Driftbusters Sept. 7th. 2017 Meeting Minutes
Meeting was called to order by President Lee OIson.
Minutes of the April meeting were handed out by Sec. Cheryl Gelling. Lee asked if there were any corrections or additions to the minutes if not he asked for a motion to approve. A motion to approve was made by Duane Sutton and seconded by Al Nagel. Motion approved.
Treasurers report by Ann Nagel; Discussion was held on whether to put some of the club fund into another CD. Duane Sutton made the motion to put $10,000 in a CD for 28 months. Al Nagel seconded, motion carried. Club dues for ACSA. Ann asked if we want to pay the business rate of $250 like we did last year. Jim Weaver made a motion to pay the $250 , Tracy Olson seconded, motion carried.
SDSA convention at Brookings on Nov. 3-4 2017. It was suggested that anyone planning on attending the convention they need to make their reservations as soon as possible.
Advisory Council by Al Nagel; there was discussion on the budget. The state has purchased 1 new groomer. The state is putting up 3 cameras in different locations in the Hills that will be showing the actual trail so anybody wanting to check the snow conditions can do so.
Trail Report by Jim Weaver; Discussion was held on the new signs that the state has put in the ditches that block our trail. Duane Sutton stated that they are in the southern part of the state now and he has been in contact with Derk Rogers of the Brown County Highway Dept. and gave him a list of the signs that we need moved. Jim Weaver stated that the groomer is in good shape as it was all serviced last year and only used once. It has been inspected by the state so it should be ready to go. We can start marking the trail on Nov. 1 and it has to be done by Nov. 23 as the inspection will be done by Dec. 1st. and we can start grooming Dec. 15th. Paul Sivertson and Tom Wanttie will be taking over Bruce & Diane Tollefson’s section of the trail. A big thank you to Paul and Tom for volunteering. Jim Weaver stated that if any of the trail leaders need supplies for marking the trail to please contact him as soon as possible. The state will be sending a person from Watertown to inspect the northeast trails. Ann Nagel stated that she entered the Driftbusters in the Gypsy Day Parade. Joey Nagel, Dan Rohrbach, and Evan Halvorson will be in charge of the float.
Emergency Reaction; Nothing to report at this time.
Safety ; The date for the safety training course will need to be set at the Oct. meeting.
Charity; We will continue selling 50/50 fund raiser tickets at our monthly meetings.
Publicity ; Kelly Weaver has arranged for a radio interview on Dakota Broadcasting which will be live on Tues. Oct. 3rd. to talk about the Driftbusters Snowmobile Club. Tracy and Matt Olson have volunteered to do the radio interview.
Activities/trail ride. The Driftbusters annual campout and membership drive is Sept. 15-16 at Wylie Park Campground, please come join us whether you have a camper or not. For more information contact Cheryl Gelling at 605-329-7402.
Monthly News article. Matt Olson was volunteered to do this.
Yeti report by Matt Olson. We had a meeting in May in Pierre and another meeting in Aug. in Sioux Falls. Discussion was held on the booth we will have at the Convention in Brookings. Postures were made to get more members and have them to distribute around the communities in the state of S.D. It was suggested that a member of the Y.E.T.I.S. be present when the SDSA board meets to learn how to govern our group and have input in the S. D. Snowmobile Association.
Old Business; Tracy Olson nominated Evan Halvorson to be President Elect. Evan agreed and Ann Nagel seconded, motion approved.
New Business; Discussion was held on the Driftbusters web site. Paul Sivertson was present at the meeting and said he will be willing to help update the web site and make it more user friendly, such as club members would be able to post pictures or videos, also he would help set up a pay pal account for the Driftbusters who want to pay their dues on line. He would help to make better advertising for the associate members. Discussion was held on what to do with the trophies and trophy case. Jim and Cheryl Gelling volunteered to take pictures of all the trophies and the trophy case. Paul Sivertson suggested that if we update the web site he could put all the pictures of the trophies on the web site so everyone could scroll through them and look at the trophies and see what they were for. Discussion was also held on the disposal of the trophies and trophy case. More discussion will be held on the trophies and trophy case at the campout. Al Nagel made the motion to go ahead with updating the web site and Jim Weaver seconded. Motion carried. Cheryl Gelling asked what to do with the old laptop computer. Paul Sivertson said he could wipe it, update it and we could donate it to someone. Duane Sutton made a motion to give it to the YETI group. Jim Weaver seconded, motion carried. Discussion was held on buying a laptop for the treasurer. Al Nagel made a motion to get the same laptop, like the club bought for the secretary, for the treasurer, Tracy Olson seconded, motion carried.
Next Meeting; October 5th. 7:30 pm at the Pizza Ranch.
Motion to adjourn was made by Evan Halvorson seconded by Jim Weaver, meeting adjourned.
Lee Olson, President

