DIXFIELD — The Poodunck Snowmobile Club will begin preparing for the upcoming winter season by holding a meeting at 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 14, at its clubhouse on Canton Point Road, President Jon Holmes said Wednesday.

The meeting is open to the public, Holmes said, and the main item of discussion will be the preparation of the club’s two biggest fundraisers: the Think Snow Dance, held in January, and the Blessing of the Sleds event, held in February.

“Those are our big fundraisers, and they’ve always been really good for us,” Holmes said. “We’re inviting anyone to attend the meeting and bring any new ideas they have.”

Holmes said that at the Dec. 14 meeting, the club will also discuss what designs to include on the annual Blessing of the Sleds sweatshirt.

Each year, the Poodunck Snowmobile Club and the Mexico Trailblazers Snowmobile Club collaborate to design a Blessing of the Sleds sweatshirt, using donations from residents and local businesses to make them.

“The Blessing of the Sleds is held by both Dixfield and Mexico,” Holmes said. “We do the event together, and whatever we make for a profit, we split it in half. Most of the money that we raise at the event is through the selling of those sweatshirts.”

Holmes said that for the first time in the event’s 18-year existence, the sweatshirts will be hooded.

“Hoodies have become a lot more popular than they used to be, so we’re changing it up a little bit this year,” Holmes said. “I’m sure at our meeting we’ll be brainstorming some ideas for the sweatshirt design, but we won’t do anything until we connect with the Mexico Trailblazers.”

Holmes added that despite the inches of snow and sleet that has been dumped on the River Valley area in the last month, the snowmobile trails won’t be open for use until Dec. 15.

“Dec. 15 is the last day of hunting season,” Holmes explained, “and while there’s no law, like in New Hampshire or Vermont, that says we can’t snowmobile before then, we try to wait until hunting is over. Plus, the people that help us with our grants won’t give us any money to go toward grooming until after Dec. 15.

“We are staying busy though,” Holmes continued. “We’re putting up signs, checking trails and occasionally, we’ll go out with the groomer to roll the snow and pack it down. That way, when the ground freezes, it gives us an excellent base to work with.”

mdaigle@sunjournal.com

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