Warming Hut

This coming Saturday will be the last day the Warming Hut will be open for the 2008 season. It has been a great year and Bob and Sue Gaudette have done a wonderful job keeping the hut open and being great hosts to all that have visited this season.

Again the club wants to thank all those that have helped and those that have visited the Warming Hut this season. It was a great snowmobile season that will go down in the history books as one of the best ever.

Bob and Sue have said they really enjoyed being your hosts this season and will be back again next year.

We have started an honor roll of people donating both time and food. So far local businesses include:

Dube's Pittstop
Powder Horn Lodge and Cabins
Ramblewood Cabins and Campground
The Indian Stream Eatery
Tall Timber/Rainbow Grille
Tracy's Hillside Grille

Donations of food and volunteer time from club members and friends of the club have come from the following:

Sue and Bob Gaudette
Rita Griffin
Ida Johnson
Anita Edwards
Linda Simpson
Al and Susie Borders
Trudy and John Huff
Gil Short
John and Kim Bialek with son Michael
Steven "Digger" Mondeau
Nathan Foote
Mark and Helga Ziegler
Steve Witley
Joe Clark

The Warming Hut crew welcomed members of Pittsburg Fire and Rescue and their equipment Feb. 16. This was the annual fundraiser which we have been conducting for quite a few years. Squad members David Parker, Sid Young, and Jimmy Owens with several other members proudly showed off their snowmobile trailer, sleds and equipment. This is the only way you want to see this equipment! The fundraiser brought in well over $700 to be donated to the Pittsburg Fire and Rescue to help supply the snowmobile rescue trailer and sleds.

From the left, Mark Ziegler with Fire & Rescue squad members David Parker, Sid Young and Jimmy Owens.

At the same time Pittsburg High School Class of 2008 had one of their poker run stops at the Warming Hut. Their course was very well marked when we rode by the day before. It was a successful fund raiser with 119 hands being dealt. First place of $100 went to John Elland, Second place of $50 went to Bub Salmon and Third place of $25 went to Brenda Dorman.

Inside the hut, we had an abundance of help. New warming hut crew members, Bob and Sue Gaudette were accompanied by Gil Short, Al Borders, and "retired" crew members Mark and Helga Ziegler. There was laughter throughout the day!

From the left, Mark Ziegler, Gil Short, Helga Ziegler, Sue Gaudette and Bob Gaudette

Wonderful baked goods and fudge were available from Rita Griffin, Trudy Huff, Susie Borders and Helga Ziegler. Turkey soup was made by Rita Griffin, Ida Johnson, Anita Edwards, Linda Simpson and Helga's secret ingredients. We highlighted the chili donated by The Indian Stream Eatery Steakhouse and Cantina. It was gone almost by noon and much appreciated.

Club members John and Michael Bialek and Steven Mondeau from way down south, spent Sunday morning shoveling the snow off the warming hut roof. Little did they know how much work that would be when they offered! They also dropped off many supplies and goodies at the groomer shed for the drivers and groomer maintenance crews.

Steve, Michael and John posing on the roof after a job well done.
Steve is from Massachusetts and John and Michael are from Connecticut.

It was good that the snow was removed yesterday as we have been getting some rain today, which would have added a huge weight load to the roof with the possibility of a collapse.

Warming Hut donations can be dropped off at Ramblewood at any time, and please include your name. All donations are very much appreciated. We are hoping some of the other businesses will come to our rescue with soup or baked goods donations. We hope that people will frequent the businesses who support our club.

On a sad note, we received word that Dave and Dixie Lawrence, who have manned the hut for us each year for quite a few years, were in an accident on their way to Yellowstone. At this writing, Dixie is still in the hospital, but improving while Dave awaits her release so they can go back home to Massachusetts. The trip was Dave's 60th birthday present. Our thoughts and prayers are with them for a speedy recovery. We hope to see them back at the hut next year.

Our Annual Pittsburg Fire and Rescue Fundraiser will be held on February 16 at the Deer Mountain Warming Hut. We are always proud to have members of our department there to show off their rescue equipment and answer your questions. The Warming Hut crew will be happy to serve you all kinds of goodies. The Indian Stream Eatery and Cantina has offered to make chili and we hope to get other local businesses and friends of the club to donate food items or money for this worthwhile cause. All proceeds will go directly to the department.

Everyone is welcome. The hut can be easily reached by both snowmobile and car. For those people unfamiliar with Pittsburg, it is located right on Route 3 a few miles south of the Canadian border.

Come join us, get warm, eat hearty and feed the Canadian Jays!

The Warming Hut at Deer Mountain Campground officially opened on Jan. 5 Please welcome Bob and Sue Gaudette who will be manning the Hut this year. Bob and Sue are old hands at this, having substituted for Mark and Helga Ziegler during the past several years. We thank Paul Bergeron, club president and owner of Ramblewood Cabins and Campground for offering them a place to stay each week end.