September Newsletter:

Welcome back from summer vacation. Let’s hope for a better year of snow this year.

Our first meeting of the year will be September 7th at 7:30 PM at the Pizza Ranch. Come out and help us get the year started right. We will be discussing the trail – the state decided to move some signs and several are in the middle of the trail so we will need to review options or our trail may be in jeopardy. Also, we will need to decide how to handle the trophy case that needs to be moved due to the Pizza Ranch remodeling. Currently this is being stored in the Gelling’s snowmobile trailer and they will need that soon! Other agenda items include: monthly meeting location, website and newsletter.
We are still looking for a President Elect for the Club. It is important for the Club to continue so we can advocate for access to snowmobiling, have a trail and overall just HAVE FUN!
My son Matt will be giving a YETIS – Youth Engagement Through Involvement in Snowmobiling update from their spring meeting in Pierre in May and their summer outing in Sioux Falls in August. We encourage the teens of our club to join YETIS – no additional fee, but a lot of fun! The next YETIS meeting is scheduled during the convention in Brookings in November.
The annual camp out and Membership Drive will be September 15-17 at Wylie Park. If you do not have your campsites contact Wylie Park at 605-626-3512 and be sure and tell them that you are with the Aberdeen Driftbusters Snowmobile club and reserve soon. You don’t need a camper to come join the fun. Friday night there will be a turkey cookout and campfire. Saturday will be the potluck meal 5:30pm with the Millstone furnishing our main course, followed by free go carts to paid members and likely another bonfire. Come join all or a portion of the weekend. Bring along a friend – recruit someone new to snowmobiling!
You will be asked to pay your dues at the camp out – $30.00/year per family which includes SDSA dues and access to the Snowplainsman. SDSA gets $20.00 and $10.00 stays with the club.
There is also an Associate Membership. If you are a business owner or know of someone that would be interested in becoming an associate member, contact a club member and we can reach out to the business with the information. Associate memberships allow the business to advertise to club members and be recognized on the website.
Hope to see you at one of the September events to get our season kicked off to a great start! Call me or email if you have questions or agenda items.
President, Lee Olson
701-320-6252
Lee.olson@greenironequipment.com

Driftbusters April 6^th. Meeting Minutes

Meeting called to order by Jim Gelling because President Jeff Thorne was out of town on business.

Minutes of the meeting were handed out by Sec. Cheryl Gelling, Jim asked if there were any corrections or additions to the minutes if not he asked for a motion to approve. A motion to approve was made by Al Nagel, and seconded by Ken Ham. Motion approved.

Treasurers Report by Jim Friedt. Jim stated he will make an appointment with H&R Block to have the taxes done. Jim stated that we have 103 paid members and 16 associate members. Ann Nagel made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report, it was seconded by Al Nagel, motion approved.

SDSA report. Nothing at this time.  

Advisory report. Nothing to report.

