Hidden Bear Trail ATV Club Newsletter #3, 2017
CLUB MEETING, CLUB RIDE AND CLUB COOKOUT: Our last membership meeting for 2017 was held on Saturday September 30th at the Firelite Lounge in Lakewood WI. A total of 36 people attended the meeting, along with other business we also conducted our annual elections. The following were the results of the election: President, Shawn Fidler, Vice-President Loren Nelson, Treasurer Tom Siudzinski, Secretary Jim Wisneski, Membership Secretary Dawn Schomoker, Board of Directors Dave Pitterle, Gene Dunsirn, Jim Schommer, Brian Fitzpatrick, Tim Stephani & Mike Richling. After the meeting we left the Lakewood Trailhead for our 2nd club ride of the year, it was a beautiful day, we had 21 machines and a total of 30 people. The ride took us to Crooked Lake for Lunch at the end-of-the-year Poker Run that was held at the Sportsman Park in Crooked Lake. After Lunch we returned to the Trailhead to enjoy the club cookout, we had over 40 people in attendance at the cookout. Please visit our website atwww.hiddenbeartrailatvclub.com for pictures of the days event. A special thanks for Jenny for opening the Firelite early for our meeting!!!
LANGLADE BRIDGE AND FOREST SERVICE REPORT: On September 12th our club attended the quarterly Forest Service Meeting in Lakewood, where we found out that the NEPA (National Environment Protection Agency) was approved to do work on the new trail from Traxel Point Road in the Town of Doty to Fish Hatchery Road. Our club has procurred a $20,000 grant to repair this trail for ATV/UTV use. Work on this trail will not start until we find a way across the Wolf River. Currently our club and 2 other area ATV Clubs are working on private landowner easements to get to the bride and over to the Wolf River Trail. We are also waiting for the DNR to allow us to use the existing DNR Property in Langlade for ATV’s. This is a very complex project and will require additional time but we have not given up.
COUNTY F ISSUES: We continue to receive complaints that ATV riders are riding on County F in areas that are illegal. One area is riders are illegally crossing Highway F at Lake John Road and another area is riding on Highway F from Smyth Road to Waubee Lodge. Our club has met with the Oconto County Highway Commissioner to try to resolve some of these issues with more signage. Please obey all signs in this area.
WORK BETWEEN HWY T & BLUE SPRUCE: Our club just completed the DNR Grant Project in the first .30 miles from Highway T going toward Blue Spruce Road. The Grant was for $7200.00 to repair the hills in that area. Our contractor put down a layer of Breaker Run and then put a layer of crushed gravel on top. We also installed 5 man-made waterbars to help the water drain off of the hills to avoid future washouts. We also posted a 10 mph speed limit in this area due to the hills and curves. We also hope the lower speed limit will eliminate some of the bank curves that we get during the year. Please slow down in this area!!!
WISCONSIN ATV ASSOCIATION (WATVA): Now that the Governor signed the budget for this year the Wisconsin ATV Association will start to receive the money that they lost the last 3 years. They have worked very hard the last 3 years without very little budget and have held the Association together. Look forward to more info regarding this in the WATVA magazine. Our club would like to thank Randy Harden and his staff for working thru these issues the last 3 years!!!!
POSSIBLE NEW RECREATIONAL OFFICER: The 7 towns in the Northern part of Oconto County are looking at getting another Recreational Officer. If approved this County Officer will be working full-time in these 7 townships and working approx 60% of his time on recreational issues. Currently Oconto County has 1 rec officer for the entire county. This additional position will create a larger presence in these townships. Our club has supported the efforts to hire another rec officer.
NEW CLUB CLOTHING: At our Club Fundraiser in August we sold most of our current clothing that we had and the Board of Director’s will be deciding this week on what directions we will be going with new club clothing. A special thanks to Kris & Mark Allen for taking care of our club clothing for the last 6 years. Kris & Mark did an excellent job!!! Brian & Diane Fitzpatrick will be taking care of our club clothing going forward and the plan is to have new clothing by our First Club Meeting in June of 2018. Thanks for Brian & Diane for taking over from Kris & Mark.
OCONTO COUNTY ATV MAP: We are in the process of putting together the Oconto County ATV Map for the 2018-2019 season. Next year’s map will be good for 2 years, in previous years a map was published each year but the map committee has decided to go to a 2 year map.
MEMBERSHIP DUES: Membership dues will be due by December 31st, 2017. One & 5 year members will receive their dues statement around the first week of November. All members that renew will receive a 2018-2019 Oconto County ATV Map prior to the 2018 season and a copy of the 2018 Club Events.
OCONTO COUNTY ATV TRAILS: The Oconto County ATV Trails will close this year on Sunday November 5th, 2017. The Oconto County ATV Trails will open again on Saturday April 28th, 2018 weather permitting. This will be our last newsletter of 2017 but we will keep you updated with any ATV/UTV information thru out the year!!!
BUSINESS MEMBERS: The following is a list of Business Members, Please help support their business: Lakewood Hardware, Lakewood Super Valu, Mulligans, The Beach Club, Lotter’s Lakewood Shell, J&J Contracting, Animals Bear Trail Inn, Maple Heights Campground, Echo Valley Campground, Boulder Lake Campground, Tebo Lakewood Realty & Cellular, O’Neils Halfway Bar, 9 mile Bar & Resort, Firelite Bar & Grill, Waubee Lodge, Prospect Bar & Grill, The Schoolhouse Bar & Grill, Sandtrap Bar & Grill & Lakewood Motorsports. Please welcome new Business Member All Season Riders ATV Club from Elkhorn WI.