Register Garden Valley Snowmobiles as 8-B

   “Registration for snowmobiles can be confusing, because Garden Valley license plates are 6B, so take care to register as 8-B, if you live in Garden Valley,” says Linda Harrold, spokesperson for the GV Sno-Goers Club. “Also, we get people from out-of-town who come here to snowmobile; they register as 8-B—it brings more money to the valley.”

  The registration fees of $32.50 pay for the grooming of the trails. Harrold explains that the trail systems are divided into different areas, and Garden Valley pays Rick Woytko to do the grooming. Licenses can be purchased at the Terrace Lakes office.

  Tierney Nokes, of the Sno-Goers, encourages snowmobilers to also join the Garden Valley Sno-Goers Club, for several good reasons. The purely personal reason of making and keeping friends who share this exhilarating sport is obvious, when you show up at any Sno-Goers event. These clearly offer wholesome family fun, and jocund camaraderie abounds.

  More seriously, out of the forty-dollar membership you pay, twenty-dollars go to the Idaho Snowmobilers Association (ISSA). This is a lobbying organization that fights for the rights of snowmobilers.

  “The bigger we are, the more attention we draw from the State, to provide funding in our area,” says Nokes, “The more permits that are sold in our area of 8-B, the more money the State returns to Garden Valley for outdoor activities.”

Rick and Teresa Christensen
were happy to receive the $200 check.

  ISSA also offers discounts throughout the nation and locally.

  Linda Harrold adds, “The other twenty-dollars of the membership fee, and our fundraising money, go toward helping the community. We have just donated two-hundred dollars to the Food Bank.”

  Teresa Christensen, who heads up the Food Bank, says, “We don’t go through the Idaho Food Bank; it’s all community-donated. We serve probably an average of sixty families on Thanksgiving and Easter—about 200-250 people.

  “Each family gets several bags, which include a turkey, fresh vegetables and fruit, canned goods, pasta and grains. Anything that we all use, they put into the bags: shampoo, laundry and bath soaps, diapers, Baby Wipes, toilet paper and paper towels—a smattering of all.”

  Christensen continues, “We serve families with kids but also include adults without children. We find people through the other churches here in the valley.”

  Rick Christensen says, “You don’t have to be totally down and out. We’ve been doing this twenty or thirty years and have people from all the churches to help sort and load the goods. The Project Patch people—kids and adults—help distribute. We get a pretty good turn-out from them. It really helps when we get donations like this from individuals and organizations.”

  The Garden Valley Sno-Goers Club is open to everyone. Members without snowmobiles are welcome. Some members use dog-sleds. Others join for the fun events.

  Keep your ears open for the Annual Sno-Goers Fun Run, tentatively planned for January 5, 2013. If you haven’t attended this riotous event, think about going. They end it with a huge raffle of large and small items, and it’s fun to witness. Get ready to have a high-spirited day.