ROCKVILLE—The Manitoulin Snowdusters Snowmobile Club recognized the tremendous efforts and contributions of three of its members this past Saturday with trail dedications as part of the club’s annual fish dinner in Rockville.
“I would like to thank everyone for coming out here today as we recognize two very deserving people, Doug and Betty Heis,” stated Sue Middaugh of the Snowdusters. “They have both done a lot of work for the Snowdusters, helping to keep the trails open and the club going over the years.”
“Without Betty’s book work especially I’m not sure what we would have done without her. She is the most dedicated, organized person ever,” said Ms. Middaugh.
Dennis Lendrum, former president of the Espanola Snowmobile Club and Rainbow Country Club said, “many years ago, Bob Lafreniere introduced me to a small in stature lady by the name of Betty Heis as the Manitoulin Snowdusters secretary-treasurer. I soon learned that the word small definitely only referred to her physical height, as there was nothing small about this lady. As the District 12 Operations Director all grants (applications) came to me to review before they went to the OFSC (Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs). I never really had to read these applications, we knew that they had been done right because it was Betty who had done it.”
“Then the time came where three of the smaller clubs, Killarney, Nairn and Massey, could not meet the club status required by OFSC,” said Mr. Lendrum. “The idea of creating Rainbow Country Snowmobile Association which gathered in the five local clubs (Manitoulin, Espanola, Killarney, Nairn and Massey) all under one umbrella, to meet OFSC requirements. The tons of paper work were handed to Betty and what seemed to be a simple process to the average snowmobiler; trust me there was nothing simple about this process and with no surprise to me it was done to perfection.”
“Over those years Betty oversaw all club and association grants, audits, paperwork etc.,” continued Mr. Lendrum. “Again with no surprise to me they were completed to perfection. With Betty at the financial helm for RCSA I am very confident that we got our fair share of OFSC funding. Be sure, Manitoulin Snowdusters, it was this lady that was the back bone in getting the trails developed in your amazing trail system.”
Ms. Heis had been secretary-treasurer, and treasurer for the Snowdusters, as well as being a trail warden for a time.
“Over all those years you didn’t have to look very far to see Doug, who also happened to be the signage coordinator for the Snowdusters,” continued Mr. Lendrum. Mr. Heis had also served as vice-president of the Snowdusters, trail warden, and had done a lot of work on the trail signs over the years.
“I would like to thank you guys very much for this recognition, but I think it should be 75 percent for Betty and 25 percent for me,” said Mr. Heis. “The bookwork she did, especially when there were four clubs melded together was incredible.”
“Without the two of you this club wouldn’t be where it is now,” said Ms. Middaugh.
Rick Bond announced the recognition of another Snowduster’s trail that is being dedicated, in the name of Ted Pearson.
“Ted Pearson over the years has spent many long cold nights operating the trail groomer and doing repairs on our grader,” stated Mr. Bond. Mr. Pearson also did a lot of work cutting trials-many ahead of work crews. Many times he took over the role of supervisor and leader of work crews putting in trails. “Ted is also a landowner (that the Snowdusters have a trail that runs through) and we really appreciate all of his dedication, work and support over the years,” added Mr. Bond. Mr. Pearson still clears the hundreds of kilometers on his own property for the Snowdusters use.