Trail Report by Jim Weaver. Jim stated we had a very short grooming season.  50hrs grooming and 7 rotations groomed. Jim stated that we had gravel hauled in below the dam at Richmond on the snowmobile trail and we will probably have to do that every year because the gravel washes out every spring. April 25^th. is when we have to have the grant in aid forms filled out and mailed in. May 1^st. all trail markers must be out. Jim stated that Bruce and Diane Tollefson informed the club that this will be their last year for marking the trail from Richmond to Westport. An email was sent out to every member asking for someone to come to the April meeting and volunteer to take over this section. No one showed up at the meeting to volunteer and therefore there was much discussion on whether to keep our trail system or not. Jim Friedt said he would talk to his son and his son’s friends to see if they would take over marking that section of the trail. It was then decided to turn in the trail proposal for next year.

Emergency Reaction. Stacey Pence has lists of the people who have volunteered to help with this and they need to be double checked for addresses so she handed the list around for everyone to look at and make any changes that were necessary.

Charity: Nothing to report at this time.

Activities: The Pizza/swim party will be at the Super 8 East on Sunday, April 9^th. Swimming starts at 1pm and pizza will be served at 5:30pm. Everyone planning on attending are asked to contact Wanda Gelling at 605-216-2349 so she knows how many pizza’s to order.

Yeti Report by Matt Olson. He stated that they just elected officers and they are not that organized as of yet but they would like to invite members from all clubs to events state wide and was wondering what our opinion was for this idea to invite Yeti members and their parents from other clubs to our campout in the fall. The Yeti members would like to have their meetings at these events so they can get to know everyone and plan their events accordingly. He stated they would be meeting this June in Pierre and he would inform us of their plans.

Old Business: Jim Weaver stated that he was contacted by Dakota Motor Sports who ordered the new SkiDoo banner to replace the one that belonged to Duane Sutton that disappeared at our State Convention last fall. Jerome Ottenbacher the owner of Dakota Motor Sports asked if the club would be willing to pay his membership dues, associate member dues and web site dues for 2 years in exchange for his cost for the new banner. A motion was made by Ken Ham to approve this and seconded by Kelly Weaver, motion approved.      

New Business: Election of Officers. Jim stated that at the last meeting Andy Olson and Evan Halvorson were nominated to be board members. Jim asked if there is any more nominations for the position of 2 board members if not he asked for a motion to approve Andy Olson and Evan Halvorson as board members. Motion was made by Kelly Weaver and seconded by Al Nagel, motion approved. Jim asked for nominations for Pres. elect. This spot was left open at this time as no one volunteered. Jim asked for nominations for the treasurers job that Jim Friedt currently holds. Ann Nagel volunteered for this position and asked if Jim would help her get oriented and Jim said he would. Ken Ham made the motion to nominate Ann Nagel as our new treasurer and Duane Sutton seconded, motion carried. Jim asked for nomination for the secretary position held by Cheryl Gelling. No one volunteered so Cheryl said she would do it on a yearly basis so some one else has an opportunity to learn the position and I will help them. The club also stated that Cheryl should buy a new computer as the old one is outdated. Motion was made for election of officers to cease, motion approved.        

The fall campout is set for Sept. 15-16 at Wylie Park Campground. We will follow the same agenda as in the past. Bon fire and turkeys Fri. night and pot luck with meat furnished by the club Sat. followed by the GoKarts Sat. night. Full details will be on the Driftbusters web site at a later date.

Discussion was held on rotating our monthly club meetings to associate members businesses again next year. Everyone thought it worked great and feels we should continue it next year.

Our first meeting next fall will be Sept. 7^th. at 7:30pm at the Pizza Ranch. At which time we will pick the club meeting rotations.

Duane Sutton stated that he has ACSA calendars for $20 if anyone is interested.

Motion was made by Ann Nagel to adjourn and seconded by Jim Weaver. Meeting adjourned.

April Newsletter

   The season has come to an end and still not enough snow to ride here but hope everyone was able to travel elsewhere to find snow to ride.

   Our last meeting of the season will be Thursday, April 6^th. at 7:30pm at the Pizza Ranch.

