Harold Wilkins of Dexter won the Eastern Regional Arctic Cat Snowmobile Award, after being named the Maine Snowmobile Groomer of the Year for 2000.

Wilkins’ work grooming the Wassookeag Snowmobile Club’s 50 trails and his 25 years of service as a trail groomer earned him the Eastern Regional award that is contested by groomers in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Quebec, Ontario and the Maritime Provinces.

Wilkins said he spends about 10-12 hours a week grooming the trails, while he spends less than half of that riding the trails for fun.

“Grooming is enjoyable for me,” Wilkins said. “There’s a satisfaction to it, a sense of accomplishment. And Maine is a beautiful state.”

As the Eastern Region winner, Wilkins will have the use of an Arctic Cat snowmobile, provided by Cat Trax in La Grange, for a year.