Articles from past issues of the Tobermory Snowmobile Club Newsletter
February 2001 issue - History of the Club
Club member Grace Telfer interviewed Earl Craig to compile a history of our club.
An old bedspring was turned upside down and pulled along behind a snowmobile to pack the trail. Earl and Bev Butler groomed the trail from the horse ranch to Cyprus Lake and Don Fulford and a friend groomed from the horse ranch to Tobermory.
Cyprus Lake Provincial Park gave Earl an old set of small drags they did not use. Earl personally bought from Blue Mountain Ski Club, an old double track Alpine snowmobile to pull these drags to groom the trail. It was not uncommon for the old Alpine to break down along the trail which meant a cold, sometimes long walk home.
In the mid 1980's the Bruce Peninsula Snowmobile Club received an old worn out groomer from Owen Sound. With some tender loving care and lots of repairs and coaxing this old groomer is still the one used today. Earl was hired as the groomer operator and continued until his retirement in 1998. This groomer had a two way radio. If there was a breakdown help could be summoned on a cold winter's night as most of the grooming was done later at night when the trails were free of snowmobiles. There were several times when someone was roused out of a warm bed to rescue a stranded groomer. A second groomer was obtained from Owen Sound through the Peninsula Club in the early 1990's and the Lion's Head Club now uses this machine.
In the late 1980's and early 1990's the snowmobile club grew to include the following members - Dave Smith, Wilson Campbell, Earl Craig, Roy Giles, Ray and Linda Williams, Neil and Pauline Richardson, Ross Goudin, John and Jean Gaunt, Lionel and Helen Perry, Dennis and Jean Kuglin, Brad McKay, Gord and Dorothy Bishop, Ralph and Merlyn Freiberg and President, Harvey Rintoul.
Social cookouts and rides were planned and enjoyed during the winter season and improvements to the trail were a constant challenge.
Today we have an active club that works together to continually maintain and improve the trail. Social cookouts, a potluck supper and a Christmas Party highlight the snowmobile season for the fun and enjoyment of the members.
Anyone riding the trails knows it must have taken a determined and constant pioneering effort of Earl Craig and his helpers, involving hours, days, months and years of volunteer work to forge the trail system. We thank them for their vision, dream and very hard work to make a snowmobile trail here in North Bruce.
Many hours and efforts of those members who have followed to the present day, have improved and made the Tobermory Snowmobile Trail the great, scenic trail as we know it toady.
November 2001 issue - History of the Club
by Grace Telfer
Harvey and Ree Rintoul moved to Johnson's Harbour in 1981. Eager to enjoy the winter weather they joined the Tobermory Snow and Ski Association which was affiliated with the Bruce Peninsula Snowmobile Association (now Grey-Bruce Snowmobile Trails). Snowmobiling was popular but the lack of interest in cross country skiing meant there was no area representative. Gary Goodyear marked and set up a few cross country trails north of Cameron Lake but few people used them.
Once the snowmobile trail was continuous from the Sauble/Wiarton area to Tobermory, Brad Davis, who was St. Edmunds Township Reeve, asked the current club to take over the responsibility of the snowmobile trail. It was at this time the Snow and Ski Association decided to change their name to the Tobermory Snowmobile Club and an executive was formed. Meetings were held at the Happy Hearts Park or in the basement of the former Municipal Office. The President was required to attend the monthly Bruce Peninsula Snowmobile Association meetings in Sauble Beach.
Harvey became the second President of the Tobermory Snowmobile Club in the mid 1980's and stayed on until the early 90's. He owned a small engine repair business and his son had decided to play hockey which meant several trips to Lion's Head during evening hours. Very little time was left for extra activities so Harvey resigned as President and Dennis Kuglin stepped into the role. Dennis was president of the Club for a few years until a shoulder injury caused him to be in Owen Sound several days a week for therapy. Dennis resigned and Harvey once again became President in 1995 and remained until the fall of 2000.
During these years while Harvey and Ree's two children were growing up and riding on the snowmobile with them, various club social activities took place. About twice a year popular cookouts were held and these took place at the Emmett Lake parking lot or at Clear Lake. Someone would go in the day before to make sure there was a generous supply of wood for a campfire. The day of the cookout a path to the outhouse would be shoveled and a Coleman lantern was placed inside to warm it up. Everyone would meet at the appointed time and a campfire would be started for the anticipated hot dogs and hamburgers. Gord and Dorothy Bishop brought along a kitchen sleigh with all the necessary utensils and items that were needed for the campfire meal.
The children had a great time with their crazy carpets on the hills at Emmett Lake. A few contests took place at the cookouts. One was to see whose snowmobile could go the slowest without the track stopping. These cookouts were truly a family affair and a good time was had by all.
Harvey has been a groomer driver for the Tobermory Snowmobile Club for several years. We thank him for his dedication and the great deal of time he has given in service to the Club.
January 2002 issue - History of the Club
by Grace Telfer
Stephen Dean was born and raised in Tobermory and his early recollections of his father's snowmobile was that it was used as transportation to the bush to cut trees or go out to the ice to ice fish. the snowmobile was not used for pleasure riding.
