Page 36 - TheDecemberSnomad2019

year and that it wasn't until after their last ride in Munising that the subject
of a club or not actually came up. Jim said "during the evening following the
days ride, the subject was brought up about how great it had been with all
of us riding together, and that we were truly "Snomads"." This time there
was no opposition, and as it happened, Jim had brought along all the paper-
work that he had been building all summer. "while sitting in the Rec.-Room
of the Terrace Motel in Munising, we all read the proposed by-laws, signed
our intentions to create a functional club, and it was a done deal, with one
stipulation. We all agreed that since our preferred style of riding was
"saddlebagging" from location to location, sometimes for days at a time, we
should expand the name of the club to reflect that. Hence, we were now
the SNOMADS SNOFARI CLUB."

While reading more of Jim's notes he told how the membership categories
were established and that Dues were $20. Jim designed the original logo for
the club and with the help of a sign-making friend made up several license
plates. Linny Fine became the first Honorary member for his contribution to
the Snomads. There were five charter members who paid their dues and
that was their first $100. The first purchase was for some business cards
with the new club logo on it. They established a permanent club address
and opened a checking account. Jim Duke was elected as the first
"President" of the Snomads, an office he held for seven years until he re-
tired from General Motors and moved north. Gerld Kline was the first Vice
President, Ralph Hilborn was Secretary/Treasurer and later they divided
these duties and Greg Rehwoldt became Secretary.

"Word of our new club spread like wildfire and before we had our
first meeting we had recruited four more members", Jim said. "It was de-
cided that one meeting prior to the beginning of each snowmobile season
would be enough, and I rented the Oakland Masonic Hall for our first an-
nual meeting. It was in
November of 1986 and the hall cost a whopping S35. Our Associate Mem-
bers provided a potluck dinner prior to the meeting and we watched videos
afterwards. We had fourteen members present at that first meeting. Bill
Lowe, sales staff person at Jan's Sports Shop in Goodrich and the person
Ralph and

December 2019 The Snomad Page 36