Enjoy a little trip down Memory Trail and find out a little more about our members and the meaning behind the SMART Snowmobile Club.

In the early 1970's John Bradley and Charlie Parkin purchased the Big Chute Marina. As only a foot path existed to the Pretty Channel Dam,snowmobiles weren't able to travel through the area. John and Charlie took it upon themselves to improve the footpath to accommodate snowmobiles. Once this was done, some cottagers in Coulters Bay decided that they would also like a trail. The Ministry of Natural Resources was approached, and with assistance from Robbie Robertson, Bill Brown, and John Winters, approval for the trail, and permission to cross the dam was granted.

John, Charlie and the Coulters Bay cottagers constructed the trail which included on and off ramps to cross the dam. In 1974 John and his son extended the trail to the Lost Channel. The MNR extended the trail to Six Mile Lake and further to where it is today. The MNR were a major player in the development of the Big Chute Trail. Eventually, they experienced some cutbacks and could no longer afford to keep up with the maintenance and grooming of the trails. This was when the HART Snowmobile Club was developed. They continued the upkeep of the trails (with Alpines) and membership to the club reached 235 members. Eventually, the traffic on the trails became too heavy - and the grooming became a challenge as the equipment was too small to accommodate the maintenance required.
In 1996 the Hart Club joined the Muskoka Snowmobile Region. It changed its name to SMART, and appointed a new Executive and Board of Directors. Improvements were made and today there are over 500 members. The larger equipment required to maintain and groom the trails has been purchased. The steady stream of traffic associated with the increased club membership is no longer a major challenge on the trail! The Executive Team...Then and Now According to a reliable source - the Executive Team that existed in the old Hart Club (before it was officially named SMART) consisted of the President, Jim Patterson. Mrs. Patterson was the Treasurer and the others involved were, Don Frankland, Bob & Leslie Parsons, Jim & Peggy Fouracre and the Latters on T-Lake.
The 1996 original SMART Executive team is pictured here. From left to right (front row) we have Frank Singer - Director, Barb Watt - Treasurer, Jane Conway, Tom Wideman - Director, Peggy Fouracre - Secretary, Ron Martin - Director, Willard Roth - Director. Back row includes John Clark - Director, Peter Breen - Director, Gord Bell, Don Martin - President, Clint Watt - Vice President and Don Martin Sr. - Trail Boss. 2007 -2008 SMART Executive Executive:Don Martin President Kevin Dawson - Peggy Fouracre - Lisa Martin Directors:RobRoth - RonMartin - JimFouracre - AndyDunlop DaveClark - Kevin Bruce -Tom Wideman - Wayne Turner -Tom Sonnenberg - Jean Rapson - Bruce Martin - Randy Martin
LIST OF VOLUNTEERS SMART SNOWMOBILE CLUB-1996 Bob Murdoch, Ron Simkins, Fred Thompson, Don Martin Sr, Loretta Martin, Ron Martin, Don Martin, Brad Martin, Stephanie Martin, Shane Martin, Lisa Martin, Pam Martin, Bob Snyder, Marilyn Snyder, Wayne Turner, Randy Martin, Clint Watt, Barb Watt, Al Watt, Peter Breen, Barry Wideman, Tom Wideman, Tim Wideman, Bob Graves, Steve Graves, Frank Singer, Jane Conway, Al Pross, John Gibson, John Clark, Paul Clark, Chris Clark, Fernanda Clark, Adam Clark, Ainsley Clark, Vic Priestly, Ryan Priestly, Brent Gordon, Tyler Gordon, Eric Palakoski, Elmer Palakoski, Fred McMullin, Patricia Moylan, John Mortson, Darryl Knight, Ken McCracken, Irene McCracken, Mike Tanner, John Taylor, Andy Dunlop, Gord Lafontaine, Ken Daniel, John Ball, Al Smith, Mary Velanosi, Scott Malcolm, Don Hurren, Brad Bandeen, Howard Katz, Nancy Katz, Dave Clark, Andy Hale, Brad Hale, Willard Roth, Ada Roth, Rob Roth, Tracey Roth, John Hunter, Brent Holden, Chris Sahadath, Gary Johnstone, Ivan Massey, Orie Massey, Norm Clark, John Burleigh, Jim Fouracre, Peggy Fouracre, Dave Carefoot, Nancy Carefoot, David Robertson, Brian Priestly, Morley Marchant, Sue Bandeen, Mark Williams, Matt Brierly, Glen Hepinstall, Glen Nick, Jason Horvath, Bill Gorse, Jamie Arnott, Marshall Reeves, Brian Langford, Jim Rowntree, Steve Onorato. If we have missed you, we apologize, as it is an oversight! Please e-mail your name to us at the club's email address, smart@amtelecom.net LIST OF PAST SMART SNOWMOBILE CLUB VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR AWARDS 99/00 - John Clark and Ron Martin 00/2001 - Peggy Fouracre and Don Martin 01/02 - Barry Wideman and Tom Wideman 02/03 - Dave Clark 03/04 - Rob Roth and Morley Machant 04/05 - John Swales and Peggy Fouracre 05/06 - Kevin Bruce and Bruce Martin 2006 SNOWMOBILE CLUB FAMILY ACHIEVEMENT AWARD The OFSC presented family achievement awards at the OFSC Convention in September. I neglected to write this in my past articles for some unknown reason. Each district was asked to nominate a family who contributed to snowmobiling in their area. The recipient for District #7 and to my surprise at the AGM was “The Martin Family”. A plaque and gift certificates were presented to me at the convention. Thank you to those who nominated the Martin family.