One wouldn't normally associate hurricanes with snowmobiles, but the North Augusta Trail Blazers are particularly proud of the relationship between the two.

Two years ago, when Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans, the central Maine snowmobile club donated $2,500 to the relief efforts there. It was a giant step forward for a club that didn't even have running water when it held its first meeting in its own clubhouse in 1967.

"Keeping our equipment up is important to us, but biggest thing is we want to give to charity," said longtime member Edna Doyon of Belgrade, speaking about the club's fundraising efforts. "We were not always able to do things like that before. Maybe once in a while, if someone had an accident, we'd hold a spaghetti dinner and raise $75 or something. But this year, we gave Pine Tree Camp $1,000, and when Hurricane Katrina hit, we raised more than $2,500.

"We're very, very proud that we're able to donate to charities."

Given the obvious and significant lack of snow in the area over the last few winters, it's not surprising that the North Augusta Trail Blazers have found a way to shift their focus. This weekend, the club is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its existence.

It began as a group of people renting snowmobiles from Dostie's Garage, and it has advanced through the years to much more of a social and community service club.

But Doyon said she's not surprised at all at the evolution that's taken place at the state's original Maine Snowmobile Association-sanctioned snowmobile club.

"Some people are saying we don't have the social life we used to at the club, but a lot of members have gotten older, too," Doyon, 70, said with a laugh. "You know, though, we've always been a family group. I can't think of another club in the area that's so family-oriented, but still has its own clubhouse.

"With the young group that organized it at the time and all of them getting older, it's not surprising. We all know that families are so busy today -- with football and soccer and the winter sports they have now that they didn't have before."

On average, there are 125 families who are North Augusta Trail Blazers members each year, and Doyon is certain that with a few good winters, the number could easily swell.

"If we'd have the winters we'd used to have, we'd easily have 200 families," Doyon said.

Not that the mild winters have slowed everyone. While many people have remained members despite no longer riding sleds of their own across groomed snow-covered trails, instead focusing more on fundraising efforts or helping out on a volunteer basis, Doyon still logs plenty of miles each winter on her own machine.

Just last winter, she took a friend up on an offer to snowmobile to the Gaspˇ Peninsula in eastern Quebec.

"Years ago, I would say in the 80s, I probably put more miles on sled than any other lady in the state," said Doyon, who now pilots a 2005 Polaris Classic 600 model. "I really believe that. A lot of ladies weren't riding that much.

"Over the years, my snowmobile bunch got smaller, but when they asked me if I wanted to go on the trip to Gaspˇ, I said sure. We rode 1,486 miles. It was awesome."

It's also a marked improvement from the days when the club first set out on riding adventures.

"Back in the 70s, if you met at Trail Blazers and went on those (old) sleds, you were lucky if you did one mile in an hour and half," Doyon said. "We'd leave with 60 or 70 sleds on Saturday nights, and we'd attempt to go out to one of the restaurants. With all the breakdowns, you were lucky if you'd get back home by 2 a.m."

When the club first formed, it agreed to buy 18 acres on the Burns Road in Augusta, where the clubhouse now sits, for $1,800 from Harvey Hartung. When Hartung saw volunteers from the club working night and day, roofing around the clock to get it ready in time for an inaugural meeting, he ultimately handed over the deed -- insisting on not collecting a single red cent from the group.

And get ready for that first meeting they did.

"The original building, when we got there that first night, didn't have running water or toilets," Doyon said. "We didn't have a lot of money. We hardly had enough for anything -- we had to raise money to buy a furnace and put in a kitchen with water.

"One of the first things we did was we held a spaghetti supper for 100 people with no running water. You figure that out. It was quite a challenge."

But the North Augusta Trail Blazers have been pulling off stunts like that for years.

Just ask the people who benefited from their Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, or any of the children who attend the Pine Tree Camp in Rome each summer. Like any good family, the Trail Blazers have a knack for lending a helping hand.

Travis Barrett -- 621-5648

tbarrett@centralmaine.com