Courtesy: Peace Valley Snow Riders
St. Isidore Family Recognized as the Alberta Snowmobile Family of the Year
At the Annual Alberta Snowmobile Association Awards of Excellence Banquet held on Saturday October 15th in Edmonton, the Allard Family from St. Isidore was recognized as the Alberta Snowmobile Family of the Year. Brothers Francois and Pierre along with Francois’s son Hayden have been supportive of the local Peace area club, the Peace Valley Snow Riders, in many aspects. In 2013, they signed one of the first Licence Agreements with the Club to allow the Baytex Wesley Creek Trail to cross their private land.
Significant involvement with the Club started in 2016/17 with Allard Logging Ltd. carrying out logging work to clear the east end staging area for the Zavisha Smith Mills Trail followed by assistance to annually remove vegetation from trails, assistance with major projects and grooming the Club’s trails as they purchased their own drag and equipped side by sides with tracks to pull it, which they have carried out primarily on a donation basis. This further resulted in Francois being recognized as the Alberta Snowmobile Association Groomer of the Year in 2018. Francois is quick to note that although he was recognized with this award, it was only possible because the others were carrying out the work required at the farm.
Although the volunteer work and donations in kind provided have contributed significantly to the overall success of the local Club, there is more. The Club has experienced significant membership growth in recent years with 246 annual Trail Pass/Memberships and 33 Day Passes sold in 2021/22, many of which were the direct result of sales by this family. As well, Francois is currently Director/Trail Development Committee Chair for the Club, in addition to Francois and Hayden filling the roles of Trail Coordinators
for the Baytex Wesley Creek Trail, where Pierre is frequently seen to being working along side of them. It is obvious from the participation by this family that snowmobiling is a life long passion and hence this family is a true ambassador for the sport and deserving of this recognition .Peace Valley Snow Riders is a regional club organized in 2009 with snowmobile trails on both the east and west side of the Peace River. All four (4) existing trails, totalling 205 kilometers, include staging areas with ample space to park and unload snowmobiles. Rest areas are located along each trail where fire pit, picnic table, wood shed and outhouse are provided. Directional signage to staging areas is located on roadways near staging areas. More information and trail maps are available at https://peacevalleysnowriders.com/.
Don’t spend another winter looking out the window. Get off the couch and enjoy winter!! The great outdoors and the beauty of the Peace area await you. Alberta Snowmobile Association (ASA) Membership/Trail Passes, which provide access to all ASA trails in the province of Alberta are available on the ASA website http://albertasnowmobile.ca/ or from local snowmobile dealerships in Peace River and Hines Creek.
Keith Hopper, Trending 55
