Hidden Bear Trail ATV Club Newsletter May 2013

May
Membership Meeting: The first 2013 membership meeting was
held on Saturday May 10th at Animal’s Bear Trail Inn. A total of 25 members
were in attendance.
Membership Report: We now have 121
paying members and 235 total family members. We are continuing to
grow.
Oconto
County ATV Trails: The ATV Trails in Oconto County
officially opened Friday May 10th. Have a safe & enjoyable riding
season
Doty
Report: On Thursday May 9th the Doty Town Board held a
special meeting to discuss a possible ATV Ordinance to open most town roads in the Town of Doty. The final vote will be at the May 14th Town Board Meeting.
If passed the agreement with our club is to have our club purchase and sign all
the roads, once the roads are signed they will be open. The specific date will
be posted in the newspaper, our website and we will send an email to all of our
members. We will also be asking for help installing the signs if that
happens.
Riverview Report: On Monday April 29th,
11 members of our club installed the remainder of ATV Signs in the Town of
Riverview. All Town Roads where posted are now open for ATV/UTV Travel year round. Please abide by all speed limits and please limit use of the town roads to get to the trails where possible. Our biggest problem/complaint from the Town Boards is the speeding of the ATV/UTV’s and the same people riding up and down the same road all day long. Please remember all of our members can help control the action of others.
Lakewood Report: We now have 2 sections
on County F along the ditch line to assist ATV/UTV Riders in getting to the
Nicolet State Trail. We are working with Oconto County and looking at more
areas in the ditch line along County F. The County has also requested that we
put wood chips in the ditch line of any areas that we have open for ATV/UTV
travel. The only ditch lines that are open along County F are posted with legal
ATV/UTV signs, if the ditch line is not posted with signs it is not
open.
New
Bylaws: At our meeting on Saturday the members voted to
adapt a new set of Club Bylaws. A copy of the bylaws will be posted on our
website at www.hiddenbeartrailatvclub.com if anyone would like to read the new bylaws.
Forest
Service (FS): We are currently working on 2 major projects
and just in the talking phases of a few others with the FS. Our top priority at
this time is the connector between the Boulder Lake Area (Highway T) over to
Blue Spruce Roads. The private land owner has completed the necessary work at Boulder Lake and if the Town Board opens all the Town Roads, the only area left is between Highway T and Blue Spruce Road to make the connector complete. This will allow all the riders at the 2 campgrounds and all the property owners in that area an opportunity to get to the Nicolet State Trail. We now have a new FS representative we are working with and have been in contact with him, he just started on Monday May 6th. The other project is from the Nicolet State Trail (just north of Mulligan’s) over to Sullivan Springs Road and over to the backside of the Golf Course. If this is open it will allow the riders from Lakewood, Townsend, and Wheeler Lake Area a quicker ride over to Crooked Lake. We will be having our quarterly meeting with the FS in June and hopefully we will have more information to report on these 2 projects.
Wisconsin ATV Association
(WATVA) Meeting: On April 14 – 16th the annual WATVA
meeting was held in Wausau WI. 7 members from our club attended the meeting. Friday’s session was focused on Tourism and how to promote our sport and the economic impact the sport has on the local economy. On Saturday numerous sessions were held including grant applications, legislative issue, a trail system East & West across the entire State and other informational sessions. The legislative information included giving local jurisdiction to local townships to determine if they want to eliminate the 10 mph speed limit on Road Routes in residential areas and the other is to change the law to require ATV/UTV Riders between the ages of 12 – 15 to be accompanied by a parent or a parent approved adult on road routes. Currently the law allows riders between ages of 12 – 15 with a DNR safety certificate to ride on road routes without an adult. WATVA supports both of these bills. At Saturday’s Banquet our member Kathy Steinbach was honored as the top trail patrol ambassador in the state. Kathy performed in excess of 400 hours last year in patrolling our trails in our area. Thanks Kathy for being involved!!!
ATV
Safety Class: Red Arrow Snowmobile and ATV Club along with
our club will be sponsoring an ATV Safety Class scheduled for July 1st and 2nd
at the Townsend Town Hall from 5:30 – 9:30 pm. Anyone born on or after January 1st, 1988 must take the course to ride legally in Wisconsin, You must be 12 years old to drive an ATV but I believe if you are 10 or 11 you can take the course but will not be issued a certificate until you reach the age of 12. To
sign up email jbrantmeier@athernet.net or call 620-540-5948. The cost of the course is $10.00 and if you are a member of the club or have children or grandchildren that want to take the course, our club will pay the $10.00 registration fee.
Large
Cash Raffle & Fundraiser: We still have some tickets
available for our Large Cash Raffle that will be drawn on August 17th. We are
only selling 125 tickets and the first prize is $3500.00 with a 1 in 7 chance to
win. For a list of all the cash prizes and other information visit our website
at www.hiddenbeartrailatvclub.com. If you want to purchase a ticket or have us hold a ticket for you, please contact Jim at 715-276-6612. Our main fundraiser for the year will also be held on Saturday August 17th at Animal’s Bear Trail Inn more info to follow
Business Members: The following is a
list of our Business Members, please help support their efforts: Lakewood
Hardware (special thanks to Dave Genke for allowing our club to make copies of maps) Timberline Restaurant, Lakewood Supervalu, Lakewood Power Sports, Mulligans, Beach Club, Sand Trap Bar & Grill, Prospect Bar, Lizer Lawn Care, Animal’s Bear Trail Inn, J & J Contracting, Maple Heights Campground, Echo Valley Campground, Tebo Lakewood Realty & Cellular, O’Neil’s Halfway Bar, 9 Mile Resort, Firelite Bar & Grill & Pine Grove Bar &
Grill.
Next
Membership Meeting: June 8th at the Halfway Bar at 10:00
am located on Highway 32 just south of the Riverview Fire
Department.