YAKIMA SKI-BENDERS
SEPTEMBER 6TH 2016
NEWSLETTER
SEPTEMBER 6TH 2016
NEWSLETTER
Hello again to all of my fellow Yakima Ski-Bender friends! It's been a roller coaster ride of a summer with temps from from the very comfortable 70s to up over the blazing 100 mark... certainly some crazy swings! I've had the opportunity to get up to the mountains a few times, including a great group ride with the Washington Off Highway Vehicle Alliance this past weekend. The ride featured groups from just about every aspect of motorized recreation, from jeeps and side by sides, down to quads and dirt bikes... pretty much the only toys that didn't appear were boats and sleds (kinda hard to use either of those on dirt though!). Never-the-less it was a good time to be in the mountains with other outdoor enthusiasts! Boy I sure am missing riding my sled though!
While spending time in the mountains, it reminded me that although it was a particularly warm weekend, the time for the Yakima Ski-Benders to gather together is once again quickly approaching. Believe it or not, as I write this, our first club meeting of the year is a mere 3 weeks away. We will once again be joining each other at Bob's Burgers & Brew on Tuesday September 6th (dinner 6pm, meeting 7pm) for some excellent food and drinks, and have the opportunity to catch up with those we haven't had the chance to see in a while since the winter toys have been long since put away. I can't tell you just how much everyone seemed to love the move we made to Bob's Burgers last year and I'm hoping to see everyone back there again soon, and of course we would all love to see some new faces at the meetings too!
Coming up soon we have a couple events right off the bat that we need to get members involved with. Firstly, one of the big favorites of many members of the club, Chinookfest Music Festival is going to be held September 9th, 10th, & 11th. This has turned out to be our biggest fundraiser over the last several years as well as one of the most entertaining. If you would like to be a part of this great time, be sure to come to the first meeting and volunteer for a shift as we once again are putting on the beer garden. Mike and Liz have done a great deal of the planning and up front leg work and are looking forward to having plenty of help for the actual weekend festivities, Let's be sure to thank them for their work by volunteering anywhere we possibly can!
Next up after Chinookfest is our annual booth at the Puyallup snow show. The paperwork has once again been sent in and we are just waiting in eager anticipation for the weekend show to arrive! This year we would like to make a special emphasis on advertising our now annual "Little Sledders Ride" and try to bring in more younger riders from around the state to come and discover our terrain and share in our love for the sport all while having a great time with other young riders. What we really need here is for some members to drop by the booth and spend an hour or two talking with other riders about our club, what we do, and how we support the sport. The more folks we can get to take a shift in the booth, the more we can all walk around the show, see the new products, and hopefully come home with some cool new stuff!
Another very exciting project to report on that the Yakima Ski-Benders have been working toward for the last 5 years is finally coming to realization. The long discussed North-Fork to Jackass trail that was suggested to be created as a short cut through the trees is happening!!!!! I personally walked the trail with Devin, Jeff Jones from DNR, and the groomer Ron this past week and I must say that this thing is going to be awesome, I can't wait to ride it! We're going to be looking for volunteers with some of the leg work once the final plan of attack begins to move forward, and if all goes according to plan and we get enough help, the route will not only be open, but will be completed and ready to be groomed by the time the snow starts to fly!
There's a lot coming up in a short amount of time and plenty of reasons to be excited to be a member of the Ski-Benders and a snowmobiler in general... and I haven't even mentioned yet that the snow forecast looks even better this year than it did last year!!!! So be sure to join us and be a part of all the great things coming up soon at our first club meeting of the season, Tuesday September 6th @ Bob's Burgers & Brew in Yakima, just north of the Gateway shopping center off I-82. Dinner to start at 6pm with the meeting to follow at 7pm.
See you there!!!
Members, watch your email for the full Agenda and last spring's Minutes coming soon!
Seth Ahlbrecht
President
Yakima Ski-Benders
