AUBURN — Dan Bilodeau hopped into a Polaris Ranger utility vehicle at the Lake Auburn Community Center last week and roared through tall grass until he reached the area’s vast system of trails. 

On the way, he pointed out how dozens of volunteers have helped maintain the trail network while a number of local organizations have turned the outdoor center off North Auburn Road into a heavily utilized community resource.

On Thursday, a volunteer had just mowed a large line of trail, which eventually led down to a newly constructed bridge making it easier for pedestrians not using a mountain bike or snowmobile to traverse a small stream. 

The trails surrounding the lake are a growing attraction for snowmobiling, hiking, walking, biking, cross-country skiing and other activities.

Bilodeau is at the center, pulling all of the pieces together. 

“It’s a mecca of volunteer social groups,” he said. “It’s not for any one entity to enjoy. It’s for everyone to have a piece of it.” 

The Lake Auburn resident and pilot for United Airways is trail master for the Perkins Ridge Sno-Travelers snowmobile club, a group at the center of much of the trail work. He coordinates much of the trail use and maintenance of the 30 miles of trails. 

He’s also president of the Lake Auburn Watershed Neighborhood Association and a trustee for the Auburn Water District. He has two daughters who attend Edward Little High School. 

But while he spends a considerable amount of his free time there, he thinks of his role as empowering others to volunteer. He said so many people in the tight-knit Lake Auburn community – and beyond – are involved that it often just takes a quick phone call for something to happen. 

Auburn Mayor Jonathan LaBonte said Friday that Bilodeau has “long been a champion for Lake Auburn,” showing it as an asset that must be enjoyed by the community.

“In recent years, he’s poured that passion into volunteering to raise funds and lent time and talent to meaningfully expand public access around Lake Auburn while inspiring hundreds of others to join the effort,” he said. 

The number of organizations involved is hard to count.

The regulars include sports groups like the Central Maine Chapter of the New England Mountain Bike Association and the Dirt Divas, which have built dirt ramps. There are also organizations like the Lake Auburn Neighborhood Watch group, which sponsors an annual cleanup effort each spring. The Auburn School Department utilizes the area for educational programs as well as cross-country skiing. 

“There are so many organizations here now,” he said about the growing involvement. 

The Sno-Travelers is one of the oldest snowmobile clubs in Maine, and some of the trails it maintains go back centuries. The Lake Auburn Community Center is at the site of a former barn and ice house, part of which has been repurposed as a garage for trail maintenance and a shelter for the public using the outdoor facilities.

The center is open daily from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Many people park at the center and walk their dogs or go for a run on the interconnected trails. Bilodeau said there are four main trails, and the community center sits at a convenient centerpoint. 

The day before, professional runner and Auburn resident Marube Moninda was on an 18-mile run when he was chased by two black bears not far from where Bilodeau stood, talking about the new bridge.

Bilodeau said he’s never seen a bear on the Lake Auburn trails. 

He began volunteering with the snowmobile club in 2004, and his role has grown. He said he devotes about four days a week to the trails during the winter, a little less in the summer. He’s also an avid mountain biker this time of year. 

Bilodeau pointed out a corporate sponsor board hanging at the center, which showcases the local support from larger companies like Procter & Gamble to smaller businesses like Pat’s Pizza. 

Bilodeau estimated that the 2,000 acres of land are about 85 percent winter trails and 15 percent summer trails. But that doesn’t mean the winter trails aren’t used by mountain bikers with “fat-tire” bikes or for other summer activities. 

Near the parking lot, there’s a volleyball court, basketball hoop and a retention pond, stocked with fish. In the winter, the pond is used for ice skating. The raised sides of the pond are also used for mountain-bike jumps. A porta-potty on the site is paid for by monthly bottle donations. 

There’s also a nearby tree nursery that’s used by both Auburn and Lewiston. 

Bilodeau said he encourages people and families to come to the community center, help out with trails, and of course, reap the benefits. He said he’d rather be part of something bigger with his free time. 

“I have time for something,” he said. “Am I going to do something for myself, or am I going to do something that might benefit other people?”  

For more information, go to lakeauburn.org.

arice@sunjournal.com 

Know someone with a deep well of unlimited public spirit? Someone who gives of their time to make their community a better place? Then nominate them for Kudos. Send their name and the place where they do their good deeds to reporter Andrew Rice at arice@sunjournal.com and we’ll do the rest.

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