*Meeting called to order on 3/4/25, 7:00pm at Pottsie’s by Spencer.
Secretary’s report:
- All past month’s meeting minutes are posted on our club webpage (www.osceolavalleysnogoers.com). They stand approved.
Treasurer’s report:
- Busch Light Challenge Raffle was a big success – Thanks to Angel, Starky and everyone else who did such an amazing job. We raised enough money to cover the 2 x Osceola High School scholarships and our annual donation to The Cubboard in Osceola
- The Fun Run was also a big success. – Thanks to Laurel, Spenser, Mark, Susan, Kevin, Cyndi, Frank and the Sommerfeldt Kids for pulling this off again this year. We raised enough money to pay for the Land Owner Banquet.
- We are projecting to have significant budget surplus at year end as our income was much higher than budget and our expenses were lower.
Old Business:
- Speaker/mic was used at this meeting. It was charged and seemed to work well.
- Elections are in May. Nominations are due in April. The President, Secretary and 2 board members are up for election. Please think about joining the club’s officers and help lead the club.
- We had almost 2 weeks for our trails to be open in February. Thanks to all the groomer drivers and trail maintenance teams for having our trails ready. For the little amount of snow we had, the trails were awesome.
New Business:
- None
Council Report:
- There was lots of confusion on the trail opening process as we got nearly 10” of snow in mid-February. The trail opening/closing procedure was reviewed & suggestions were made to improve. An updated procedure will be reviewed again in March & will be adopted. It will be passed along to all clubs for their reference.
- Bridge on 270th has been repaired. Groomers can use the bridge.
- There will be an increase in fees from the State registration and trail passes as well as AWSC membership cost. Detail will follow.
- Groomer banquet is scheduled for March 20 at Brow Tine in Balsam Lake. Only Groomer drivers that actually groomed this year (plus 1 guest) can attend. The club approved a $300 donation to the banquet for raffle prizes. Doug K will coordinate the cash prizes.
- We still need an ATV club in the Clear Lake area – If you can help, please contact Jim Berg.
- AWSC spring meeting will be held in Green Bay on March 28-30. Anyone is welcome to attend. Go to www.AWSC.org for more information
- Snowmobile council land acquisition in Centuria is still progressing. Hoping for surveying this month and final paperwork by summer.
- Polk County Council is done with the Stower. They will not manage any signage, complaints or inquires. All interaction should go through the DNR or Polk County Government Center
- Focus next year will be to smooth chisel plowed fields. Emphasis on smoothing these fieldts should be similar to running the brushers. Landowner permission is a MUST.
- Upcoming surrounding club activities:
- March 22. Bouya in Fredric
- April 6 – Joelmobilers – Raffle drawing.
KAOS Youth Club:
- Meetings are the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00pm at McKenzie Lanes in Centuria.
- Raffle again this year. Doug has tickets if you want them now. Drawing will be in April. First prize is cash, second prize is a gear bag, third prize is a cooler, and fourth prize is a smaller cooler.
- Medic Sled is now getting lettered for the Milltown Fire Department. Miss Snowflake is confirmed for March 15th to attend the donation event and talk to the youth about leadership. The event will happen at the Miltown Fire & Rescue HQ. Pizza lunch, Q/A with Ms Snowflake, a youth leadership seminar and a rescue demo will be held. If you want to attend, let Doug know.
- KAOS club will be donating $125 to Ms Snowflake for her travel expenses.
- A motion was made and passed for the OSVG to donate $200 to Ms Snowflake for her travel expenses. Doug will take care of giving the donation
- Polk Co Council would like to get 2 youth to join the WI KAOS club. That effort is underway.
Committee Reports: Reminder to all club members that committees were formed at the December 2023 club meeting to establish designated missions, leaders, contributors, and budgets for each. This is intended to allow progress to be made within each committee without requiring votes for actions so long as the committees operate within their allotted budget and mission. Anyone is welcome to join a committee(s) to get involved. More help is always appreciated! Questions can be directed to committee chairpersons.
Fair Revenue Committee:
- Chair: Cyndi Sommerfeldt
- Mission: Maximize fair revenue by providing food and drink to the participants of the Osceola Fair at a reasonable value.
- Budget: $500
- Updates:
- No updates.
Other Revenue Committee:
- Chair: Laurel Feldt / Frank Sommerfeldt
- Mission: Generate additional revenue to the club to close any budget gaps that may happen. Possible streams could include donations, raffles, poker run, clothing store, etc.
- Budget: $300
- Updates:
- Started selling cards a week early due to the uncertainty of the trails in St Croix
- Had 65 participants (compared to 95 last year). Conflicted with a nice day of ice fishing and the Winter Olympics at UW Wanderoos
- Ideas to improve for next year included: Start on Feb 1, have the final night at UW Wanderoos on Feb 21.
- Increase Silver Sponsors from 7 à 12. Include the downtown Osceola businesses
- Sell cards at the sponsors on Saturdays before the event.
Landowner Appreciation Committee:
- Chair: Donna Berg
- Mission: Show appreciation to our 110+ landowners for allowing our trails to cross their property.
- Budget: $5,000
- Updates:
- Date confirmed for May 4 at UW Wanderoos.
Scholarship / Donation Committee:
- Chair: Angel Olson
- Mission: Give back to the community by donating to worthy causes like college scholarships to our local graduating high school seniors and donating to the local food shelves, fire departments, rescue squads, etc.
- Budget: $1,500 (plan 2x $500 scholarships and $500 donation to food shelf)
- Updates:
- Funding obtained at the recent Busch Light Challenge Raffel.
- Scholarship committee will review applications in April.
Social Committee:
- Chair: Spencer Feldt / Eric Hallen
- Mission: Show appreciation to our members for all the work they do to ensure we meet the needs of our landowners, trails, and community.
- Budget: $1,250
- Updates:
- No significant member appreciation has been held this year. Still have >$1,000 budget.
- Looking for ideas on how to engage more members in the club and the appreciation events.
Social Media Committee:
- Chair: Jim Berg / Eric Hallen
- Mission: Maintain our website, Facebook, and other platforms to ensure our by-laws, meeting minutes, activities, trail information, etc are readily available to our members and community.
- Budget: $25
- Updates:
- No updates.
Trail Committee:
- Chair: Kevin McNutt – NEED new Trail Boss as Kevin is Moving : (
- Mission: Work closely with our landowners to ensure our trails are safe and fun for all our members and visitors. Document all trail work in SNARS. Collect and save land use agreements and send to the county rep.
- Budget: $800
- Updates:
- Bridge by Crooked Creek golf course was looked at. It is showing some wear, but seems to be good enough for now to continue using. Monitor for now. Let’s see if the new housing development will lead to any trail reroute before we do anything with the bridge. May have option with some Anderson Window giant pallets.
- If we get 6-9” of snow tonight (as predicted) we will NOT groom again. It will take 2 day to prep the trails and weather is forecasted to be 50F this weekend.
- Need to find a new trail boss for Dresser East as Kevin is moving : (
Finance Committee:
- Chair: Frank Sommerfeldt
- Mission: Create and oversee a budget that will be sufficient to appreciate our landowners, maintain our trails, recognize our members, and contribute to our community.
- Budget: $300
- Updates:
- In good shape.
Next Meeting: April 1, 2025 at UW Wanderoos (upstairs) at 7:00pm.
*Motion to adjourn approved at 7:29pm
Osceola Valley Sno-Goers 