STERLING - A few years back the Sterling Trail Tamers purchased their very first groomer in an effort to provide smooth, wide trails for the public's enjoyment. Everyone from skiers, snowshoers and snowmobilers have benefited from the club's efforts and have been grateful for their hard work.

The old groomer did the job but was underpowered and difficult to run in the heavy snowfall that we had last year. The club has been working really hard over the past two years to raise enough money to purchase a bigger and better groomer that would enable them to take on the heavy snowfalls.

With the onset of another hard winter and knowing that the groomer would have a difficult time in the heavy snow, the club voted to sell the existing groomer and have exhausted their funds to purchase a new machine that will be able to tackle the toughest snow.

The club got a small committee of knowledgable members together and set after the daunting task of finding the needle in the haystack. They had been checking out used equipment throughout this past year and finally, "One lucky phone call answered our prayers." commented Grooming Committe member, Jerry Jones. The committee then headed up north to look at the Piston Bully groomer and drag that was available.

After thouroughly looking over the machine and discussing the possiblities of what this would mean for the trails in our area, the Trail Tamers met and voted to purchase the groomer. After anxiously awaiting the machine's arrival it finally was delivered on Thursday, January 15 marking a monumental day for the Sterling Trail Tamers.

Club President, Ken Hall stated, "We have all worked so hard and so long to get a machine of this magnitude and we are proud to be able to provide this service to our local communities."

The machine was tested out the very next day and the trails were ridden by many people Friday night who commented on the awesome trails.

"This benefits everyone from the recreational stand point as well as a business standpoint by bringing more activity to this area," commented Hall. The club has set up groomer donation jugs at surrounding businesses hoping that the public will do their part to help the club with the gas and maintenance the machine needs to operate.

The Trail Tamers have selected a group of members who will be operating the machine and ask that if you come up on the machine when it is in operation to be courteous, give them plenty of room, and if you must pass it make sure that the operators are aware of you before doing so. The club stated that there will still be trail work and fundraisers to keep them busy and they always welcome new members.

President, Ken Hall stated, "I would like to encourage anyone who enjoys the trail system and wishes to help us make progress to join the club. We are always in search of members who are willing to go out and help work on the trails or help out during fundraisers. All the efforts are well worth it when you have smooth trails to ride."

Anyone wishing to become a member of the Sterling Trails Tamers or interested in making a contribution may write to: Sterling Trail Tamers, P.O. Box 156, Fair Haven, NY 13064..