NEWSLETTER #1, 2023
CLUB MEETING AND CLUB RIDE: We held our first membership meeting on Saturday June 17th at the Firelite Lounge in Lakewood starting at 10:00 am. We had 42 members, 2 DNR Local Wardens and our Oconto County Rec Officer in attendance. The local law enforcement discussed current accidents this year in Oconto County and were thankful that Oconto County has not had any fatalities this year. Officer Dryja discussed many of the rules of the road and trails (attached is a list of the subjects that he discussed). We would like to thank Jen from the Firelite Lounge for opening early for our meeting. After the meeting we left Lakewood on our club ride, we had 18 machines and a total of 30 people (see our Facebook page and Website for pictures). We went south on the Nicolet State Trail and stopped for lunch at the South Shore Grille on Chute Pond. We had a great lunch, thanks again to the owner’s of the South Shore Grille. After lunch we took a scenic ride on Bonita Road, to Mountain Lakes Road, took our club trail back to the Nicolet State Trail and back to Lakewood returning around 4:00 pm. Thanks to all of our members that attended the meeting. Our next membership meeting will be at our Annual Fundraiser on August 19th at noon at Animal’s Bear Trail Inn.
DNR ATV/UTV INSTRUCTOR’S AND TRAIL AMBASSADOR: If any members are interested in becoming a DNR ATV/UTV Instructor please reply to this email address. An DNR ATV/UTV Instructor is required to get a background check and attend an instructor’s classroom training with the DNR and then attend 2 DNR ATV/UTV Certification classes to qualify to be an instructor. Normally you would teach 1 to 2 classes in a year. If you are interested in becoming a DNR ATV/UTV Trail Ambassador again please reply to this email. An ATV/UTV Trail Ambassador receives classroom or online training and one day of field training. A trail ambassador travels with another trail ambassador, wears a yellow vest and educated riders out in the field. All expenses for these positions will be paid by our club.
WOLF RIVER BRIDGE UPDATE: Langlade County and the Town of Wolf River recently passed a bridge ordinance that allows ATV/UTV Travel on bridges of less that 1000 feet in length on State Highway 64 bridge in the Town of Wolf River. They also designated the Town of Wolf River parking lot as an ATV/UTV Trailhead. You can now trailer from Oconto County to the Town of Wolf River and go west across the Hwy 64 bridge to White Lake and the Wolf River Trail system. We are still working on connecting Oconto County and Langlade County. We are one step closer on a south route using Hwy W in Oconto County to Highway WW in Langlade County, we currently are doing an engineer study along Hwy 55 that will connect to Highway M in Langlade County. Using Highway M you will be able to travel to the Village of White Lake and the Wolf River Trail. As far as a new bridge across the Wolf River on Highway 64, it is still in the plan to replace the existing Highway 64 bridge and attach a recreational wing to this new highway bridge. The plan is to replace this bridge in 2025 or 2026.
CLUB BRUSHING: Our annual brushing date is scheduled for Monday July 31st, 2023. We will have 2 meeting locations, one at the Town of Riverview, and the other will be at Animal’s Bear Trail Inn. We will start at 9:30. More information to follow.
ANNUAL FUNDRAISER: Our Annual Fundraiser will be held on Saturday August 19th at Animal’s Bear Trail Inn at the corner of Highway 64 and Highway T in the Town of Doty. The fundraiser will be held from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm, with meat raffles, 50-50 raffles, food and refreshments. Again we will need help setting up on Friday afternoon, on Saturday we will have 2 hour shifts from 1-3 and 3-5 in the following positions: Meat raffle sellers, Meat raffle runners(bring a meat ticket to the winners), and food server’s. Also if anyone is interested in helping spin the wheel that we can give a break to our meat wheel spinner. Please reply to this email with what positions you would like to work at or call Jim at 920-562-7872.
MARDI GRAS PARADE: Our club will participate in the Mardi Gras Parade that takes place in Lakewood WI on Sunday July 16th at noon. Our club will furnish beads again this year. We will meet at the Lakewood Cemetery on Hwy 32 where the parade starts at 11:30 am. All members and friends are welcome to attend. Young children are more than welcome to attend but please remember that any one under the age of 18 must wear a helmet.
BUSINESS MEMBERS: Please support the following businesses that belong to our club: Lakewood Hardware, Lakewood SuperValu, Mulligan’s Sport Bar, Lotter’s BP in Lakewood, J & J Contracting, Animal’s Bear Trail Inn, Maple Heights Campground, Echo Valley Campground, Boulder Lake Campground, Tebo Lakewood Realty & Cellular, Anderson’s Supper Club, O’Neils Halfway Bar, Firelite Bar & Grill, Waubee Lodge, The School House Bar, Sandtrap Bar & Grill, Lakewood Motorsports, Binder Lake Lodge, Maiden Lake Supper Club, All Season Rider ATV Club, Dusty Trails ATV Club, Mountain Springs Motel & Campground and Team Winnebagoland.