History
The Williston Hill Hawks Snowmobile club Inc. came to be in the Early 1980’s when the two snowmobile clubs in Williston merged. The Williston Hill Toppers, and the Williston Night Hawks, becoming one entity, the club as it is today was born. We are 350+ members strong and work diligently to maintain a contiguous trail system through Vermont’s most populous county. The club holds it’s monthly meetings every 2nd Thursday of the month at the Williston Fire Station. As the sport of snowmobiling has evolved over the last 20 years, the local snowmobile clubs have transitioned from social clubs to trail maintenance, and educational organizations. While The Hill Hawks have more than 350 members, the active core of members is small, less than 10% of the annual membership. Those active members are a dedicated group of volunteers responsible for the trails we enjoy today. However, without the generosity of the many landowners who annually renew permission for trail use, there would be no trails, and no club.
The Williston Hill Hawks is one of the more than 140 snowmobiles clubs in Vermont, that make up The Vermont Association of Snow Travelers, VAST. VAST is a non-profit organization that operates the Statewide Snowmobile Trail System, for the Dept of Forest, Parks and Recreation. The Hill Hawks are based in the growing Town of Williston Vermont, which is located about 10 miles east of Burlington Vermont, the states largest city. The club is responsible for 22 miles of, the 4500 mile Statewide Snowmobile Trail System. This section of trails stretch from the North, beginning at the Winooski River, South and West to Vt. Route 116 in Shelburne and South and East to Lake Iroquois in Hinesburg. It is a key piece of the only North, South connector of VAST corridor trails on the West Side of the Green Mountains.
While a significant part of the Hill Hawk’s focus is on keeping trails open, and maintained, the club still enjoys a few social events. The first meeting of each season, the August meeting is a picnic meeting held at Lake Iroquois Beach. Families enjoy the beech, burgers and each other’s company, before we begin the work projects needed to get the trails ready for the season. Each fall, the club holds a fundraiser, in the form of a Snowmobile Raffle dinner dance. A Sunday ride to Mt. Philo State Park for a cookout during the season is a favorite. In February, the Club sponsors an open house, and invites all Landowners on our trail system, and the general public to come and experience Snowmobiling. We have a cook out, give snowmobile, and Groomer rides, and have the VAST Safety trailer on display. At Christmas time, the club adopts a family, and donates gifts for all the family members, along with the Christmas dinner, turkey and all.
In 2001, the Hill Hawk’s worked hard to raise the funds for a County Wide Off Road Rescue unit. This unit was donated to the Williston Fire Rescue squad, for use all around Chittenden County. The unit consists of a Wide track Snowmobile, a Rescue sled, and a covered trailer. The Rescue sled is convertible from skis to wheels for summer use. Williston Rescue has responded to several non-snowmobile rescues, from snowshoe medical emergencies to lost individuals on Lake Champlain.