• November 2007
• October 2007
• September 2007

Planning the first big trip for the season involves some forethought. You need to be prepared. Four hardcore snowmobilers, Randy Toth, Andy Holland, Bob Dodge, Larry Tucker along with myself, started to get ready a few days in advance. Randy, who always seems to be one step ahead, had clearly been making plans for weeks. The night before, both Andy and Bob called me. They needed directions from their neck of the woods and asked a few more questions about the trip and what they should bring. They had never trekked out to this particular destination before and wanted to be certain they had everything they needed. Not being a morning person, I got all of my stuff ready the night before, I even laid out my clothes to avoid stumbling around the house in the wee hours of the morning and risk waking the kids. Did I mention that I hate mornings, especially FIVE in the A.M.!

Getting an early start is supposed to get you to your destination early, but not on this day. Traffic was snarled and we crawled along the highway for hours. Oh well, we love snowmobiling. When we finally arrived in town, our internal compass had gone batty and we found ourselves lost. Not hopelessly lost, but enough to drag out the maps and wish that a GPS was installed in the vehicle. It was now close to 11am, six hours since the alarm clock sounded. What made matters even worse, was the fact that the parking garage was packed and we couldn’t find a spot. Parking garage, you ask? What… did you think we were going for a ride? I only wish! The fact of the matter is we were traveling to the State House to testify before State Senators and Representatives about pending snowmobile legislation. Randy, Andy and Bob had never been to the State House before, so this was all new to them. These guys were doing the heavy lifting, the kind of stuff that dedicated snowmobilers do to keep the trails open and safe for everyone.

We met with Henry Gillet, the SAM legislative advisor, who literally took us by the hands and led us up and down a maze of hallways, introducing our small group to legislators and key supporters of snowmobiling at the State Capital. After the brief meetings, and with a few minutes to spare, he gave us a quick mini-tour of the building. All the tourist fun lasted 30 minutes, tops, then Henry rushed us to the hearing room, where things were scheduled to get underway at 1pm. Before going in, Henry gave us a last minute pep-talk and made sure we understood the process. Believe me, this made everyone a lot more comfortable and confident. The room was crowded, the five of us crammed onto a little wooden bench that looked like it belonged in a colonial church. It was an 80-degree day and the A/C was clearly off. We get along real well, but being squashed onto a tiny bench, shoulder to shoulder, was no fun. In front of us were a panel of legislators; I’d say about 10 or twelve of them. State Reps. Anne Gobi and Denis Guyer sat directly across from us, and gave a wave hello.

We sat on those uncomfortable benches for four hours, waiting to be heard. Ouch! The bills were called in numeric order and we had no clue as to how long it would take. It’s not that we couldn’t count, but we had no idea how many others would testify for the bills that proceeded ours. Hours passed as we listened to testimony about outdoor wood heaters, school bus emissions, beavers, something about domestic pets and more, until my head started to wobble on my shoulders. Finally at 5pm, 12 hours since my beauty sleep had been interrupted, we got our turn. Randy and Larry testified first about the SAM safety course bill, and then Andy and Bob spoke on the proposed vintage registration plan. It was over in the blink of an eye, as each person was only allowed three minutes to speak. The four of them did SAM proud and made strong arguments as to why the bills should be signed into law. A little bit of back-slapping was in order, then we were off to battle Boston’s rush hour. The ride back home was not as bad, but that’s like saying a brick to the head doesn’t hurt as much as a cinder block. Nonetheless, I pulled into my driveway around 8:45pm, hungry and tired. The other guys had an even longer drive home.

Trips and meetings like this are the norm for SAM committee members, they sacrifice vacation days and more importantly, time away from their families: That’s the big one for me. As soon as I got home, I went upstairs to say goodnight to my boys, I thought I‘d read a quick book to them, maybe talk about the trip into Boston. My timing was about 15 minutes too late. Peering into their room, I found them precisely in the same place where I had seen them 15 ½ hours ago, wrapped-up in blankets, asleep in bed. It was temping to wake them up, just to say goodnight, but I left them alone. I’ll make the time up to them this winter, on a family snowmobile trip, they’ll understand.

Dan Gould
President