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Your CVOA membership is current through December 31, 2016
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Hello
CVOA wishes you fresh powder to ski on, clear skis to play under, new trails to discover and a year filled with friends and fun.
As our little local outdoor club steamrolls into its 16th year, we can claim a growing membership base, an improved range and a calendar crammed with exciting new adventures.
We now have over 800 members ... not bad for a town with a population that numbers 781. Our range has continued to grow, with more than 400 members enjoying trap and pistol shooting in magnificent surroundings with some new modern conveniences ... including flush toilets!
Our Adventure Calendar features both the new and different and the tried and true. New this year ... ski, bike and golf trips to Canada ... Whistler Mountain, Montreal and Lac Megantic ... a weekend paddle/hike/bike/drive to the stunning Grand Falls with an overnight at Maine Huts, and a fun night of pizza and bowling.
Old favorites include a rocking pot luck dinner dance in Stratton, a full moon trek ... this time on the golf course ... a foliage weekend in Bar Harbor and our popular annual dinner meeting, this time catered at the Sugarloaf Inn.
You can't have fun if you don't play. So, join us! As we say in CVOA:
The more the merrier!
~ Nancy Perry, President
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Is you newsletter going to the "Important" folder?
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 Calendar of Events
- click on any underlined event to go to our web site posting -
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Future Events & Adventures
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Begins January 10
Looking for someone to ski with on Sunday mornings? Back again this year, CVOA is promoting weekly "Show and Go" skiing starting on Sunday January 10th and all abilities are welcome. The concept is simple, CVOA members will meet at the center U.S. flagpole area located outside the King Pine Lodge rental center every Sunday at 9:00am with no RSVP of any kind required....Whoever Shows Goes!!! So if you're looking for someone to ski with coupled with a little downhill fun and camaraderie with fellow CVOA'ers..Come on out!!!
Event: CVOA "Show and Go" Skiing
When: Sunday Mornings Starting January 10th, 2016
Place: U.S. Flagpole Outside Rental Center, in Front of Base Lodge-Look for the "CVOA Show & Go Meets Here" sign in the window!!!
Time: 9:00AM
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Annual Winter Social with Delta Knights Band
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Saturday, January 23
Featuring: A Hearty Pot Luck Dinner and The Delta Knights Band
Stratton-Eustis Community Center
Main Street /Route 27
Happy Hour: 5-6 pm (BYOB)
Pot Luck Dinner: 6-7 pm
Dancing: 7-9:30
Cover: $10
We are now asking for teamwork in order to have a successful evening.
How can you be part of the team?
- Kitchen Support
- Door Greeter
- Clean-up
- Set-up
Please bring food for the potluck dinner; let Zoanne know what you plan to bring so she can plan accordingly for apps, main dishes, salads and desserts.
~ Zoanne Paradis
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Saturday, January 30, 3:30 pm
Mark your calendars: Our first CVOA board and membership meeting of the new year will be held
Saturday, January 30 at 3:30 pm at the Carrabassett Town Office.
Everyone is welcome!! It's our first meeting since August and we'll have a lot to talk about. We're still hoping to wrap up our business by 5:30 in time for hungry and thirsty attendees to grab drinks and dinner afterwards.
On tap are discussions about our fun-filled "Adventure Calendar" for 2016, on-going and anticipated projects at our growing range, the plans for our annual dinner meeting, reports from our treasurer and secretary about our finances and memberships ... and more!!!
We're pulling together our agenda now so if you have anything you'd like to talk about, please touch base with Nancy so she can put it on the agenda.
And, most of all: Join us!
~ Nancy Perry, President
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Saturday, February 6
The spots are filling up quickly for the first CVOA Bowling event!
5 to 6 p.m. - bowling, then
pizza
Bowling, shoe rental and pizza just $20/person
Cash bar
Come support a local business while having fun.
~ Elise Gebhardt and Sandy Osterrieder
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February 25 - March 3
77 travelers are looking forward to all the snow Whistler Blackcomb is getting!
~ Cindy Foster, Trip Leader
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Saturday, March 12
Plans are being made for the Annual Meeting, always a fun event. This year, dinner will be a Hearty Italian Buffet at the Sugarloaf Inn, followed by our meeting and a great speaker. Save the date!
~ Cindy Foster and John Morey
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Montreal Bike Trip - May 19 - 20 -21, 2016
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Updated Info
Good News for all CVOA adventure bikers:
Our Montreal reserved Inn has
extended our sign in time until the end of February.
And, our weekender
members can book for just two days instead of three.
There is so much to do in Montreal: * over 150 miles of dedicated biking trails and lanes * numerous scenic parks * Olympic parks & stadiums * Expo '67 event locations * Biosphere & Biodome * large historic 'Old Port' * large canal-side farmers market *
For Reservations: call Auberge de la Fontaine, 1-514-597-0166.
~ Glenn and Peggy Bickford, Trip Leaders
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Annual Range Raffle Tickets
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Support the CVOA Range
You should have received your raffle tickets in the mail in December.
This is a major fundraiser for the CVOA Range, and your support is appreciated.