At the age of 19, Stephen left Tobermory to find employment and spent the next 25 years in the Sarnia and London area. Stephen and his wife Betty moved back to Tobermory in 1989.
In 1973 Stephen bought his first snowmobile and in the winter months he was anxious to get out and ride on the miles and miles of good horse and logging roads that went on forever. There were lots of cleared fields south of Little Cove and no one minded the snowmobiles on their property. They could go just about anywhere they liked. Most of the men had some sort of snowmobile; some old, some new - and breakdowns were common, often coming home with just one ski or walking home on a cold winters night. Stephen stated that they were continuously repairing the machines all winter. About 25 to 30 fellows ( the girls stayed at home ) would head out for a night run along these logging roads. One run would be from Tobermory to Warner Bay where they would pick up the Bridle path trail to Dorcas Bay and then down the old cottage road to just north of Cameron Lake. Sometimes they would run along the shoreline if conditions were right, staying close to the shore and not venturing out on the lake. At times along the old cottage road there could be six foot drifts which were a challenge to cross. There were times when Stephen would have to get off the machine, keep it going and run alongside to get up and over a snow drift. They then continued along the upper Cameron Lake Road to the Cameron Lake trail and on to Georgian Bay where another trail lead to Little Cove. There were so many trails that you could get lost if you were not familiar with the area.
On one outing Stephen and several others snowmobiled to Indian Harbor and cut across the Bay on the blue hard ice. They had stopped on the Bay for a break and a chat when one fellow went over and kicked the ice and his foot went right through. They gingerly went back to their machines and headed for shore. Apparently there is a spring coming into Indian Harbor which warms the water in places.
In the early 1980's the land had been timbered and it was sold to people from outside the area. The Private Property signs went up and the old logging roads began to fill in. Stephen sadly remarked on how he cannot find most of the old trails today as they have completely filled with trees.
This is Stephen's third year grooming the single trail which goes from Tobermory to the Cape Hurd Road then to the Warner Bay Road and comes out at highway #6. It is approximately 8 miles ( 13 kilometers ) long with nicely varied field and forest and a few challenging rock ridges near Tobermory. Stephen grooms with the old 1983 Alpine puttering along at about five to 10 miles per hour depending on the conditions. The Alpine is very hard to steer. It has two drive tracks which keep the ski's up off the snow and when it goes a little too far one way Stephen carries an old car bumper jack to jack up the Alpine and then push it over to where it is supposed to be. He says that some days are a real workout. He has learned by experience to carry an extra ski bolt as well!
We appreciate Stephen's "workouts" and hope most of the trips are a little easier. Betty sometimes follows him on her snowmobile to make sure there is help if he needs anything. Many thanks Stephen, for your efforts. We are all grateful to you when we ride on the smooth, packed, groomed single trail.
January 2003 issue - History of the Club
by Grace Telfer
Gord and Dorothy Bishop
Gord and Dorothy started snowmobiling in the Dorchester area in 1974. In 1988 they moved to Tobermory and joined the Tobermory Snow and Ski Club. Dorothy's snowmobile was an Arctic Cat and Gord's a 4500 Citation.
Gord and Dorothy soon became trail maintenance volunteers and would often work on the trail with Dennis and Jean Kuglin and other club volunteers. Gord stated that in the off season the volunteers would have to walk, with all their equipment and supplies, to get to a section of trail they wanted to work on. There were no A.T.V.'s to help with transportation of people and equipment. Most of the trail maintenance was done in the winter months once the trails were opened. Some of the member's snowmobiles could haul a sleigh to carry the needed supplies. When the Bishop's were working with the Kuglin's they would carry a few pieces of dry wood and get a small fire started to dry out the wet work gloves and to cook a hearty lunch.
When necessary Gord and volunteers would clean out streams and beaver dams if the water was flooding the trail. Gord explained that the Park was pretty strict on brushing and trail clearing in those days so you had to brush the trails more often.
The club cookouts were well attended and often held at the Emmett Lake, 1/2 Way Dump parking lot. Gord made a handy cookout trailer to haul behind the snowmobile. It held a propane stove, drawers for utensils and the top would flip out to be used as counter space. A campfire was started for warmth, for cooking hotdogs and hamburgers and pie irons and the propane stove cooked the onions and heated the water for tea and coffee. Games would be planned for the children and everyone had a good time.
During one of the trail rides Dorothy's snowmobile lost a ski and she landed in a puddle. Soon a friend came along who had found the ski. Gord got out the tools and put it back on for the ride home. The trees along the trail were sometimes a problem for Dorothy so Gord put a bumper around her machine so she could bounce off the trees and keep going.
Today a few things have changed, A.T.V.'s to make trail maintenance a little easier, faster more reliable machines and a climate that is warmer resulting in less snow in our area. This year we'll all wish for more snow and hope Gord and Dorothy and all the Club members can enjoy a few months of snowmobiling this season.