At the end of January, some 22 people met at the North Fayston gravel pit for the Mad River Ridge Runners’ seventh annual Reggie Orr Memorial snowmobile ride. Early morning on that day, January 25, was quite cold at zero degrees but with clear skies and bright sunshine, the day quickly turned into a near perfect riding day with very comfortable temperatures in the 20s.
“We first rode down the hill and then up the Huntington trail to the Huntington Gap, one of Reggie’s favorite portions of the Mad River Ridge Runners trail system, in fact the Huntington trail is named in his honor. After a period of visitations, we then rode from the Huntington gap back to the gravel pit to regroup, grab some lunch supplies and then rode over to the Duxbury overlook, a clearing above the upper reaches of Dowsville Road which overlooks Waterbury Village and the surrounding areas, and enjoyed a lunch in bright sunshine with lots of good company and spectacular vistas of the Green Mountains and even the White Mountains of New Hampshire were faintly visible,” spokesperson Tom Clark said.
A fire was built in the snow at trailside and many folks grilled their favorite hot dogs, sausage, or even steak tips. At this point the group disbursed at various times and the Reggie Ride was officially ended. “We rode a total of 29 miles for the day, no marathon, but the point of the ride is for everyone to enjoy themselves and to remember Reggie. A great time was had by all who attended and we are already looking forward to next year’s Reggie Ride,” Clark added.
For those unfamiliar with who Reggie Orr was, he was one of the more passionate members of the Mad River Ridge Runners who was active in the activities of the club since its earliest days in the mid to late 1960’s. Reggie’s father Stanley had become a dealer for Ski-Doo snowmobiles in his shop on Route 100 (where the UVM Physical Therapy studio is currently located) and Reggie, who had always been interested in anything mechanical was a very interested young man and quickly became passionate about snowmobiling. He remained passionate about the goings on of the Ridge Runners club throughout various iterations of the club until his passing in 2017, a period of more than 50 years.
This fall the Mad River Ridge Runners were awarded a $10,000 grant from the Polaris Powersports Company Trails Grant Program which was applied towards the repair of two bridges and trail grading on Corridor 17, a vital east/west artery of the trail system. The trail and bridge abutments were severely compromised from flooding during excessive rain events in the previous two successive July’s (2023 and 2024).
“It is the wish of the Mad River Ridge Runners snowmobile club to express their heartfelt thanks to Polaris for their generosity in supporting both our club and the sport of snowmobiling. Without grants such as this our sport would continue to function but with severely limited resources for trail repairs, which are an ongoing and perhaps escalating expense, given the unusual weather patterns in recent years. Polaris provided us with a generous grant and showed their appreciation for our efforts in maintaining recreational trails.
“Without your efforts there would be little riding available for others,” Clark added.
He explained that this work was completed with major assistance from Kingsbury Construction Company, who provided equipment, operators, and expertise for the lifting of the bridges and repair of the river banks, abutments, replacing of the bridges and the associated regrading and reseeding of the river bank and approaches on both ends of the bridge. On a separate project involving another 10- mile stretch of trail utilizing his own equipment, Bill Atwood was a great help in getting a considerable amount of grading done to repair numerous washouts and erosion. Accomplishment of these projects is not possible without people like Kingsbury Construction, Atwood, and others, Clark pointed out.
There was also a limited contingent of volunteers, representatives of the Mad River Ridge Runners snowmobile club who assisted with these projects. The club is always looking for volunteers to assist with trail projects year-round.
