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with a blanket of fresh, white snow! Snowmobilers in southern Ontario were grinning ear-to-ear under their visors mid- December, as they looked out at a winter- wonderland spread out before them. And with an abundance of snow arriving more than a month earlier than a year ago, many members of the Port Perry Snowmo- bile Club, and registered permit holders, have enjoyed more snowmobiling this year than they did the entire last season. Bill Harper, one of the charter members of the local club in 1971 recalls the formation of the club started off innocently enough. The first meeting was held at the Port Per- ry Odd Fellows hall when a group of local “guys” who held a common interest in snow- mobiling met. “We all threw in a few bucks to help pay for sending out invitations/newsletters and the club was started” recalls Bill. Some of those attending the first meeting included Howard Hall, who chaired the meeting, John Majcher (the first president), Charlie 4 FOCUS - JANUARY 2008 FOCUS. JAN.07.82pqs.indd 4 Snowmobilers just want to have fun... and for the first time in more than a decade Scugog trails are covered Lown, Larry Davidson, as well as Bill and his wife Shay. Bill recalls it wasn’t long after the club formed, that John Majcher stepped down as president, due to what he felt was a conflict of interest. John owned a GM dealership on Water Street but was also the local Ski-doo dealer in town. Charlie Lown, assumed the role as president. Another noticeable change in the club’s dynamics would occur again when the gov- ernment intervened and ruled that trail per- mits were to be mandatory. Although this automatically gave the club a level of legiti- macy it also made the club focus change. “We went from a bunch of people with the same interest making trails for ourselves, to what our trails are now, more of a tourism based trail system” says Bill. Port Perry snowmobilers have embraced a variety of venues over the years from oval racing at the local fairgrounds to drag rac- ing held on Lake Scugog. The drag racing led to Lake Scugog being host to an attempt to set the Snowmobile World Speed Record in 1978. The sled, sponsored by Budweiser, managed an impressive 152 mph on the ex- tra long drag strip built on the lake. All the stops were pulled out to mark the occasion including aerial photos of the event. Today more and more people are find- ing out what generations of families already know... that snowmobiling is a great way to welcome another season. “Instead of people sitting around at home hating winter, you find something to do and enjoy all the seasons,” is the way Bill likes to explain it. See “On The Trails” on page 18 focus@observerpub.ca tanre7 ssesoen |