We have some great prizes again this year:
- Sugarloaf 2016-17 Season Pass, no blackouts, $1000 value
- Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm Shield, $450 value
- Maine Huts & Trails overnight for 2 with meals, $200 value
- Handcrafted Wooden Bench
- Day Passes midweek Sugarloaf Golf Course
Raffle Tickets are $5 each OR 5 for $20.
Winning tickets will be drawn at the CVOA Annual Banquet in March, 2016.
Need more tickets to sell? Call Neal Trask at 235-2732.
~ Neal Trask
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Range Committee Meeting Report
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The range committee met at the Carrabassett Valley Town Office on Saturday, December 19th to review the range budget for 2016 and how it fits into the total CVOA budget. We also had a brief presentation on the total range income, expenses and profitability from when the range was first built in 2000 to present.
The Maine IF&W has advised us that they will be having a new grant program for 2016; there was a lot of discussion about applying for funding for a "Five Stand" course that would allow the shotgun enthusiast to experience targets that are sure to be a challenge. A committee of interested members will be gathering information, and making recommendations, in preparation for applying for a grant.
~ Neal Trask, Range Chairman
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| Winter shooting just became easier |
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Range Driveway will be plowed all winter
Range members are already taking advantage of having the range drive and parking area plowed. No more parking on the road and snowshoeing in!
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CVOA, State Grant and Volunteers
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Produce Range Project of the Year
Things are relatively quiet at the range these days but that wasn't the case during much of the summer and fall.
That's when contractors and volunteers ascended in droves to build what's probably the biggest single undertaking in the 15-year history of the range. The project included a new drilled well and septic system and construction of a building housing toilet facilities, a utility room and a storage area including a safe designed to store firearms and other valuable objects.
When you add up the various financial inputs, the total project is valued at some $43,000, including over $16,000 in in-kind contributions.
The impetus for the project came from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & game which issued an invitation to bid for a Range Access Improvement Grant. That grant program continues in 2016 and the Range Committee is currently considering applying for another major project.
Actual expenditures for the 2015 project totaled some $27,000, including the IF&W grant of $18,419.00. CVOA's actual out-of-pocket cost was in the range of $8,800, about 20 per cent of the total value.
The original application for the grant was filed over two-and-a-half years ago and specified a 12 x 14-foot structure with an ADA-compliant toilet and sink, a well to supply potable water, a septic system to accommodate waste, and a storage area including a secure section to store firearms. With input, and donations of materials, from our steering committee and our prime volunteers, the building was expanded to 14 x 14.
An oversized gun safe was purchased to eliminate the secured storage requirement. An equipment room was added to house the water pump and water heater, and a urinal and a utility sink were installed there, in effect providing a men's room in addition to the regular toilet/lavatory in the front section of the building. All lighting was upgraded to LEDs to increase efficiency and, over time, decrease cost.
In the process, we eliminated $1,260 in
annual costs for a porta-potty and rental of off-premise storage space, offsetting in part anticipated increased power costs and the cost of plowing for winter access.
This cost-effective project was made so by the generous contributions of time and materials by over 25 members of CVOA who volunteered about 650 hours of their time and thousands of dollars in materials.
The project oversight committee included Range Chairman Neal Trask, Range Secretary John McCatherin and Peter Weston and Harvey Packard. Packard's assistance in range construction projects over the years has been invaluable. Weston provided the engineering and design details while also providing thousands of dollars worth of lumber. McCatherin and Trask provided the day-to-day coordination of contractors and volunteers.
The donation of time and materials in just the engineering and planning, construction, plumbing and electrical phases of the project totaled over $10,000, based on market rates for those professions. Those generous contributions were made by just five members: Peter Weston, Greg Roux, Tim Richards, Dan Gagne and Rob Healey.
Altogether these efforts have provided a major addition to the resources and infrastructure of CVOA and the CVOA Range. And with water and septic now installed, we have in place a major stepping stone for the future possibility of a significant club house.
~ John McCatherin, Range Secretary
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| Annual Hike and Cookie Swap |
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Lack of snow and gray skies didn't dampen spirits for our annual holiday outing on December 12. Eighteen members, and Popeye the dog, gathered at Cathedral Pines in Eustis to walk the trails among the towering trees. Many had never experienced this area, which offers a loop trail and paths for walking/snowshoeing, and as well is groomed for cross-country skiing in the winter.
Following this walk, the group caravanned up the Eustis Ridge Road to the Bickford's home on Woodcock Lane, where a second hike took members through the woods, across and up some fields, to a panoramic view from Flagstaff Lake, to the Bigelows, Sugarloaf, and even Saddleback. Even with a gray day, and some fog, the view was awesome!
Cookies, great appetizers, and beverages followed back at the Bickfords' home.
~ Peggy Bickford
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Maine Huts and Trails offers a $10 discount on the cost of an annual Maine Huts & Trails membership to all CVOA members. Use the code "CVOA" online, or contact MH&T.
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~~ Crocker Cirque, taken by Rick Young ~~
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Do you have a photo suitable for "Photo of the Month"? Are you a CVOA member? If so, send your photo to: Cindy Foster, Newsletter Editor -
cvoa.secretary@gmail.com.
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Carrabassett Valley Outdoor Association
Valley Crossing #6
Carrabassett Valley, ME 04947
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