Election of officers will be held and the details will be finalized for the fall campout.

   April 9^th, starting at 1pm will be the member pizza/swim party at the Super 8 East. Pizza will be served at 5:30pm and everyone planning on attending needs to contact Wanda Gelling at 216-2349 so she knows how many pizza’s to order.

All trail markers need to be removed as soon as possible.

   Hope to see you Thursday night at the Pizza Ranch.

Scholarship Application

Jamie and Colleen Hohm would like to award a $500  scholarship to a graduating senior who belongs to a South Dakota snowmobile club in memory of their son Jakob.

The application is attached. It will be on the website soon as well – and will be shared to facebook etc.

Name:

Address:

Phone Number:

Email Address:

High School:                                                                           Graduation Date:

Snowmobile Club that you belong to:

Anticipated Tech School, College, or University:

Major:

Please name 3 quality characteristics about you:

1)

2)

3)

How would you introduce another young person to snowmobiling or riding ATV’s? Why would that be important to you?

Application is due April 22, 2017

Please mail scholarship application to Diane Hiles 604 Root Ave SW   DeSmet, SD 57231

Driftbusters March 2 Meeting Minutes

Meeting called to order in Frederick by Pres. Jeff Thorne.

Minutes of the meeting were handed out by Sec. Cheryl Gelling. Jeff asked if there were any corrections or additions if not Jeff asked for a motion to approve the meeting minutes. Ken Ham made the motion to approve seconded by Duane Sutton, motion approved.

Treasurers Report by Cheryl Gelling. There are 103 paid members and 16 associate members. Motion to approve by Jim Gelling, seconded by Al Nagel, motion approved.

SDSA report by Jeff Thorne. Jeff stated there were approx. 80 people for the Governors Ride with 6 dignitaries. He said a lot of people cancelled out thinking the snow was going to be bad but as it turned out it was better than last year. Game Fish & Parks and Shannon Percy did a great job of setting up a trail for the Governor’s Ride. Jeff stated that a fund raiser this Sat. March 4, in Willow Lake for Jacob Holm, the 8 yr. old who died from complications from medical issues. The money raised will be used for scholarships which SDSA will give out each year.    

Advisory Report by Al Nagel. There was extended discussion about the fat tire bike people that are trying to get permission to ride on the snowmobile trails. There are a lot of safety issues so the advisory committee will monitor the issue and decide later. They have been having a lot of mechanical issues with the groomers in the Hills, at one time there was 3 with rear ends out of them and 1 with transmission problems. Luckily with the poor snow conditions in the hills they were able to keep up with the grooming. 12 out of the 16 East river trails were only groomed once or twice. Next meeting is May 13^th. in Pierre so you need to get your trail proposals in.

ACSA Report by Duane Sutton. Duane stated that he has ACSA calendars for sale at $20 each. ISC is coming up June 7^th through the 10^th. in Winnipeg, Canada. ACSA fly in to D.C. will be June 23, 24, 25.  

Trail Report by Jim Gelling. Our trail proposal for next year needs to be turned in. If any of the trail leaders want to make any changes to their section of the trail to contact Jim Weaver as soon as possible, otherwise our trail proposal will be the same as last year.

Charity Report for SDSA by Jeff Thorne. Jeff stated that he needs to turn in the hour count for charity by the end of this month. Anyone that donated any time for club functions total up your hours and get them to Jeff Thorne.

Activities; The Pizza/Swim party is scheduled for April 9^th. at the Super 8 East. Swimming starts at 1pm and Pizza will be served at 5:30pm. Everyone planning on attending is asked to contact Wanda Gelling at 605-216-2349 so she knows how many pizzas to order. Our fall membership drive and campout will be Sept. 15-16^th. at Wylie Park with details to be finalized at the April 6^th. club meeting.    

Old Business; Nothing at this time.

