March  Newsletter

March 18, 2024

Message from the President

As spring is nearly upon us it's a great time to perform safety checks and maintenance on our ATVs and SxS's. Springtime brings out hazards such as washouts, ice patches and ruts so please ride accordingly. Most of us enjoy the odd mud episode but please remember that most of the trails are on private lands.

Kevin Lombard and a random bear at the Outdoor Show - March 10.

The landowners are our partners in the trail system and it's our responsibility to help keep the trails in good condition. Sometimes waiting a week to stage an event can create a tremendous amount of goodwill with our landowner partners.

It's encouraging to see so many clubs, as well as towns such as Oxford and others, working with ATVANS to facilitate potential new Road Trail sites. Our organization is leading the way (another great reason to JOIN our association) in this program in Nova Scotia. Spring is also the time when the ATVANS small grants become available so if you don’t have a project I encourage you to find one so we can continue to maintain and build our trail system.

I had the pleasure of volunteering Saturday at the Outdoor Show and want to thank staff, board and club members who worked the show. It’s always a pleasure interacting with riders, seeing friends from various clubs and a big thanks to the nearly 80 people who renewed or purchased new memberships on the weekend.

Enjoy the month of March and ride safe.

Kevin Lombard
President, ATVANS

Executive Director Report

They say time flies when you’re having fun, so I must have been having lots of it.  In the past month we have been busy planning for the ATVANS Annual General Meeting and the Atlantic Outdoor Sports and RV Show. The official notice for the AGM has been sent to club contacts and registration is now open. Once again, the Minister of Natural Resources will be joining us for lunch at the Saturday sessions and bringing remarks from government. 

The Outdoor show is now in the books for this year and by all accounts it was a great event. We increased the size of our booth this year and had great participation from board members, staff, and others at the show. 

Brookfield Community Meeting - Feb 27. South Colchester ATV Club is  applying for a new connection under the Road Trails Act.

Atlantic Outdoor Sports & RV Show at the Halifax Exhibition Centre - Mar 10.

The lottery was awesome, raising over $57,000 for our clubs and enough money for ATVANS to cover the cost of the lottery, including prizes, printing, lottery license and other required expenses. 

I have been out meeting on Road Trails issues, including staff and the mayor of Queens Regional Municipality, Zone Director David White and Trail Coordinator, Eric Rideout. I also attended an open house in South Colchester hosted by the club, staff from municipalities, and Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal. Things are progressing and we are hoping for good news soon.  I will be attending a meeting in Shelburne County this month. The club and local trail group is working hard to advance their locations. 

I have asked clubs for updated information on the number of volunteers supporting each club, the total volunteer hours performed each year, and the total kilometers of managed trails maintained by the clubs. About half of the clubs responded to this request. This information is needed for insurance purposes and to support requests to government that benefit our clubs and organizations. 

We will be adding a few more “Partners” on our partners page in the coming weeks. If you have a local business in your area that could benefit from this opportunity, please reach out to them and also let us know. It is very easy to become an ATVANS partner, which benefits our members and the local business. There is no cost to join this program. 

Membership remains very strong both online and at the club level. We signed up 75-members at the Outdoor Show, split fairly evenly between new and renewing members. Processing our memberships is taking a little longer, mostly due to the shear numbers coming in and other tasks. We pledge to get caught up in the coming week or so.  

Thank you to everyone who continues to support our association and our clubs across Nova Scotia.  

Barry Barnet 

Executive Director, ATVANS 

LOTTERY UPDATE: Over $1,500 raised for clubs in  February

A hearty CONGRATULATIONS to Lawson Munroe, of Wolfville for winning $1,922.50 in the February Rafflebox 50/50 draw!

Lawson is a member of the Long Lake Loggers ATV Club and his lucky ticket number was C-93345. 

The top club for ticket sales in February was the South Colchester ATV Club. The draw has now raised $148,044 for our clubs across Nova Scotia. 

