Members of the Inlet Barnstormers Snowmobile Club introduced the Town of Webb and Inlet Snowmobile Trail System to a group of young novice sledders representing Venturing Crew #288 of Garden City during the Presidents’ Week holiday.
Venturing is a youth development program of the Boy Scouts of America which is open to young men and women ages 13 to 20 and provides positive experiences to help young people mature and prepare to become responsible adults.
The youth group was put in contact with the Barnstormers through Larry Feathers of Old Forge Sport Tours, who provided close to two dozen rental snowmobiles for the trek.
The 17 scouts, their leaders and parents checked into Adirondack Lodge on Wednesday, February 19 and enjoyed dinner at the Knotty Pine.
Upon their return to the motel, Barnstormer members Ron and Sandy Nihill offered refresher snowmobile instruction to the youths who had previously received their NY State rider certification in their hometown.
The next day they had the opportunity to put their classroom education to practical use when they joined six Barnstormers and two Old Forge Sport Tour mechanics on a day-long tour of the trails and a lunch stop at Big Moose Inn.
“It was a beautiful day—the only day of the week the sun was out—and the trails were in perfect condition. It was the first time many of the kids were ever on a snowmobile, or in the area for that matter. And all of them said they wanted to come back,” said Sandy.