YOUR NEW WARMING HUT HOSTS BOB & SUE GAUDETTE

The menu will stay similar to the past years with some of the same people making the turkey soup and baking. This year the turkey soup makers were Rita Griffin, Ida Johnson, and Anita Edwards. They also made up a batch of chili. Helga made soup for the first week and some caribou stew. Bonnie Kiley of Powder Horn Lodge made split peas soup for this week end. Cookie bakers so far have been Rita Griffin and Helga Ziegler. Bob and Sue were pleasantly surprised by the baked goods delivered from Dubie's Pittstop.

We are always grateful for food donations. They can be delivered to Ramblewood, but please be sure to put your name on the items. We are hoping to have some of our local restaurants send us a taste of their menu and hope that you will frequent their establishments.

Helga Ziegler

Warming Hut Alert!

We are happy to report that the Warming Hut at Deer Mountain Campground will be open this snowmobile season. Due to the generosity of our president, Paul Bergeron, Bob and Sue Gaudette have a place to stay on week ends and will be manning the Hut. Regulars at the Hut have already met Bob and Sue since they have worked up there before. We also hope that Dave and Dixie Lawrence and Jenn and Keith Landry will give them time off.

Mark and Helga are not off the scene entirely. Mark and John Huff will help setting up, while Helga and her cooking crew will still make soup and bake. At times, they will also lend a hand and cover for Bob and Sue to give them time off. A third person is always needed as the season gets busy, so we are hoping that we get volunteers.

Donations are always gratefully accepted. Home baked goods, as opposed to packaged cookies, are the best sellers. Packaged candy, chips, and crackers are also popular. We had some great cooks out there making chili, pea soup, American chop suey, etc. Please let us know if you plan to supply us with anything so we can take some of the burden off the same few people.

Every penny helps us pay for the groomers which make our trails some of the best in the Great North Woods.

This year the Warming Hut opened as promised on January 6 despite the unfavorable conditions. We felt that if we say we�re open, we must be there even if it�s just for drying off or an emergency. One party stopped to get directions and one guest came and had lunch! Snow conditions improved from that point and the Warming Hut once again became a hub of activity. It was nice seeing so many return guests. Donated soups were ready for us thanks to Rita Griffin, Anita Edwards and Maurice and Linda Simpson who donated the caribou for our stew.

The ladies met at the club house and again prepared our staple of turkey soup. This group consisted of Ida Johnson, Rita Griffin, Anita Edwards, Trudy Huff, Judy Kamon, and Helga Ziegler. They prepared enough stock to last us most of the season. Bev Lord also prepared some at home and thus we had enough for the rest of the time. We wish to thank the following people for their kind donations of food:

Bob and Dot Lindsay
Beth Andresen
Sue Borders
Bonnie and Steve Kiley
Jenn and Keith Landry
Dona and Paul Cramer
Steve Witley
Polar Man
Barbara LaPointe
Alice and Doug Lyons
Sandy and Jill Young
Other members of Pittsburg Fire and Rescue who did not write their names on their donations
Paul Bergeron
Anita Edwards
Rita Griffin
Helga Ziegler

The Warming Hut crew consisted primarily of John Huff, Mark and Helga Ziegler. We thank Sue and Bob Gaudette, Gil Short, Jenn, Keith, Spencer and Brennan Landry, Dave and Dixie Lawrence and Lainey and Pete Castine for filling in for us during the season. Their help was greatly appreciated. Assistance from Paul Bergeron in providing us with the bottled drinks and Bev Lord for ordering most of our supplies, made the task easier. A thank you must also go to the groomer drivers who plowed us out so that we didn�t have to carry supplies too far.

Our fund raiser for Pittsburg Fire and Rescue was a huge success. Again David Parker and Jimmy Owens proudly showed off their equipment. Many wonderful donations of food came from squad members. We thank our guests for their generosity and will be handing over a nice tidy check at the next club meeting.

It is with regret that we closed the Warming Hut. After 12 years of volunteering to be there or have the Hut manned, Mark and I are retiring with the hope that someone will step up to the plate and volunteer. I believe we would still have a crew willing to do some of the cooking and baking and hope that the people who have delivered goodies will continue to do so in the event we find someone to fill our shoes. Having free Saturdays will give us more opportunities to visit with a growing family and take longer snowmobile trips.

We thank you all for your patronage. Every penny we brought in helped us pay off the new groomers. We hope to see you all on the trails or at club house events in the future.

Helga Ziegler

When we arrived at the "Hut" this morning we were greeted with a "Winter Wonder Land"! About 8" of snow covered the dooryard, but we plowed through it.