New Business; We need to nominate new officers and board members. There are 2 positions open for board members and treasurer, secretary, and pres. elect. Andy Olson and Evan Halvorson were nominated for board members. There were no nominations for treasurer, secretary, & pres. elect. If anyone knows anyone that would be interested in these positions please come to the April 6^th. meeting. President and President Elect are the only position that requires you to have been a past or present board member. Discussion was held on a new start time for the monthly meetings. After some discussion it was decided to leave it at 7:30pm. Discussion was held on the rotating meetings and it was stated it is a good idea and it worked out well this year as it shows appreciation to our associate members by having a meeting at their place of business. It was decided to continue it for next year. More discussion at the April 6^th. meeting.  Duane Sutton made a motion to donate $250 to the Jacob Holm memorial ride. Seconded by Ann Nagel. Motion carried.

Tracy Olson reported that Matt Olson went to the KAOS meetings in Deadwood where they changed their name to YETIIS, which stands for Youth Empowerment Through Involvement In Snowmobiling. They elected their officers and Matt Olson was elected the Recorder. Their next meeting will be in Pierre.

Monthly News Article will be written by Ashly Olson.

Next meeting is April 6^th. at 7:30 pm at the Pizza Ranch.

Motion to adjourn by Duane Sutton seconded by Ken Ham, meeting adjourned.

Driftbusters March Newsletter

If you were not out in Deadwood for the Governors ride and club ride you missed out on some good riding. There were a lot of people that canceled out thinking that the snow conditions were poor out in the hills. The conditions were considerably better than anyone would have expected. There were 86 people registered for the ride and the ride was 55 miles long going south out of Harding camp. It was a good time and I appreciate all of the attendance from our club.

At the March club meeting that we are having the club needs to have nominations for the following positions.

2 – Board members, the board member position is a 2 year term (Brent Fischer and Evan Halvorson’s terms are up).

1 – Treasurer, as long as you would like

1 – Secretary, as long as you would like

1 – President Elect, one year and one as president of the club

The club is appreciative of the people that have filled the spots in the past and looking forward to those that are going to take these spots and I would like to say thank you in advance.

The reaction sled and trailer both have had bids that were turned in and they did meet the minimum dollar requirements so both pieces of equipment have new homes.

The last meeting of the year will be April 6^th. at 7:30pm at the Pizza Ranch. The election will be finalized during this meeting.

The Pizza swim party will be April 9^th at the Super 8 east with swimming starting at 1pm and pizza served at 5:30pm. Contact Wanda Gelling at 605-216-2349 if you plan on attending so she knows how many pizza’s to order.

Our fall membership drive and camp out is scheduled for the weekend of Sept 15^th at Wylie Park and this will be for registered club members and club members that would like to pay their dues also. For more information watch the Driftbusters web site or facebook.

The next meeting will be in Frederick at the Titan restaurant on March 2^nd at 7:30pm so show up early for supper.

Jeff Thorne, President

Due to poor snow conditions the Feb. 11th. radar run & chili feed at the Richmond Oasis has been cancelled.

Driftbusters Feb. 2 meeting minutes

Meeting was called to order by Pres. Jeff Thorne

Minutes of the meeting were handed out by Sec. Cheryl Gelling. Jeff asked for any corrections or additions, Duane Sutton stated that the last names of two people were misspelled. Jeff asked for a motion to approve the meeting minutes. A motion made by Al Nagel to approve, seconded by Ken Ham, motion carried.

Treasures report by Jim Freidt.  Motion to approve by Duane Sutton, seconded by James Gelling, motion carried.

SDSA report by Jeff Thorne. Jeff stated that the Governor’s ride is looking for a place for the meetings as the Comfort Inn has been closed due to water damage. Jeff stated that when a place is found he will contact Cheryl Gelling, Sec. to let all members know where the meetings will be held. Jeff also stated that those who had rooms at the Comfort Inn for the Governor’s ride will have to reserve rooms at another location.

Advisory Report by Al Nagel. Al stated that the only thing that he has is he is waiting to hear where the advisory meeting will be held before the Governor’s ride.  

