St. Germain Bo-Boen Snowmobile Club

Celebrating 50 years of Snowmobiling!

Volume 2019-20 Number 6 www.boboen.com January 2020

THANK YOU

St. Germain Chamber for your support! At the Christmas party at the Whitetail Inn a check was presented to the Bo‐Boen

Snowmobile Club from the St. Germain Chamber of Commerce for $6,000. An‐

other check for $6,000 will be given this coming summer. Presen ng the check

from the St. Germain Chamber are Chamber Board members (l‐r) Stacey Swen‐

son, Rob Manthei, Cheryl Kelsey, Juliane Nampel, Penny Strom, Chamber Execu‐

ve Director, Larry Chamberlain, Ron Rhodes and Bo‐Boen Club President Steve

Soltwedel.

President’s Message—Steve Soltwedel

Well, snow we got. Reports say we have just over

30 inches so far and it is only mid‐December. Our

trails are groomed, inspected and ready for the

opening, thanks to the countless volunteers who

helped clear the trails a er our heavy wet snows.

As the season starts, remember to check your regis‐

tra on and trail passes. Always Ride Right, Ride

Safe, obey the signage and respect the landowners

who give us permission for trails on their property

by staying on the trail. Don’t forget to patronize

the businesses that support us with map ads. Keep

an eye out for the interviews on the Bo‐Boen Bulle‐

n again this year. Have fun out there and make

this the safest season ever.

If you haven’t had a chance to sign up to volunteer

at our two upcoming func ons, the Hiller’s Radar

Run and the Arrowhead Groomer Show, infor‐

ma on is elsewhere in this newsle er. Our Snow‐

mobile Safety Course was just completed and

thanks goes out to Ozzie and Peg Ausloos for organ‐

izing and all the volunteers that helped.

It sure was great to see the 120 members that

a ended our December Christmas mee ng at the

Whitetail. The food and entertainment was great

as usual. A special thank you to Kay and Gary

Schultz for everything they did to keep it fes ve,

Dianne Dieter for helping wrap gi s and Ed Siergiej

who led us in prayer and song. On behalf of myself

and the Board of Directors, we wish you the Merri‐

est of Christmas and the Happiest of New Year.

Steve

January Membership Meeting Tuesday, January 14th

Sportsmen’s Chalet Cocktails 6:00 pm Dinner 7:00 pm

Menu Selection Beef Burgundy served over noodles

Tenderloin tips with golden mushroom sauce & burgundy wine

Stuffed Pork Chop served with wild rice

Broiled Stuffed Haddock served with baked potato Stuffed with imitation crabmeat

All dinners include salad, rolls, dessert & coffee. All meals are priced at $23.00 with tax and gratuity included.

Members are responsible for the payment of their reservation whether they attend or not, Please make checks payable to Sportsmen’s Chalet.

RSVP on or before Thursday, January 9th to Kay Schultz (715) 542-3912.

23rd Annual Snowmobile Trail Groomer Show

February 5—9 am to 4 pm

February 6—9 am to 2 pm

Ever wonder how the snowmobile trails stay in such great shape? Walker Equipment, home of Ar‐rowhead Groomers, located here in St. Germain, hosts the Arrowhead Groomer Show, one of the largest groomer shows in the Midwest. Stop out and see equipment displays and demonstra ons. Food concessions are run by and will support the local Bo‐Boen Snowmobile Club.

Volunteer Opportuni es Many of you have signed up to volunteer at our upcoming events.

There are s ll some openings for volunteer help. We will again have

volunteer sign‐up sheets at the January mee ng but if you can’t

make that mee ng and want to volunteer, here is how you can:

