Top of the world.
The Osgoode-Carleton Snowmobile Trail Club has won the International Snowmobile Club of the Year for 2012.
File
The news just keeps getting better for the Osgoode-Carleton Snowmobile Trail Club, which has been named the International Club of the Year for 2012.
Last September, the group won a club of the year award and volunteer of the year award for Ontario, and was later awarded the 2012 club of the year award in Canada. It has since been recognized for its stellar volunteer base, and has even won new equipment for its efforts.
Now, thanks to a nomination by the Canadian Council of Snowmobile Organizations, the group has been named the best club in North America by the International Snowmobile Hall of Fame in Wisconsin.
“It’s been winning, winning, winning, we can’t stop. It’s been just overwhelming,” said club president George Darouze.
Although it is technically an international award, Darouze said the hall of fame’s membership largely comes from North America, so the award is considered the best on the continent. Darouze said membership does include Russia and some Scandinavian countries too.
Darouze said they are the first Canadian club to win the award, and he attributes the honour to the club’s commitment to the community.
“We’re building a culture in the club. It’s our socializing, our volunteering, our involvement in the community,” said Darouze. He added that building a “beautiful clubhouse” off Manotick Station Road and winning the right to use the Osgoode multi-use pathway after a long battle with residents and the city also contributed to the group’s awards.
The group will formally receive the award at a convention in Wisconsin on the weekend of Sept. 15.
Osgoode Coun. Doug Thompson said he is “very pleased” for the club, which he said is a strong community supporter.
“They have done a lot of work on the (multi-use) pathway previous to when it was officially a pathway, they cleaned it up a lot and they continue to work in the winter time,” Thompson said, noting that the group also supports other non-profit groups in the region. They recently had a team at the Metcalfe golf tournament for the Live and Learn Resource Centre, and host an annual Ride for Debbie to raise funds for cancer research. The group also puts entertaining floats into the ward’s various Christmas and Canada Day parades, including a now infamous “KISS-mas” float where club members dressed up like members of the 1970s glam rock band several years ago.
“They’re very in tune with what’s happening in the community and they’re willing to support it,” Thompson said.
Darouze said his next objective for the club is to get youth more involved.
“The snowmobile club is trying...to get the youth out to enjoy the trails and the community we have,” he said. He said he is concerned by the level of inactivity among teenagers. “They sit and watch TV, they’re bombarded by Facebook and all this stuff. I’m approaching schools about the benefits and the health factors so we can help this bedroom thing and get them out.”
For more information visit www.osgoodesnowmobileclub.ca.