Trail Report by Jeff Thorne. Jeff stated that the trail is hard, icy and very poor.

Activities/Trail Rides. Because of the snow conditions the radar run and chili feed at the Richmond Oasis has been cancelled. Discussion was held on the Pizza/Swim party. It was decided to try for Sunday, April 9^th. Cheryl Gelling will check with Super 8 East to see if the date is available if so she will reserve that date. Cheryl also said she would check with Wylie Park Campground if the weekend of Sept. 15^th. would be available for our fall campout and membership drive.

News letter will be by Matt Olson.

New Business. Duane Sutton stated he has ACSA Calendars for anyone that wants one. Next months meeting will be in Frederick at the Titans Restaurant and Bar on March 2^nd. and our last meeting will be April 6^th. at the Pizza ranch.  

Jim Freidt stated that he is resigning as treasurer at the end of this season and that it is time for someone else to step up and be treasurer and that he will help anyone in the transition. Nominations need to be made at the next meeting for 2 board members, president elect, secretary and treasurer. Cheryl Gelling stated if no one is interested in the secretary position she will do it for one more year.

Old Business: It was decided that members that are attending the Governor’s Ride to meet Friday, Feb. 17^th. at Dumont Lot at 9:30am mountain time for a club ride.   Bill Kirshenman stated that he has 15 rooms reserved at Deadwood Gulch for Feb.28 through March 5^th. Anyone needing a room for that time frame contact him for more information at 380-4721. Jim Freidt stated he has an enclosed snowmobile trailer for sale for more information call him at 290-7603.

Bids for the sled and trailer.

   There was 3 bids on the snowmobile and one on the trailer.

   The high bid on the snowmobile was from Matt Fieckert for $1,300.

   The high bid on the trailer was from Ted Sutton for $800.

A motion was made by Jim Freidt to accept the bid of $1,300 on the snowmobile, seconded by Al Nagel, motion carried. A motion was made to accept the bid of $800 for the trailer was made by Brent Fisher and seconded by Ken Ham, motion carried. Jim Gelling stated that the club would like to thank Curt Merkel for allowing us to park the sled and trailer at Curt’s Motorsports so everyone who wanted to bid on it could look it over. Cheryl Gelling showed everyone the receipt and thank you from the club donation to the Aberdeen Humane Society of $55.    

Next meeting is in Frederick at The Titan’s Restaurant and Bar on March 2^nd. at 7:30 pm.                

Motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Jim Gelling and seconded by Al Nagel. Meeting adjourned.

Cheryl Gelling, Sec.

                       FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER

Well, if you were not in Deadwood for the snow pro races you missed out on one heck of a time. There was so much action going on at the races that weekend it was unbelievable. If you are a Polaris fan it was looking like there was going to be a run away on Saturday night or one awesome race but with one wrong move by the person behind Kody Kamm and put their ski in his track pretty much ended the night’s final for him. It was much easier for Tucker Hibbert to win the race that night. It is an awesome time and if you have not ever gone you need to attend the race next year.

The last club meeting was held at the Wakeside out at Mina and it sounded like there was a nice turn out for that. I was not in town to attend and run the meeting so I give a big thanks to Jim Gelling for handling the meeting for me.

The Governors ride is coming up fast in February on the 18^th. The meetings are at the Comfort Inn in Deadwood on Friday night, social after the ride on Saturday night. The ride leaves from Hardy camp Saturday morning and it is a good time to get out and meet new snow mobile friends. They would like you to make reservations if you are planning on attending the ride.

The next meeting will be at Westport at The Shed on Thursday the 2^nd of February @ 7:30 pm. If you plan to eat come early. The bids for the 1999 Arctic Cat Bearcat utility snowmobile and the 2000 2 place sled bed trailer will be opened at the meeting.    

The next club ride is Saturday, January 28^th. leaving Frederick @ 1pm.

Jeff Thorne, President