FORT FRANCES—The Sunset Country Snowmobile Club is merging with other clubs from throughout the Rainy River District to better manage the resources available in the area.
“We’re going to amalgamate,” said SCSC director Dave Hyatt. “It’s been passed, and Rainy River, Emo, Fort Frances, Mine Centre will all be under the same club.”
The move, which had been discussed by the individual clubs, was passed following a three-hour meeting in Emo on Saturday.
A subsequent meeting followed last night, in which specifics were to be detailed and the priorities of the new district-wide club outlined, Hyatt noted.
“Next thing we have to do is contact a lawyer and dissolve our clubs . . . and amalgamate everything [into] one, and go from there,” he added.
The move to amalgamate was premised by meetings at each individual club, including one held by the SCSC last Wednesday, during which a number of concerns were raised.
A half-dozen people shared their thoughts about the state of local snowmobiling and expressed concerns over amalgamation—including Hyatt.
“I agree with amalgamation, but what I don’t agree with is we are sitting good,” Hyatt said at the meeting, adding the SCSC has top-of-the-line grooming equipment and $10,000 in the bank.
“I am not going to sign up with them and be down in Emo grooming trails,” he stressed.
Hyatt also indicated the need for “a dedicated executive” to be put into place for the new club, but added after last weekend’s meeting that people are in place to fill every new position.
Still, amalgamation carries with it a number of opportunities—namely the sharing of each club’s resources to ease promotion and cut down on the paperwork made redundant by the merger.
SCSC president Fred Dennis said even if meetings and talk of amalgamation bore some snowmobile enthusiasts, it amounts to good news for anyone with an interest in the sport.
“I don’t know if it means too much for the average rider, but the paperwork’s going to be less,” Dennis said, meaning volunteers will spend less time behind a desk and more time “out working the trails.”
He added the new club could pursue a number of grants with the clout of a winding map of several hundred kilometres of trails throughout the district, including a $60,000 sum from the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs “if we can get Nestor Falls, Rainy River, and Emo all signed and back on the OFSC map.”
Hyatt said every club in the district was complaining about the same issues at Saturday’s meeting in Emo: membership is down, trails are too empty, and competing with the allure of a cheaper snowmobiling experience south of the border in Minnesota is difficult.
Dennis said Rainy River District’s beautiful and relatively low-traffic trails have a number of selling points, but pushing for the local snowmobiling dollar can be difficult with clubs having fallen on lean times—something he hopes amalgamation can remedy.
“We may have some talent here,” Dennis said. “It’s utilization of what we have is the key.”
Specifics about the new amalgamated club are yet to be decided, and Hyatt said no decisions have been reached yet on how to best introduce and promote the club to the public.
Hyatt added with every position set for the new club already filled, there’s not much to ask from the public “other than they’ve got ’til the end of this month to save $50 to get their permit,” he said.
“The sooner they pay up, the sooner we know what kind of an operating budget we have,” Hyatt remarked.
(Fort Frances Times)
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