Hiller’s Radar Run, January 31 and February 1 – Parking Control and

Food Booth opportuni es – For parking control call Bob Ausloos at

920‐420‐4520 and for Food Booth call either Dianne Dieter at 715‐

891‐4830 or Steve Soltwedel at 262‐949‐8930

Arrowhead Groomer Show, February 5th and 6th – Food Service Vol‐

unteers can call Steve Soltwedel at 262‐949‐8930

Trail Boss—Jim Wendt

What an opener we should have....in a nega ve or posi ve

way. In my nearly 30 years in St. Germain I have never prepared

for trail opening with over two feet of snow on the trails! Sounds

great but there comes with the snow totals a poten al nega ve

aspect for trail prepara on. All the snow acts as an insulator and

prohibits the frost from ge ng to the ground. Swamps and lakes

have very li le ice which is a very dangerous situa on. We have

had our equipment on the trails for nearly 10 days trying to

pound the snow down into a hard pack condi on. When the

trails do open, I wonder how they will hold up with no real base

to withstand the heavy use we get during Christmas and New

Years week. Having no experience with a 24” snow base as op‐

posed to a tradi onal ice base my hope is we can hold up and

deliver our great riding experience people have come to ex‐

pect. Please stay off the lakes un l they are clearly marked. En‐

ter swamps only a er other sleds have gone before you. Sleds

should pound down the swamp grass so frost can get to the wa‐

ter and build a sufficiently strong ice base. This will be a unusual

start to the season so use extreme cau on before entering any

wet areas....they may be more dangerous than other years you

have experienced. RIDE SMART!!! Remember that if you drive

off trail or step off trail you will go up to your knees in so snow

and may not be able to move your sled without help.

Your drivers and equipment are ready and maybe the boun ful

snows will work out to be the best ever! The driver staff put 8

days of double shi s into clearing downed trees, panning trails,

and training new staff to effec vely prepare the system for our

opener. We had over a dozen members respond to my plea for

help trimming low hanging branches and brush by snowmobile

on December 17th....my sincere thanks to this group of men and

women for stepping up to help clear our system.

Another note....if you would like a groomer riding experience,

feel free to call me and I will arrange for checking this off your

bucket list.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and take me to

be with family and friends while we all keep in mind the reason

for the season. All my best to you!

HAPPY TRAILS!

Jim

Secretary’s Report—Kay Schultz Ask and you shall receive. We asked for snow and we got it. I know

that the paper is repor ng less, but in our yard we have received

just shy of 40”. The greatest problem right now is the lack of ice.

Our lake ice is only 4” thick. Certainly not enough to snowmobile

on. Hopefully that will change before the trails open.

Our Christmas membership dinner was a huge success. We had 120

people signed up for dinner. Jeff Calhoun provided music during

the great dinner provided by Jeff & Joy Sievert of Whitetail. Thanks

to them and the staff of Whitetail who made the evening enjoya‐

ble. Along with dinner, there was a brief mee ng, Christmas carol‐

ing (thanks to Ed Siergiej), 32 raffle prizes and $392 split up for the

50/50 raffle. Thanks to everybody for their generosity to the Vilas

County Food Pantry. On Wednesday Gary and I delivered $152 and

a great deal of nonperishable items. Thank you again.

The trails are ge ng ready to open. Remember to ride right and

ride safe. Kay Schultz

MEMBERSHIP CORNER Thank you to our new members and all that have renewed their membership. As of this wri ng our membership stands at 1083. We receive

a great number of dona ons along with the memberships. Of our current members, 315 have donated above the dues. Of those, 141 $25 or

more, 94 $50 or more, 44 $100 or more. Thank you.

Discounted Trail Passes—Members with sleds registered in Wisconsin get your discounted trails passes through the AWSC website here:

h ps://awsc.org/Trail‐Pass‐Registra on/Order‐Passes‐Online You will need your AWSC number. Drop me a note if you need it. It is also on

your AWSC magazine or you can do a number lookup at the AWSC website by going here: h ps://awsc.org/About‐Us/Member‐Lookup

Our club is listed as ST GERMAIN BO‐BOEN SC.

Ed Siergiej, Membership Chair

info@boboen.com

KIDS AND ADULTS ON SLEDS = KAOS

Our Snowmobile Safety Class students were treated to a short presenta on by Alishya “AJ”

Kreager the Marathon County Youth Rep for KAOS. AJ told the class about all the fun and

learning experiences that she has had through KAOS.

KAOS is a youth program guided by adults (through the AWSC) within the sport of snowmo‐

biling. KAOS focuses on leadership skills, public speaking skills and general life skills. KAOS

also focuses on ge ng youth more involved in the sport of snowmobiling.

Youth from around the state represent the sport of snowmobiling at many different events

around the US. If you have an interest in learning more and ge ng involved in KAOS please

contact Peggy Ausloos 715‐892‐6467 peggy2090@gmail.com.

2019 SNOWMOBILE SAFETY CLASS IS IN THE BOOKS!

The class was held on December 14 & 15 at the St. Germain Community Center. A total of 56 students a ended and they all received their

cer fica on!

A big Thank You to our instructors: Ozzie & Peggy Ausloos, Roger Klein, Trent Keenlance, Deirdre Strass, Steve Stritzel, Deputy Will Krueger

(Vilas County) and Wardens Tim Ebert and Anne e Swanek from the Wisconsin DNR.

Paul’s Rent‐All provided the demonstra on snowmobiles, Jim Wendt taught the students what to do when mee ng up with a groomer, St.

