Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 646 | Snowmobile VERMONT VAST News First off, I want to offer a big thank you to the Rutland County Clubs for hosting a great Annual Meeting at Killington and a thank you to all who attended. The golf tournament was well attended and was a great event to take part in. Even though I’m not a golfer, I was teamed up with a group of guys that were and made it a fun experience for me. I am looking forward to the 50th Annual Meeting in Lamoille County next year. The wrap-up of Annual Meeting means a new season is right around the corner. Clubs are already fixing bridges, clearing brush, trimming trees and making other trail improvements. The long-range weather forecast shows a great season on the horizon – it has to be better than last year! There are also exciting things happening in the VAST office with the online TMA program kicking off soon. There is also now a chance to win a new Polaris with your Early Bird TMA purchase and more improvements are being made to the interactive trail map. VAST will also be participating in several shows in the next few weeks in a marketing effort to help build the membership. Along with the usual weekend at the SAM show in Massachusetts, trips to Syracuse, N.Y. and Augusta, Maine are on the calendar. It’s looking like a great year ahead! Stay up to date with what’s going on by liking your favorite clubs on Facebook and bookmarking the VAST website. Reach out to your local club to offer some help on fall projects. A few hours of trimming brush or signing trails would be greatly appreciated. Volunteers and generous landowners make the VAST trail system one of the best in the Northeast. Respect, Reach Out, Enjoy! - Jeff Fay, VAST Vice President A message from VAST Vice President Jeff Fay COMPLIANCE HELP FOR CLUBS VAST has recently been working on a plan to help clubs become compliant with state and federal laws. As a result, a club compliance booklet was put together by financial consultant, Christina Sultan. Christina attended VAST Annual Meeting to meet with clubs and go over the information within the booklet. You can go to the VAST website to see or download the VAST Club Compliance booklet. What do we mean by “being compliant?” Your club needs to register with the Secretary of State’s office and renew that registration every two years. You also need to make sure that if you are paying for any type of service, you are accounting for it properly. For instance, if you have volunteer groomers and you give them a nice little cash bonus each holiday season, they would still be considered an employee or contracted service worker, and workers comprehensive insurance and taxes would need to be paid. If you unsure if your club is compliant, the first step to take is to go to the Vermont Secretary of State’s website and do a business search using your club’s name. From October through December, VAST will be hosting one meeting in each county on a Saturday or Sunday morning 8 -11 a.m. or 1:30 - 4:30 p.m. Details regarding locations can be found on the VAST website and on the next page in this issue of the magazine. At these meetings we will be going through the booklet and trying to answer county and club questions. You do not need to be a club in the county where the meeting is being held to attend and participate. All clubs are welcome to any of the meetings. Snacks and drinks will be provided. If you have questions about these meetings, reach out to Cindy Locke at 802-229-0005 x11 or email cindy@ vtvast.org. NEWS NEWS ...continued from page 3