ATVANS' next draw date is set for March 29.

Special delivery for Lawson Munroe near Wolfville - Mar 16

ATVANS at the Atlantic Outdoor Sports & RV Show

By all accounts, ATVANS presence at this year’s Atlantic Outdoor Sports and RV Show in Halifax was a success.

The annual event, held Friday, March 8^th through Sunday, March 10^th at the Halifax Exhibition Centre saw large crowds and impressive totals for ATVANS lottery ticket sales and membership sign-ups.

On Sunday afternoon, during the final couple hours of the show, the winners of the three prizes up for grabs in the ATVANS lottery were drawn (see winners below).

LOTTERY WINNERS

Brandon Lake, of Bridgetown is the lucky winner of a Kawasaki BruteForce 750 4x4i ATV.

Lindsay DeWitt, of Amherst is the second prize winner, taking home a Honda power generator EU 2200i

Mike Kelly, of Timberlea is the third prize winner. Mike gets a pair of matching full face helmets.

A beautiful day in the valley made even better by the presentation of the Grand Prize in the ATVANS lottery to Brandon Lake in Bridgetown - Mar 16.

ATVANS would like to sincerely thank its partners in the lottery for their contributions:

Adventure Motors (New Glasgow) for partnering with us on the Kawasaki BruteForce 750 4x4i ATV grand prize.

Steele Recreation (Bridgewater) for partnering with us on our second prize, the Honda EU 2200i power generator.

CanMac Powersports (Elmsdale) for providing our third prize, a pair of matching full-face helmets.

At the conclusion of the show, ATVANS Executive Director, Barry Barnet expressed his gratitude to the large number of club volunteers and staff for their contributions.

 “A huge thank-you to those who stepped up in a big way to help create this success. Collectively we contributed over 300-hours to the event. We looked like a team and we worked like a team.”

BY THE NUMBERS

• $6,000 worth of lottery tickets were sold at the Outdoor Show.
• The lottery helped raise close to $57,000 for clubs.
• About $23,000 was raised for ATVANS, covering the costs of the lottery and trailer repairs
• 75-members were signed up, split fairly evenly between new and renewing members.

Trail Work is Teamwork

Safety Minded ATV Association (SMATVA) putting up signs: March 5. (Photos: Chris Morris - Facebook)

Board Member Profile: Greenwich's Finest...  Jason Calnen!

Jason Calnen says he's been involved with his ATV clubs "since the beginning of time." The Zone 1 Director is a member of multiple ATV Clubs, including Kings, Mid-Valley, Digby, and Long Lake Loggers.

Jason lives in Greenwich in the Annapolis Valley and says ATV'ing takes up a good chunk of his spare time. He adds that when he's not out on his bikes he's likely sleeping or at work in his photography business. 

Like most riders, Jason says his  

Jason Calnen in his office. No word on the identity of the moose on the bike.

favorite things about the sport are socializing and exploring the vast network of trails in our own backyard. However, its not only Nova Scotia's trails that he loves to ride. Calnen says some of his favourite events over the years have actually been trips to Newfoundland.

Jason is known for his passion for the sport and enjoyment of riding. He decided to join the board because of this passion and he "didn't want the position to be vacant."

Jason and his brother Jonathan were presented with the Bob Wright Memorial Spirit of Riding Award at the 2023 ATVANS Annual General Meeting.

UPCOMING EVENTS...

Partner Promotion

EXCITING NEWS:

Royal Distributing is giving away a FREE roller bag with purchases over $500!* But hurry, this promotion is only available while supplies last. Head over to one of their retail locations or shop online! 

ATVANS members can find a link to Royal Distributing on the front page of our website (atvans.org), under Member Discounts.

Royal Distributing has been a prominent player in the Canadian powersports industry for over 25 years. Their focus is on providing  products to keep riders going, whether they’re on a snowmobile, ATV, dirt bike, cruiser street bike, or sport bike.

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