Germain Rentals provided demo parts, many wonderful bakers provided cookies & brownies, Chuck and Judy Berard made a delicious lunch,

and many, many dedicated volunteers assisted with registra on, class me, test reading and correc on and so much more. Sincere thanks

to all of you, without you we would not be able to handle this many students!

Photo Credit to Dan Dumas—Thank you!

CLUB CASH RAFFLE We will once again be doing our club cash raffle with limited number of tickets sold. Tickets this year will be $100 each

with a maximum of only 100 tickets sold. Cash Prizes will be: 1st $3,000, 2nd $1,000, 3rd $1,000, 4th $500, 5th $500. The following businesses will have them available: Bauer’s Dam Sportsmen’s Chalet Fibber’s St. Germain Sport Marine Knockers Pizza Company Inc. Timbers Bar & Grill Paul’s Rent-All For our out of town members, if you would like to reserve a ticket to purchase, please send us a note via e-mail at in-fo@boboen.com. We will arrange to have a ticket(s) available for you. The drawing will be at our March 10, 2020 Dinner/Meeting and as usual you need not be present to win. If your business would like to have tickets to sell, please con-tact Ed Siergiej @ 715-493-7736.

Sunshine Report

Get well cards were sent to Ron Rhodes (broken shoulder), Diane Dieter (Cataract surgery) and Jim Rybarczyk (broken kneecap). Sympathy cards went out Kelly and Corey Newton (her mother passed away) , to the Caleb Rockafield family, Don Ten Hoven (his wife Sharon passed away) and to Trent Keenlance (president of the Apple Dumpling Group, - his mother passed away) . Please call Judy Schell at (715) 542-2321 or judith-schell@hotmail.com when you have information on births, of members who are ill or hospitalized and need a bit of cheer, sympathy or encouragement.

This Li le Brown Sign Could

Save Your Life!

Vilas & Oneida County Snowmobile Clubs have placed square

brown numbered signs, at key intersec ons, throughout their trail

systems. In the event of an emergency and when you call 911, the

operator will ask you for this number. Their emergency response

system can iden fy these numbers and give important loca on

informa on to rescue personnel.

Please Make Note Of These Intersec on Numbers

As You Travel Our Trail System

Apple Dumpling Gang and Boo-BBB’s The Apple Dumpling Gang is a group of Bo-Boen men who for many years have held weekly snowmobile rides, weather permitting. There are no dues or re-quirements, just show up at the groomer barn on Wednesdays at 9 am ready to ride and have some fun! The Bo-Boen ladies also ride each week under the name Boo-BBB’s and leave the groomer barn at the same time. It is a great way to make friends and meet other fellow snowmobilers. New riders should call Trenton Keenlance at (920) 279-5948 or Penny McCormick at (715) 542-2537.

37th Annual

Ride with the Champs

on February 15, 2020

The Future of Snowmobiling in Wisconsin Depends on You ~

RIDE RESPONSIBLY Please obey posted speed limit signs on all town roads. Speed limits will be strictly enforced. The

use of roads is a privilege that may be taken from us if we do not use them carefully.

WI Trail Pass

You are able to order your trail pass four ways: online, call the AWSC office, walk in to the AWSC office or mail your order to the AWSC office. Each sled opera ng in WI will be required to display a Wisconsin trail pass to be pur‐

Be sure the lake is marked with orange safety barrels before you

ride across it!

Tuesday, January 7—Board Mee ng, 7 pm

Tuesday, January 14—Membership Mee ng

Sportsmen’s Chalet

January 31 & February 1—17th Annual Hiller’s

Radar Run—Li le St. Germain Lake

February 5 & 6—Arrowhead Groomers/Walker Equipment Annual

Snowmobile Trail Grooming Show

I am writing this with a heavy heart....

As much as I love snowmobiling and every-thing that comes with it, it is taking up too much of my time and money. I am strug-gling to keep up with the everyday basics of cleaning and cooking and maintaining my home, so something has to give. I will be getting rid of my collection.

Below is a list of what's available. Serious inquiries only, and please don't insult me with low ball offers.

Thanks for reading and understanding my sorrow.

1. Dustpan and broom 2. Sponges 3. Duster 4. Mop and bucket 5. Lawn Mower 6. Vacuum 7. Leaf Blower 8. Laundry detergent 9. Hand Tools 10. Yard Tools 11. Pots & pans 12. Crock pot 13. Microwave 14. Stove 15. Refrigerator 16. Dishwasher

St. Germain Bo‐Boen Snowmobile Club

PO Box 192

St. Germain WI 54558