WC snowmobile club named OFSC District 1 club of the year

WEST CARLETON – What has been an amazing year for the West Carleton Snowmobile Trails Association (WCSTA) was noticed by the provincial governing organization which recently named the WCSTA the club of the year.

The Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC) is a volunteer led not for profit association that provides the voice for organized snowmobiling in the Province of Ontario created in 1967. OFSC snowmobile trails managed by 200 community based, member clubs generate up to $3.3 billion in economic activity in the province each year.

Last Tuesday (Nov. 9) evening, the OFSC hosted its 2020-2021 Volunteer Recognition Ceremony online. During the ceremony Winners for Volunteer of the Year, Club of the Year, Family of the Year, Safety Ambassador and Outstanding Promotion at district and provincial levels are announced. It was during that evening, the WCST was named the District 1 OFSC Club of the Year.

The Upper Canada Snowmobile Region is District 1 within the OFSC and is comprised of 16 OFSC snowmobile clubs. The UCSR covers the area west to Napanee, north to Arnprior and east to the Ontario/Quebec border and has over 3300 km of marked, groomed trails. 1000 dedicated volunteers make up 16 clubs within the UCSR and sell over 9000 trail permits annually to riders and families in Eastern Ontario.

“More than 200 volunteers joined the OFSC’s inaugural Virtual Volunteer Recognition ceremony last night to celebrate the dedication and valuable contributions of our incredible volunteers,” the OFSC released in a statement Nov. 10. “It was a great evening with ‘live’ entertainment and a few special guest appearances.”

The WCSTA had a big year in 2021. Biggest of all was completing what is affectionately known as the World’s Longest Snowmobile Bridge. The bridge spans the Ottawa River leaving through Vydon Acres and will join with the Pontiac region’s network of snowmobile trails.  The club also worked with the city in the purchase of 33 kilometres of trail from CN Rail. The WCSTA previously leased the land from the railway company, but the city purchase will open the door for the trail to become a multi-use recreation trail maintained by the club. For more on the WCSTA’s 2021, West Carleton Online recently attended the club’s annual general meeting and you can read that story here.

OFSC awards for District 1

• D1 Family of the Year. – Livock Family (from EOSC) – Karen Karen Livock, Daren, Sheldon, Kurtis Livock , Adam.
• D1 Club of the Year. – WCSTA
• D1 Snowmobile Promotion. Pascal Roy (from EOSC) [with The United Counties of Prescott – Russell for Promotion of the Prescott-Russell Recreational Trail]
• D1 Safety Ambassador. Denis Pump Vanier (from EOSC)
• D1 Volunteer of the Year. Marika Livingston (from NVSA)

Provincial level:

• OFSC Ted Day Memorial Award – Outstanding Snowmobile Promotion. Pascal Roy (from EOSC). A link to the video that Pascal helped produce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhMriDhV6G4

Congratulations to all winners and all volunteers across the District and the province.