Club news

We will be offering a Youth Snowmobile Safety Training for students ages 11-15 years old. Registration and material handout will be on Sunday, November 10, 2019 at 4:00 p.m. The field day will be held on Sunday, December 8, 2019 at 3:00 p.m. Both registration and the field day will be held at the Chris Kerfeld Farm, 44567-421st Street, Sauk Centre, MN 56378.

Call Chris at 320-766-7223 with any questions.

The winners of the Sno Cleats cash raffle drawing held Saturday, March 16th 2019:
-$500.00 Ken and Kathy Leukam
-$500.00 Chris and Stacy Herickoff
-$1,000.00 Cindy Wanderscheid
-$10,000 Grand Prize Winner is John Metcalf

We would like to thank everyone that purchased tickets for the raffle, your support is appreciated!!!

The club shed is complete! The building shell is complete with overhead doors.

We had the groomers out with the two recent snow storms, which cumulative yielded 10″+. Let’s hope the weather holds out!

Received 6″ of snow today.

Snowmobile safety training.  Parents and student must attend.  For questions, please call Chris Kerfeld at (320) 333-9255.

The annual landowner and member dinner went very well this year. The dinner was held at Greenwald Pub in Greenwald, MN. We had good turnout with about 150 people served.

Received 2″ today.  With the departure of all the snow we had, it will take a good dumping of snow to get the groomers out on the trails.
 

A snowmobile safety training class will be held starting Thursday, January 29th at:

Chris and Janet Kerfeld
44567 421st Street
Sauk Centre, MN 56378

The driving test will be held on Saturday, February 7th from 9:00 am to 12:30 am.

For more info, call Chris at: (320) 333-9255.

Star Publications published an article in Country Acres on December 18th, 2014 about the Sauk Centre Sno Cleats.  Below is the article:

Promoting safe, fun snowmobiling
Sno-Cleats organization manages local snowmobile trails
by Randy Olson, Sauk Centre Herald

Snowmobiling is as engraved into the culture of Minnesota as any hobby, especially around central Minnesota.
The Sauk Centre Sno-Cleats takes that to heart as a 40-plus year old snowmobile club the promotes safe snowmobiling while maintaining over 100 miles of trails in this area.
Sno-Cleats trail administrator John Olmscheid of Elrosa has been part of recent improvements to the trail system, including new trails from Elrosa to Spring Hill in 2008 and from Sauk Centre to Padua in 2010.
“We’re currently working on opening a new trail from Elrosa to Meire Grove  once the land easements and signs are taken care of,” said Olmscheid, who is active at the county and state level and currently serves on the Minnesota UnitedSnowmobilers Association Board.
Collin Messer of Sauk Centre has been Sno-Cleats secretary since 2011 and reports current membership at 26 families or households.
“I became interested in snowmobiles when I was about 12 years old. I got a few rides on dad’s 1978 Arctic Cat El Tigre, and since then I’ve been hooked on snowmobiling and Arctic Cat. Everyone seems to have their own preference,” he said.
Messer spent the next number of years eithe riding, working on a snowmobile or dreaming of riding a better model. He bought his first snowmobile at the age of 15 with his brother: a 1997 Arctic Cat ZR 580.
“When I was 19, I got my own, a 1999 ZR 400 Sno Pro. Finally, when I was 21, I bought my first new snowmobile: a 2004 Arctic Cat F6.”
When Messer was 24, he began riding with Chris Kerfeld, who was at the time a Sauk Centre Sno-Cleats club member. Soon he attended his first meeting and then became a member in 2008.
“I joined Sno-Cleats to do my part to give back to the community for something I loved to do. Sno-Cleats is an important organization for those who love the outdoors and who love winter-time recreation,” said Messer, whose current model is a 2009 Arctic Cat M8 153 Sno Pro.
“I enjoy riding it out west in the Big Horn mountains or in the upper peninsula of Michigan.”
Messer dates the beginning of the Sno-Cleats club to the early 1970s, with formal trail grooming starting later that decade.
Russ Beilke of Sauk Centre, current president who has been a Sno-Cleats club member since the 1970s, remembers the early years of the organization.
“The club’s first actual trail groomer was a 640-model Alpine Ski-Doo. After that we had an Arctic Cat groomer. Butch (Leroy) Moritz and I groomed trails with the old Alpine. I remember once getting stuck in the slush on a lake. It was hard work keeping the trails going,” said Beilke.
In those early years, Sno-Cleats first groomed up to Little Sauk and over to Birch Lake Park. Later they developed trails towards West Union and then branched south.
“We used to have an actual rescue sled that was donated to the fire department. It was used to go out on the freeway and highways to rescue stranded drivers. Getting people off of the highway was a chore, but it probably prevented some from dying out there,” he added.
Other leaders in the Sno-Cleats club include vice president Aaron Wiener and treasurer Andrew Burlet.
Sno-Cleats has volunteers who work with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to provide the proper snowmobile safety training to the snowmobilers of tomorrow, according to Messer.
“We’re currently in the process of transitioning instructors and expect to offer a training course in January. We also work with the fire department to help them prepare for a snowmobile-related accident.”
On Nov. 24, the Sauk Centre fire department and Sno-Cleats participated in a drill located on the snowmobile trail just east of Sauk Centre.
For the past three years, Sno-Cleats has hosted a snowmobile swap meet at the county fairgrounds. Their fourth annual swap meet is Sept. 19, 2015.
“We’ve had good turnouts at the events and look forward to continuing this event for years to come. We had very nice weather at least year’s swap meet. We’re always looking for new ideas on promoting the club and the sport of snowmobiling,” said Messer.
Sno-Cleats also hosts a landowner and member-appreciation dinner.
“It’s important to show our appreciation towards the landowners for allowing the club to have signs out and maintain trails across private property. We also like to regularly thank the members who do the trail signing and maintenance,” saidMesser.
The 2015 Sno-Cleats appreciation dinner is on Feb. 5 at the Greenwald Pub.
The club’s website < saukcentresnocleats.com > includes an updated events calendar and trail conditions map.
Sno-Cleats also donates to various community causes throughout the year.
“Recently we donated to Veterans Ride and to Nick Keller from Richmond for the Keller Family Community Foundation,” said Messer.
New members can sign up at snocleats@gmail.com or at the group’s website. Meetings are generally held the first Tuesday of the month at ElmerZ in Sauk Centre between October and April.
“Snowmobiling is something that kids with the right training and adults of all ages can enjoy. We’re proud to support the activities of snowmobilers in our area and promote doing it in a safe and responsible manner,” said Messer.

Received another 1″ to 2″ overnight.  Still need more snow to continue/start grooming.  Keep doing the snow dance!

We received about 1″ to 2″ of snow overnight.

Whatever snow we had on the trails is in dire need for replenishment.  With temps around 40, the snow will not stay long.  We need more snow!

Article in St. Cloud Times about the Sno Cleats trail condition.  Link to article.

We have started grooming our trails for the season.  The trails north and west of Sauk Centre have been groomed.  The trails still need more snow though.

The Sauk Centre Fire Department and the Sno-Cleats participated in a drill.  At 6:00 pm on November 24th a call was made into the Fire Department for the drill.  The drill happened on the snowmobile trail just east of Sauk Centre.

We received about 8″ of snow.

The third annual Sauk Centre Sno-Cleats Swap Meet was held on Saturday, September 20, 2014 and again went very well. We had very nice weather and a good turnout. We are looking forward to host the event again next year. Hope to see you there.

All trails are being groomed and are in good condition with plenty of snow.

We received 1-1/2″ of new snow on Thursday which made things look much better.