do to get youth involved?
“This was a huge topic at the New York State Snowmobile Associaton conference in Lake Placid. We are looking at creating incentives and ideas to involve the club’s youth to ensure the future of snowmobiling. Incentives could be similar to what other youth groups are doing, such as a merit system for participating in community involvement, trail maintenance, attending meetings, assisting in events and so on. Then annually, we’d recognize those participants who stand out and make a difference.”
One interesting thing that our club does for the sport and the community is…
“While we are always looking for community support, we also give back to the community that supports us. For example, we participate when Buck’s hosts its Taste Of Billytown fundraiser, with money raised going directly back into the families that need a little bit of extra help in tough times. It’s full-circle for the Kasoag Trailblazers – we want to leave this world a little better than we found it.”
Overall, the thing that makes our club great is…
“We have a core group of volunteers that covers everything from trail maintenance, driving membership, attending meetings, working the grant process through Parks & Rec, organizing events and fundraisers and looking at what the future can bring to snowmobiling.”
Editor’s Note: Most Snow Goer issues includes snowmobile club profiles, like this one from our January 2024 issue. Issues also include in-depth sled reports and comparisons, aftermarket gear and accessories reviews, riding destination articles, do-it-yourself repair information, snowmobile technology and more. Subscribe to Snow Goer now to receive print and/or digital issues.
