Hidden Bear Trail ATV Club Newsletter May 2012

Our first 2012 ATV Membership Meeting
was held on Saturday May 12th, 2012 at 10:00 am at Animal’s Bear Trail Inn. The
following was the information that was shared with the membership:
Membership Report: We have a total of
111 paying members and a total of 202 total members
Website
Update: We continue to update our website on a weekly
basis. We have a link to Oconto County on our website where you can find the
up-to-date Oconto County ATV map. We also have all the new info in regards to
the new UTV bill and the new license plate information. Please visit our
website at www.hiddenbeartrailatvclub.com.
Roger
Steinbach Memorial: On May 5th our club sponsored a
memorial ride and memorial ceremony for our vice-president Roger Steinbach who
passed away last November. We had a total of 31 ATV’s/UTV’s leave the trailhead
in Lakewood at 10:00 am. Rider’s included our Wisconsin ATV Association (WATVA)
President, Randy Harden, along with our WATVA Northeast Region Representative
Terry Coplein. We arrived at Animal’s Bear Trail Inn and had another 50 people
for the Memorial Ceremony that started at Noon. A memorial sign was placed on
the trail by Roger’s wife Kathy and son’s Lucas & Jason. A lunch followed
the ceremony sponsored by the Hidden Bear Trail ATV Club. Please visit the
WATVA website for additional information regarding the ceremony at www.watva.org.
Lakewood
Report: All of the town roads in Lakewood were officially
opened on Tuesday May 1st, 2012. Club members worked 2 days to put up all the
signs on all the town roads. The Lakewood town roads will be open year round
for ATV travel. The speed limit on all town roads is 20 mph unless posted
differently. Highway F & Highway 32 in the Town of Lakewood are not opened
for ATV travel. We are currently working with Oconto County and some private
landowners to open some sections of Highway F to allow access to the Nicolet
State Trail. We will continue to update you with info regarding Highway F.
Please remember riding ATV’s on town roads is a privilege not a right so please
abide by all rules or the privilege can be taken away. The
signs were purchased by our club.
Riverview
Report: We are currently working with the Town of
Riverview to open additional roads on a road by road basis. Opening up all the
town roads in Riverview is still a club goal and we will continue to work with
resident’s and town officials to reach our goal.
Doty
Report: Our club unsuccessfully worked on getting
additional town roads in the Township of Doty. We currently have a total of 7
gravel roads in Doty that connect with our new 50 mile trail/route that we
opened last fall. Our Board Members attended planning commission meetings in
February and the Board Meeting in March and at the Board Meeting in March all 3
town officials voted not to open any additional roads in Doty. We will continue
to work with Town Officials on opening roads for ATV travel in
Doty.
Forest
Service Report: Our club is currently working with the
Forest Service to finish our new route that we opened last fall off of the
Nicolet State Trail. We currently have a detour between Island Lake Road &
Star Lake Road in the Town of Riverview. We have a grant request in with the
Forest Service and Oconto County to construct a new .20 mile trail around a
water issue. The outcome of this grant should be finalized in August and
hopefully the new trail will be constructed after August. We are also working
with the FS on a new trail North of Mulligan’s in Lakewood, off of the Nicolet
State Trail, that will connect a west to east trail from South of Lakewood over
to Crooked Lake, riders from Lakewood & Townsend area will benefit with a
shorter ride to Crooked Lake if and when this trail is opened. The other
project is a new trail from Blue Spruce Road in Doty thru FS property over to
Highway T and the Boulder Lake Area. We have secured the permission from a
private landowner at Boulder Lake to connect this new route and we are now
waiting for the FS to meet with us to discuss this again.
Mountain
Memorial Day Parade: Our club will participate with a
parade float in the Mountain Memorial Day Parade again this year. The parade is
scheduled at noon on Sunday May 27th. Any club members that want to ride in
the parade with their ATV’s/UTV’s should be at the old Mountain School Building
at 11:30 am on County W west of Mountain.
Large
Raffle & Fundraiser August 18th, 2012: Our club will
hold it’s annual Fundraiser on Saturday August 18th from noon – 6:00 pm at
Animal’s Bear Trail Inn, Hwy T & 64, Mountain WI. We will have meat
raffles, 50-50 raffles, food and beverages all day. We also will need club
member’s to help that day, a later email will be requesting help that day. We
will also be having our large raffle ticket sales again this year. We have
already started selling these tickets. We are selling only 100 tickets, with
the first prize of $3000.00 cash to the winner. We are also giving away another
13 cash prizes, which means if you buy a ticket you will have a 1 in 7 chance to
win. Tickets are $100.00 a piece and can be purchased by contacting our
secretary Jim Wisneski at 715-276-6612 or email at hiddenbeartrailatvclub@centurytel.net.
License
Plate Info and UTV Bill: Effective July 1st, 2012 the new
UTV bill will be a permanent law. Along with making UTV’s legal the new law
included the requirement to install a License Plate on your ATV/UTV. The
license plate information is on our website and the WATVA website. The plate
must be a minimum of 4 inches in height and 7 1/2 inches wide, plate must be
white with black lettering with a minimum of 1 1/2 inches high with a minimum
3/16 inch stroke. The plate only needs the 4 registration numbers and two
letters that follow (same as on the registration decal), owner shall maintain
the plate so it is in legible condition and plate shall be attached to the rear
of the vehicle. Again for more information including the reason for the license
plate please visit the WATVA website at: www.watva.org.
Accomplishment since August 2009: The
following information was shared with the membership: Our club has opened a 50
mile ATV route off of the Nicolet State Trail (along with the help from the
Red Arrow Club and the White Lake Club), paid for and constructed a 1/2 mile
fence along Hwy T with the Red Arrow Club, paid for a culvert across Highway 64,
received a $23,000 grant from the Forest Service, worked with the Riverview to
repair Mountain Lakes Road, opened up 20 roads in the Town of Riverview, opened
up all Town Roads in the Town of Lakewood, opened up 6 town roads in Doty, paid
and put up all ATV signs in all 3 townships, planned and organized 4 successful
fundraiser’s that raised over $9,000 to open and maintain ATV trails &
routes, donated $250.00 to both the Mountain/Riverview/Doty and
Townsend/Lakewood Ambulance service, Board of Director’s attended numerous
meeting’s including the State WATVA meeting, NE WI WATVA meetings, Forest
Service Meetings, Town Board and Town Planning Meetings and increased membership
each year.
Business
Members: Please visit our website for a list of our
business member’s and please help support our local business’s. They continue
to support us all year long.
Adjournment: The meeting Adjourned at
11:30 am and our next membership meeting will be at 10:00 am on June 9th at
Mulligan’s on Highway 32 in Lakewood hope you can attend.
Jim Wisneski
Secretary