Sub-Total: $0.00
Mike Meelberg
Remembering Mike Meelberg: Friend, Trail Coordinator, and Visionary
Sitting on this bench gives us a pause in life to remember Mike Meelberg, who passed away on April 16, 2024, after a one-and-a-half-year battle with prostate cancer. Mike retired from Federated Coop after 37 years and moved to Emily MN on Ruth Lake. He joined the Over the Hills Gang ATV Club in 2018 and immediately accepted a role as a trail coordinator for the new Emily Blind Lake ATV Trail. A few years later, Mike also joined the Blind Lake ATV Club, helping maintain and improve the trails of the Blind Lake Loops and Connector.
One of the many gifts Mike brought as a trail coordinator was his operator skills of skid-steers, excavators, tractors, and his beloved 1-ton truck and equipment trailer. Mike would start many days at 5am, and by the time noon arrived, the trail section that needed repair was complete. Mike also brought a new vision regarding trail building. He observed the growth in Side x Side style ATV’s, and the resulting soil compaction, displacement, berms, and chatter bumps.
Along with his close friend and fellow Trail Coordinator, Terry Sewill, Mike researched the need and the eventual purchase of a heavy-duty trail grader. Mike also began implementing a new trail construction technique called ditching. This involved excavating soil along the trail and placing it on top of the trail to raise the overall trail bed compared to the adjacent land. By grading and pitching the trail bed, this allowed storm water to run off into the ditch and off the trail. This practice made our trails more sustainable, greatly reduced trail braiding, and sediment run-off into sensitive watersheds. Mike placed many of the 2300 feet of puncheon-style boardwalk sections into place with his excavator, and numerous culverts to channel water under the trail.
As you ride the Emily- Outing, Emily Blind Lake, and Blind Lake ATV Trails, you can observe the efforts and skill Mike contributed for your riding enjoyment. Mike’s passion was always to help family and friends which included his club family at the Over the Hills Gang and the Blind Lake ATV Clubs. Mike’s legacy will forever live on the trails he helped build, the stories shared, and the memories he allowed us to make riding on safe, sustainable and fun trails with our family and friends.
