Ride-In raises thousands for Pine Tree Camp

NEWPORT – Hundreds of snowmobilers headed here this weekend, providing local restaurants, gas stations and motels with an economic boost, and raising tens of thousands of dollars for Pine Tree Camp.

The 30th annual Pine Tree Ride-In is one of the largest fund-raising events in the country and over the years has raised more than $1.8 million to benefit the camp for physically and mentally handicapped children.

How much was raised this past weekend could not be determined Sunday.

Foremost in everyone’s minds during the events Saturday was safety as the number of snowmobile fatalities this year reached nine on Friday, just three short of the state record.

As she playfully leaked broken eggs from her clothing after completing a 20-mile ride laden with fresh eggs for charity, Maine Snowmobile President Marion Pinkham called for common sense.

“People have just got to learn to ride their limits,” she said Saturday morning after completing the Egg Run. “Setting a speed limit is not the answer. There is no way to adequately enforce it.”

Even with increased patrols by the Maine Warden Service to monitor speed and alcohol use on Maine’s 13,000 miles of trails, nine people have been killed in snowmobile accidents this winter. The state record is 12 in a year, a figure reached twice in the 1990s and again during last year’s mild winter.

Some riders want to see speed limits placed on the trails, such as New Hampshire and Vermont have, but others feel that would make no difference. “When New Hampshire set 45 miles per hour as the speed limit two years ago, they ended up with the same death rate,” said Dick Thurlow, who traveled to the Ride-In from Lisbon Falls.

“Too much drinking,” was quickly mentioned by Chad Hurd of St. Albans as a reason for many accidents.

Melissa Hurd added, “It makes the rest of the sport look bad when you drink and drive. If you ask most of the people here, that’s not what snowmobiling is about.”

This year, snowmobile registrations in the state are expected to top 100,000 for the first time. Nationwide, there were 1.7 million machines registered last year, up from 1.3 million in 1996, according to the Ed Klim, president of the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association.

A Maine lawmaker has proposed a law he hopes will cut the number of snowmobile fatalities in the state. Sen. David Carpenter, R-Sanford, wants to require operators to take a safety course, pass a written and driving test, and obtain a license.

The measure also would prohibit children under 16 from operating snowmobiles except on their family’s property, require riders to wear helmets and make owners carry liability insurance for property damage and injuries.

The annual Egg Run, from the Levant clubhouse to the Sebasticook Valley Community Center in Newport, was conducted by nine celebrity riders carrying a total of 383 eggs in their clothing. Each egg represented a pledge of $50, raising more than $19,000 for Pine Tree Camp.

Representatives from dozens of snowmobile clubs from around the state brought their pledges to Newport, providing more than $150,000 for the camp.