Giving Back to Community 

You don’t have to look far to find some­thing to be grateful for on the North Shore. We have some of the most beautiful wilder­ness, clean water, and incredibly close knit communities. It’s our communities that are the glue holding us all together. This senti­ment is something the Finland Snowmobile and ATV Club agrees on. As it says in their mission statement, a shared value is to give back and support the community that sup­ports them. “We are in a place now where we can offer back to the community. The club is committed to giving back to the community because they have al­ways been so good to us,” says Sandy Gun­nink, President of the Finland Snowmobile and ATV club.

This past month, the club was able to award two local organiza­tions with a five hun­dred dollar donation as a way to say ‘thank you’ for being here and supporting the com­munity of Finland.

The Finland Fire Department received a donation from the club, as well as the Finland Nature Child Care Center.

“I was so touched to be told that we were a recipient of the $500 donation from the Fin­land Snowmobile and ATV Club. We will be using the donation to help fund our summer field trips and outdoor toys. Getting outside and doing stuff is good for people of all ages!” commented Elli King, Director of the Finland Nature Childcare Cen­ter in Finland.

 Between both snow­mobile and ATV, the Finland club has 30 miles of trail that they look after, main­tain and groom. Lake County sponsors the club and helps to fun­nel funding and grants from the DNR to aid in keeping the trails in good shape. “We’ve had some issues the last couple of years with the last 2 flood­ing events, but we worked with the coun­ty, the DNR, and local contractors to get our trails back up and run­ning,” says Gunnink.

The club wants to make sure to keep the ATV trails in good running order this sea­son to offset the toll taken on having such a low turn out for the last season of snow­mobiling. “A bad sea­son of trails means a bad season for many local businesses,” she says.

Sandy guesses there’s around 65 members of the Fin­land club. “Many of the members have seasonal cabins here or have just always enjoyed the area and want to come back and have made the north shore one of their pre­miere riding spots.” The club receives do­nations through mem­bership or donations through donation box­es around town. “Peo­ple have been gener­ous,” says Sandy, who has been president of the club for the last 4 years.

As of right now the trail system is almost completely open, oth­er than a small section West of Hwy. 1 going out towards the Moose Walk that is closed be­cause of a bridge out over Crown Creek, and a small section that goes through the Finland State Camp­ground due to of an­other bridge that’s been washed out. The club is currently work­ing towards getting these areas repaired.

The club holds two main events annually. The biggest of those events is the Vintage Snowmobile Ride, held in February. This is a great time for snowmobile en­thusiasts to show off their vintage sleds on a guided and support­ed ride on the Moose Walk and Moose Run trails. There’s food, si­lent auction and a raf­fle.

The other event, hosted by the club, is the family fun ATV Poker Run in Septem­ber, which is coming up soon. The Poker Run ride will be held Saturday, Septem­ber 28th this year and leaves from the Clair Nelson Center on Cra­mer Road in Finland. The ride is open to the public, begins at 9AM, will have food, raffles, a 50/50 drawing, and memorable rides with sights along the trails.

The next monthly club ride is Saturday, August 3rd, and meets at the Clair Nelson Center. There will be a short meeting starting at 10AM with coffee and breakfast available starting at 9:30AM. After the meeting, the group will go for a ride and have a bbq some­where along the trail system.

Memberships are between twenty and fifty dollars, depend­ing on the package, which vary between single, family, and business membership types. Fees are annu­al. You can find out more about becoming a member or how to support the club on their Facebook page or on their website. https://www.finlandsnowmobileandatvclub.com/