The Forsyth Snowmobile Club hosts snowmobilers and their vintage machines on Friday. That day, a vintage ride using machines made before 1985 took place. (Journal photo by Christie Bleck)

GWINN — The vintage snowmobiles on display on Friday at the Forsyth Snowmobile Club came in various makes and colors.

Some even had blue windshields.

And not only were they parked at the club, they were put to good use as well, doing what snowmobiles do: run on snow.

Tim Hill, president of the Antique and Vintage Snowmobile Association of Marquette, said a “vintage ride” left from the Crossroads Restaurant & Lounge in Sands and finished at the snowmobile club, located on M-35 in Gwinn, for about a 20-mile one-way ride.

“We kind of wanted to come out and promote their facility and their club,” said Hill, of Negaunee, who noted he used to ride to the club when he was a kid.

The current clubhouse is surrounded by beautiful conifers and, of course, places to ride, making it an ideal spot for the vintage ride terminus.

There were 78 registered sleds, the oldest being about a 1964 Ski-Doo, Hill said.

The weekend also was to include a Saturday show at the Crossroads, with kids’ games and a small oval track so the youngsters could become accustomed to riding a snowmobile.

What is it about being a snowmobile and taking to the trails that appeals to so many people?

“I started riding in 1963, so I’ve basically been riding these snowmobiles all my life,” Hill said. “It just gets into you, and you just can’t quit.”

And like many people who own machines that move quickly, he also likes working on them.

Speaking of maintenance, how much work does it take to keep a 1960s-era snowmobile operating?

“Lots,” Hill said. “My dad said, ‘I don’t know why you still ride them. There weren’t no good when they were new.’ But it’s challenging, you know, to keep it running and find the parts that you need in order to make a 20-mile ride or a 40-mile ride.”

However, the Friday gathering wasn’t just about the classic machinery.

It also was a way for people with a common interest to share their passion.

“It’s fun, because you know what? You meet people that you never would meet before,” Hill said. “Everybody has the same interest, and it’s just a blast.”

The Friday get-together at the club had snowmobilers from all over, including the Traverse City area and Wisconsin, he said.

“It’s almost like a small circuit for some people,” Hill said. “They go to all of them.”

Many people have snowmobiles, but not everyone has one that would qualify as vintage, or even older.

“I think up to ’68 is called an antique,” Hill said. “Vintage is anything 25 years back to ’68.”

Randy Britton, of Harvey, attended Friday’s event.

He drives a 1972 Ski-Doo TNT.

“In its day, that would have been almost like a race sled,” Britton said.

Snowmobiling for him now is a husband-and-wife thing.

“Got my wife interested enough to ride a little bit a year ago or two, and now I’ve got her a vintage sled,” Britton said.

That sled is a 1969 Arctic Cat he restored especially for her.

“She’s caught on,” Britton said. “She’s got the bug, and it’s neat to see that — stuff that we can do together in the winter. We love it.”

Christie Bleck can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal .net.