Winter cannot be far away, because this weekend almost 600 volunteer snowmobilers are gathering in North Bay for the largest snowmobiling conference in the world, the 35th annual convention of the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC). The delegates, who hail from snowbelt communities across the province, represent 260 local snowmobile clubs who operate and maintain the OFSC?s 46,000 kilometres of snowmobile trails.
At the Saturday business session, each club will exercise its two votes to help decide on major provincial issues such as permit price, liability insurance, land securement and multi-use trails.
?The OFSC was founded in 1967 as a coordinating body for local clubs and their trails,? stated OFSC president Dennis Burns. ?Our mission is to provide leadership and support for clubs and volunteers to assist them in achieving their local objectives and provincial priorities.?
The delegates who gather in North Bay come from all walks of life and represent almost every age group.
They are mostly family folks from rural Ontario, 78 per cent of whom are married. With an equal mix of men and women, their average age is 42 years, and they have an average of 18 years experience riding snowmobiles.
