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Tuesday, February 26th, 2008 Nipigon-Red Rock Gazette Page 9 Winter Fish Derby Fun at BZA Karen Hardy Staff______ Family Day = Fun Day On Monday Feb 18th, Brighter Futures & Community Health Support Worker (CHSW) hosted a Fish Derby in Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging Anishinaabek (BZA). The weather cooperated and there was a great turnout for the one-day event. Everyone was kept warm with hot chocolate, smokies and/or marshmallows for toasting at the fire. Melissa Kowtiash had the “right touch” to catch a fish and she earned 1st place in the Teen Category. The remaining prizes were “luck of the draw” Teen Category: 1st -Melissa Kowtiash. 2nd -Tara Kowtiash 3rd - Jason Hardy Kids Category: 1st - Bart Lynch. 2nd - Farrah King. 3rd - Lennzi May King Adults Category: 1st - Josie Lynch. 2nd - Tabatha Hardy. 3rd - Clarence Bouchard. Coordinator Peggy Lynch wants to send a special thanks to everyone who participated and who helped out in any way. Happy Family Day! Did we catch anything yet? Children enjoyed a Fish Derby in BZA that included hot, smokies and marshmallows. Karen Hardy Photo Taking Valentine’s Day a Step Further: ‘Chili for Chickens’ Mrs. Crichton’s class in Nipigon, have taken the celebration of Valentine’s Day one step further. In their study of World Communities, the class participated in a “Chili for Chickens” fundraiser through the World Vision Organization, in order to purchase two hens and a rooster for a developing country. Mrs. Crichton and E.A., Mrs. Mahoney, provided homemade chili and buns while all students of the class provided cupcakes for dessert, all to be sold during the Valentine’s Day lunch period. The response well exceeded expectations! The students, in fact, were able to purchase four hens and two roosters to the cause. Our gratitude is extended to the entire school community who supported this event and to Mrs. Betty Bartlett, Contact North Coordinator, who purchased 100 cupcakes to share with the classrooms. The students recognized that “We are a World Community”! What better way to express acts of kindness and compassion then on Valentine’s Day! Proposed Tree Bylaw continued Continued from Page 8 the end of March. He stated that “People may not be entirely happy with the bylaw, but with a little compromise on both parts, neighbours will be able to work together for the satisfaction of both.” Be More Informed About Your Community.... Attend weekly council meetings. Phone your local Township office for Dates, Times and Meeting locations. Get Involved in Your Community & See the Difference it Can Make! For all your advertising needs, contact the friendly staff at the Nipigon-Red Rock Gazette. Call today for more info. 887-3583 The Intrepid Snowmobiler Craig Nicholson Grooming Challenges The Intrepid Snowmobiler Special to the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs: Last winter, Southwestern Ontario had oodles of snow. So much so, that several groomers broke down while clubs were trying to clear their trails. The repair bills were large and the complaints loud from riders who couldn’t understand why we finally had great snow but rough trails. It’s very frustrating to discover that a trail you want to ride isn’t groomed. Riders frequently complained: “I paid good money for my permit and this is what I get in return!” Their natural reaction was to blame the clubs or the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC). But very frequently, it’s not their fault. So the next time you encounter a trail that’s not been groomed, consider these factors... Your trail permit entitles you to access and ride open snowmobile trails in the OFSC system. These trails are maintained as well as Mother Nature will allow for the convenience and enjoyment of permit holders, but there’s no guarantee that every trail will be open or freshly groomed. Having trails groomed every time you ride is not a promise; it’s an unreasonable expectation. OFSC clubs and club volunteer are in the business of operating snowmobile trails. That’s why they exist and what they love to do. So not having a trail(s) groomed is frustrating for them too. It also offends their pride in providing the best possible trails. They work very hard to keep things in shape. Clubs are also extremely safety conscious and err on the side of caution to protect both their groomer operators and equipment. A human life is certainly more important than getting a trail groomed if conditions are the least bit chancy. Meanwhile, damage to equipment can keep a groomer in the repair shop and off the trail for weeks â€" and then everybody loses! That said, clubs have to contend with many factors totally beyond their control... A trail may not be open yet or may have been recently closed. Sometimes, this is at the request of landowner who wants livestock out or doesn’t want sleds crossing when the snow isn’t deep enough to protect a crop. Typically, an unopened trail is an early or late season factor, resulting from insufficient snow, unfrozen ground or bad ice. Each of these conditions means that groomers weighing many tones can’t roll. Some trails are permanently closed due to off-season trespass, largely by ATV riders. Other may be temporarily closed for this winter or part of it due to logging, utility work, or repairs. In these cases, the original trail will not be groomed and you shouldn’t be on it. Clubs may have found a detour or alternate trail only recently. So until the underlying surface can be properly prepared in the next off-season, it may be under developed and rough. Periodically, riders on their light sleds will find trails with decent snow that haven’t been groomed, and often that’s because heavy industrial groomers can’t get there because of deficient conditions between their home base and where that snow is. Remember, snow coverage has to both adequate and broad before a club’s entire trail system can be properly groomed. One that really ticks off riders is when trails aren’t groomed immediately after a major winter storm or extensive drifting. But deep snow can be incredibly heavy, which either stops grooming equipment in its tracks, or really slows it down. This prevents groomers from operating at their usual pace for optimal resurfacing (around 10 km/hr.) as well as making the job take a lot longer to complete. Often, a snow-buried trail must be broken open and packed either by sled traffic or by a grooming tractor, operating without its drag, before normal grooming operations can resume. Another consideration is that, with a trail obliterated by snow, the groomer operator has to go very slowly in open areas because of great difficulty in relocating the existing trail. So it’s simple: the wetter, heavier and deeper the fresh snow is, the longer it will take to get the trails groomed. Finally, grooming isn’t a random event. Every club has a grooming schedule based on its overall trail distance, its available equipment, its budget and its expected traffic. So some trails get groomed more often than others, but with the exception of some very long runs in Northern Ontario, most clubs aim for a minimum of two passes per week, depending on current conditions. Very high traffic trails can get groomed daily, but sometimes even that frequency isn’t enough. The bottom line is that clubs are the only ones qualified to make the groom or not to groom call, so let’s not second-guess or criticize them because our ride isn’t perfect every single time. Until next time, the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs invites you to Go Snowmobiling this winter. Check out trail status reports at ofsc.on.ca