April 2023 President’s Report –  Chris D’Silva

With the snows melting quickly in many parts of the province (unfortunately not fast enough where I am), I know that your thoughts are turning to preparations for this year’s summer riding.

As we focus on getting our machines prepped and planning the trails we will ride, some of the more mundane and simple things tend to get forgotten. Such is the way it is with renewing our membership for the coming year.

While ATVBC does try to stay on top of this by sending out reminders 30 days in advance of your renewal date, we, as members, don’t always tend to jump on the renewal as quickly as we might. Subsequently, our memberships lapse, and then all of a sudden, we are no longer members. Prior to ATVBC’s upgrade on our membership system, we had the ability to provide a 90 days grace period, but now, that is not possible.

My ask of you is to please act on your renewal notice as soon as you can after receiving it so that there is no lapse in your membership. This not only helps you keep current, but it also assists Carrie in managing the memberships more effectively by cutting down on her workload.  Please email [email protected] if you need your membership invoice re-emailed to you. ATVBC thanks you.

It does sound like it is going to be a busy year. I have seen numerous posts from clubs highlighting their ride events, and they sound like a lot of fun. Just to mention a couple, there is the Revelstoke GPS ride and the Prince George Poker Ride in September. Both events are usually well attended and are open to all riders as far as I know.

Then of course there is the ATVBC Poker Ride in Princeton. We are just over 2 months from this event! Registration has been strong and so far there are over 125 people registered and sales for the pig and turkey roast are going well too.  I hope to see many of you at this event.

As for an update on the RSTBC ORV Trails Grant fund, the response this year has been very good, the Fund received 46 grant applications, mind you, these are ATVs, bikes, and snowmobiles combined. Nine of those are from ATV clubs. The evaluation process has started and results should be available the beginning of May, so stay tuned.

In the words of Roy Rogers:

“Some trails are happy ones,
Others are blue.

It’s the way you ride the trail that counts,
Here’s a happy one for you.

Happy trails to you,
Until we meet again.
Happy trails to you,
Keep smiling until then.”