What a pleasant sight seeing Bob Eastman arrive with one of our groomers. In no time, we were all plowed out.

During the day many families showed up to enjoy the good home made food and hospitality of the "Hut". Many more families are enjoying the sport of snowmobiling and introducing their little ones to safe snowmobile riding.

Our dooryard was filled with happy riders. One of the favorite pastimes while in the parking area, is feeding the Canadian Jays. Children and adults alike, stand there very still with bread and cracker in their outstretched hands, hoping the Jays will come to them. We've got the fattest Jays in town.

The "Warming Hut" will be open at least through the last Saturday in March. Longer, if the weather remains cold. Come join us on Saturdays during the rest of the season.

Boy oh boy did we have a lot of visitors at the Hut this day. Many families and others made their way North to the club's warming hut to enjoy many good and a few poor trails. They also kept us very busy serving soup, coco, coffee, and hot dogs. John served over 25 pounds of hotdogs in just 5 hours.

The following picture is of a young family that were out enjoying the trails and stopped by to warm up as many snowmobiles did because the high for the day only reached about 5� F.

The warming hut crew and the club want to thank you all for your generosity especially in the groomer jug. You all made this day one of the most well attended Saturdays ever at the Deer Mountain Warming Hut..

Helga and I opened the warming hut at Deer Mountain Campground on Saturday to warm temperatures and rain! As you can see from the following photo, we did not have our usual 2 feet of snow for this time of year.

Helga and I made good use of the very light load of customers and got the hut all set up for the rest of the season.

Chris Vero was the only customer we had all day. It reminded Helga and I of how it was when we first started doing the warming hut way back in 1995. We were able to spend time visiting with our customers and were not rushed by dozens of orders for food. Don't get me wrong, we would enjoy having just a few more customers, especially the little ones.

We served this chili made by Rita at the Hut on Saturday, February 18, 2006 and had numerous requests for the recipe so, here it is.

8 cups cut up turkey
4 cans kidney beans or baked beans
2 large cans crushed tomatoes
2 cups salsa
2 large onions chopped

Garlic, chili powder, cumin, and oregano to taste..------- Go slow with the spices at first, you can always add more.
Stir it all together in a pot and heat through. You can put it in the crock pot on low all day and it will be ready for dinner.

This is just the basic recipe, there are all kinds of possibilities. Commercial chili seasoning, green chilies, more chili powder. Experiment with it and see what you like!!! Enjoy

We have received a few requests for the Deer Mountain Warming Hut Whoopie Pie recipe so here it is; now, go make some "whoopee".

Chocolate Cakes
� cup shortening.
1 cup brown sugar, packed.
1 egg.
� cup divided 2 tablespoons natural cocoa or 3 tablespoons each black cocoa and natural cocoa.
2 cups un-bleached all-purpose flour.
1 teaspoon baking powder.
1 teaspoon baking soda.
1 teaspoon salt.
1 cup milk.
1 teaspoon vanilla.

Filling
1 cup shortening.
1 cup confectioner' sugar or glazing sugar
1 1/3 cups marshmallow fluff.
A heaping � teaspoon extra-fine salt or the salt of your choice dissolved in 1 tablespoon of water.
1 � teaspoons vanilla.

    Cakes: In a large mixing bowl, cream together the shortening, sugar and egg. In a separate bowl, whisk together the cocoa(s), flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir the vanilla into the milk.
    Add the dry ingredients to the shortening mixture alternately with the milk/vanilla, beating till smooth. Drop the dough, by the �-cupful, into parchment-lined or lightly greased baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each cake.
    Bake the cakes in a preheated 350�F oven for about 15 minutes, or until they're firm to the touch. Remove them from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack.
    Filling: Beat together the shortening, sugar and marshmallow, then stir in the salt and vanilla. Spread half of the cakes with the filling; top with the remaining cakes.
    Yield: About 9 large whoopie pies.

At the Deer Mountain Warming Hut on Saturday, February 14, 1998, we served the following soup and received so many requests for the recipe we decided to post it here on the web for all to enjoy. By the way, Camp Idlewild was a hunting and fishing camp located on the Second Connecticut Lake. It burned down a few decades ago and all that is left now are some foundation stones on the hill overlooking the lake. This chowder was one of the specialties served to the guest staying there.

1lb. ground beef, browned and drained of fat
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped green pepper
2 1/2 cups grated peeled carrots
1 (32oz.) can of tomato juice
2 cans cream of celery soup
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 tblsp. salt
1/2 tblsp. marjoram
1/2 tblsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. sugar
Shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Combine all ingredients in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer and cook uncovered for one hour until veggies are tender. Sprinkle each serving with cheese. Serves 6-8.