RANGELEY — Dan and Jennifer Smith of Pembroke, Mass., had hoped to hold onto their young sons’ snowmobiles forever. And maybe, one day, pass them on to their grandchildren.
As of now, that won’t happen.
The two children’s Polaris 120cc snowmobiles, one orange and black and the other blue and red, were stolen over the weekend while the family was up in Maine for the Snodeo.
The family owns an excavating company in Massachusetts, and Dan is meticulous about keeping his equipment in good shape, Jennifer Smith said.
The same goes for the snowmobiles.
The Smiths gave the red and blue one to their oldest son, Daniel, 8, when he was 2. When he outgrew it, they passed it on to their youngest son, Jacob, 3. Son Benjamin, 6, had the orange and black one, Smith said Wednesday.
“We wanted to keep them forever and maybe pass them down to our grandchildren,” she said. “My boys were polishing them for the Snodeo. Those two snowmobiles are special.”
Her husband recently had put a new engine in Benjamin’s sled at a cost of $1,800. It wasn’t because the motor was bad but to give it enough power to carry his son, Dan Smith said. Taking care of the family’s snowmobiles was a family event.
“We do all that stuff as a family,” he said.
Smith and his sons would sit down together and plan what had to be done.
They had nicknamed the orange snowmobile Orange Crush and the red one Red Dragon. There is a small dragon on the graphics of that snowmobile and the word “Assault” on the orange one.
The family had parked the machines behind the 45th Parallel American BBQ restaurant on Main Street when the family went in to get something to eat Saturday after attending the Snodeo. The boys had ridden in the Radar Run.
The family then went to bed at the adjacent Rangeley Saddleback Inn.
There were sleds everywhere, Smith said, and they thought the snowmobiles would be safe.
The person or persons who took the snowmobiles didn’t touch the adult machines. They did take some Simmons Flexi-Skis from a full-size machine that was parked on the other end of the parking lot behind the inn.
Rangeley police are investigating.
The owner of the 45th Parallel set up a GoFundMe fundraising site online to help replace the snowmobiles, Jennifer Smith said. People had contributed $3,950 as of Wednesday evening.
The Rangeley community, snowmobile clubs and others from around Maine and Massachusetts and beyond are rallying around the family to try to find the stolen machines and to raise money for replacements. A used snowmobile dealer at Philbrick Motor Sports in Massachusetts has offered the family two snowmobiles at cost.
The family is very thankful for that.
The cost for the family to have them shipped to them and other associated costs, including buying the sleds, would be $6,300, Dan Smith said.
He put up a $2,000 reward to get the children’s snowmobiles back. It still stands, he said.
The snowmobiles are never left outside at home unless they are in use, he said.
“It is unbelievable how generous people have been,” he said. “The generosity is beyond words.”
Anyone with information about the stolen sleds is asked to call the Rangeley Police Department at 207-864-3579 or call the family’s home at 781-294-8389 or email them at dan@smithexcavating.com.
dperry@sunjournal.com
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