Edward Bouchey and Wallace Bouchey were two of the founders of the Tri County Snowmobile Club, Loretto MI. The first organizational meeting was held at the Beaver Pete Lodge and Restaurant in Wauceedah, Mi in 1971. Originally, the idea was to have memberships and support from the counties of Dickinson, Menominee and Iron. The club was then named the Tri County Snowmobile Club. It soon was apparent
that the support was local and memberships came mostly from the communities of southern Dickinson County. Working with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Ed and Wally Bouchey spearheaded the first snowmobile trail in the area. It went from Lake Antoine to the Beaver Pete Restaurant in Wauceedah. In a short time, there were snowmobile trails to the United Sportsmens Club in Merriman and a trail to Solbergs Supper Club in F***h. The Bouchey brothers worked with the DNR and property owners to get the trails in place finding routes that were appropriate for the time. Additionally, they cleared trails, put up the signs as needed and began the first grooming of the trails in the area. Again working with the DNR, they experimented with and operated numerous pieces of equipment to attempt to groom the trails. Everything from bed springs to homemade mini graders were used to try to find something that could smooth out the bumps. We all know that success in removing the bumps was at best marginal but the Bouchey’s kept on snowmobiling and working on the trails. Again, the Bouchey brothers became more active with trail grooming and maintenance. Promoting the area trails, working on the trails and driving the groomers that were partially funded by the Michigan DNR but were the responsibility of the Tri County Snowmobile Club. In 1987, the Menominee River Bridge was purchased by the club with money borrowed from the Bilski family. The connection trail between Lake Antoine and the bridge was mainly completed with the efforts of DNR Officer Duane ST.Ours. He made the contacts to get many land owners on board with the trail and thus there was now a connection to the Wisconsin trail system. The bridge was opened on December 19, 1987. In 1988, President Bill Martin fell from his deck, cracked his neck and the gavel was handed to Greg Olender, the current president, he hopes that there are other ways to find a successor. In 1989, the efforts of a number of club members and especially the Bislki family completed trail connections with Moose Country Club at the Lehmans Rd in Northern Dickinson County and a connection to F***h coming from the West as well a trail connection through Norway that connected to Wisconsin at the US 8 highway bridge
Since that time there have been many changes to the Michigan Snowmobile Program and many challenges for the club. Thus far, it has been possible for the members of the club to be able to find enough support from private land owners to keep the trails in place. In 2016, the club was approached by a large group of ORV riders looking to start/join a local club. They came looking to help build and maintain a ORV trail system. They also came with intentions of providing safety education to all riders and involve kids as much as possible. Tri County Snowmobile Club agreed to take on the OVR riders and we are in transition to becoming a "dual" club.
