PRESQUE ISLE – On Jan. 25, 2009, northern Maine lost an icon, a community gathering place and center of activity that meant so much to so many. In the early morning hours of that brisk winter day, flames engulfed the Presque Isle Snowmobile Clubhouse on the outskirts of the city near Aroostook State Park.
The loss was devastating. Erased from the landscape was the hub of an active non-profit organization that serves the region in countless ways, from long volunteer hours grooming trails that are vital to The County’s lucrative snowmobile industry to sponsoring an annual sled ride for mentally challenged youth and adults. Moreover, lying in embers were the walls that held memories of weddings and receptions, holiday parties, family gatherings, community suppers, fund-raisers, socials, class reunions and so many other functions for nearly a quarter century.
“We were in shock after the fire. We didn’t know what to do. The benefits to the community of the snowmobile clubhouse had been proven in the community by its heavy use in the quarter century the building had been around. We were continuously being asked about rebuilding,” said Ted Roberts, a long-time member of the Presque Isle Snowmobile Club and one of the members who had worked on constructing the clubhouse that was destroyed by fire. “People truly loved this building.”
Initial feelings of despair and region-wide uncertainty were quickly replaced with hope and resolve as members of the Presque Isle Snowmobile Club, themselves still reeling from the shock of the fire, committed to rebuilding. The challenge would be even more daunting than it first appeared, as club members grappled with the fact that the building and its contents were only insured for 70 percent of their value, and that the organization was within a week of acting on its insurance agent’s recommendation to increase coverage.
To help offset the $100,000 shortfall, members of the Snowmobile Club, led by Roberts and Norm Driscoll, club president, took their compelling story to the members of the Presque Isle Rotary Club, asking if the organization would consider joining forces with the club by taking on the rebuilding of the snowmobile clubhouse as its 2009 special project. Specifically, the snowmobile club was hoping that Rotary would assist in raising funds to help offset the difference in the building’s replacement cost to ensure a new building would go up in time for the coming snowmobile season.
“The Presque Isle Snowmobile Clubhouse is more than just a place where people come together. It is truly a community icon,” said Nancy Fletcher, Presque Isle Rotary Club president. “We were so pleased to select this worthwhile cause as our special project for the year.”
Under the direction of Presque Isle Rotarian special project co-chairs Jason Parent and Dan Bagley, a committee comprised of fellow Rotarians and members of the snowmobile club got to work early this fall to raise between $20,000 and $25,000 to go toward the clubhouse rebuilding project.
In recent weeks, committee members have “taken their show on the road,” speaking before local civic organizations throughout central Aroostook. They have also prepared and sent a mailing to more than 600 businesses, organizations and individuals throughout the local area, as well as downstate and out of state, soliciting donations for the cause.
“Our mailing list included individuals who had addresses hundreds of miles away from Presque Isle. Requests for donations were sent to addresses in southern Maine, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and New York,” said Parent. “We decided to expand our scope to include individuals from outside the region that have registered their snowmobiles in Presque Isle in recent years. These are individuals who have directly benefited from the work of the local snowmobile club – in the form of riding the impeccably groomed trails that are maintained by club volunteers all winter long. These individuals also tend to be more affluent and, our hope is, likely to give along with our very generous local people.”
The committee’s work is coming together nicely and will culminate in the coming weeks during the Presque Isle Rotary Club’s annual radio and television auction Dec. 1-3. As is tradition with the special project, airtime will be devoted to raising funds for the effort and acknowledging donors.
“Our goal is to raise $25,000 to move the snowmobile club and community toward completion of this much-needed facility. Reconstruction has begun, and we hope to join with the snowmobile club to celebrate the grand opening of the new Presque Isle Snowmobile Clubhouse this coming winter season,” said Bagley.
The Presque Isle Rotary Club is among the dozens of local community groups that use the snowmobile clubhouse on an annual basis. The Rotarians regularly hold their auction wrap-up dinner and meeting at the facility and plan to do the same in early 2010.
The new snowmobile clubhouse facility will resemble the one destroyed by fire earlier this year. It is being constructed on the same footprint as the previous facility. New amenities include a separate entryway connected to the building, handicapped accessible restroom facilities and slightly larger capacity as the former area set aside for a barbecue pit on the backside of the old facility will become part of the new building’s square footage.
The construction project is homegrown in Aroostook County. The building itself is a kit from Houlton-based Ward Log Homes. Central Aroostook contractor PNM Construction was hired to do most of the building work and snowmobile clubhouse volunteers are donating their time to complete the interior finish work, which is currently well under way.
Donations to support the rebuilding effort can be sent to the Presque Isle Rotary Club – Attention “Special Project”, P.O. Box 641, Presque Isle, Maine 04769. Viewers and listeners of the upcoming auction that will air live on Time Warner Cable Television Channel 9 and on 96.9 FM radio can also call in their pledges.
Contributed photo
A SCALE MODEL of the new Presque Isle Snowmobile Clubhouse built and generously donated by Fred Baker of Portage.
Photo courtesy of Larry Plant
SEEKING SUPPORT – Members of the Presque Isle Rotary Club and Presque Isle Snowmobile Club attended the Oct. 28 meeting of the Fort Fairfield Rotary Club to discuss their fund-raising efforts to rebuild the snowmobile clubhouse that was destroyed by fire earlier this year. The Presque Isle Rotarians have taken on the building project as its special project during the upcoming radio and TV auction. Pictured are, from left: Ted Roberts, member of the Presque Isle Snowmobile Club; Floyd Rockholt, Rotary auction co-chair; Jason Parent and Dan Bagley, Presque Isle Rotarian special project co-chairs; and Gary Sirois, Fort Fairfield Rotary Club.
Contributed photo
THIS IS ALL THAT REMAINED of the Presque Isle Snowmobile Clubhouse on the morning of Jan. 25, 2009 after the devastating fire.
Contributed photo
PRESQUE ISLE ROTARY CLUB President Nancy Fletcher, left, and Presque Isle Snowmobile Club President Norm Driscoll look over plans for the new Presque Isle Snowmobile Clubhouse. The two organizations have joined forces to help raise funds to complete the building project.
