In Memory of our Members

- Woody - 

Woody's Memorial

On behalf of the entire Dryden Caroline Drifters Snowmobile Club I would like to give our deepest condolences to both the Wood Family and the Cornelius Family. Woody was a great guy and a unique character that is for sure. He did so much for our club through the years and for that we are thankful. He put in numerous hours volunteering his own personal time cleaning trails, marking trails, grooming trails, helping to fix the groomers, running for parts, oil and yes even cold beverages when needed. Up until this past year he supported, and most of the time worked all of our club events, you could find him doing dishes, cooking, setting up, cleaning up, and being a tour-guide or whatever else needed to be done. Very rarely would he grovel over any of this he just simply enjoyed it. Woody would rarely show up to our club meetings, which was usually a good thing, because when he did you knew it was going to be entertaining, he was usually very vocal and had a point to make, some of us got the biggest kick out of it, because there was no shutting him up, while others of us just wanted to simply crawl under the table, thankfully this didn't happen too much but we still all laughed about it for weeks.

Most of us here had the pleasure or should I say “experience” of riding snowmobile with Woody, this in itself was quite a treat. He almost always had a “problem” while riding either with his sled breaking, bouncing off a tree or two or three, ending up in a ditch burying himself, running into hay bales or some sort of incident. It was quite humorous, you couldn't help but laugh and have a great time riding with him and he laughed right along with you. I've never met a person who has broken more bones, cut themselves so many times, wrecked more things and come out of it smiling, laughing and joking about it. Some say it was crazy but we all know that was Woody and we loved him for who he was.

He was an extremely hard worker, had a heart of gold and would do anything for anyone at anytime, day or night. He may have lived life a little different than most of us but you could always count on him to be there as a friend, family member, coworker, club member and especially as an Uncle.

One last story I would like to share with you all is my last ride with Woody, which was last year at the Breast Cancer Ride. We let him, Timmy and Jack ride in my group of 12 women, well this was at a point when Woody could barely even walk comfortably, but he rode like the old Woody, made sure that he was the first at all the road crossings to cross the group, then would fall back at the end to keep any eye on things and make sure there were no problems or mishaps. Well about half way through our trip, Woodies sled breaks, surprise, surprise, well the poor guy had to ride double with Jack Keith all the way back to my house, which was about 30 more miles, when we all got there he falls off the sled, laughing hysterically and slobbering all over every single woman that was there telling them all how much he loved them all, it was a trip our stomachs hurt so bad from laughing with him, but he was enjoying himself so much even though he was obviously in so much pain, but he didn't let on one bit he smiled, laughed and just continued to live life to its fullest and that is the way I will remember Woody and I am personally thankful to have known him these past 20 years.

We will miss ya Woodhead and we thank you for all your hard work and true dedication to our club and most of all just being you. Woody would not want us all crying over him and feeling sorry for him, he never did, he would want us all to throw one heck of a party and celebrate in his memories, tell the thousands of stories we all have of him and most of all to just simply get along.

- Dan Leonard - 

Dan Leonard - Obituary

When someone you love becomes a memory...the memory becomes a treasure. Our hearts were broken on the morning of January 22, 2012 with the sudden passing of our precious Daniel M. Leonard, 34, of East Berkshire Rd., Berkshire, NY. Dan is survived by his wife and best friend, Missty L. (Soper) Leonard; his son, Gunnison Leonard; his parents, William Leonard and Ruth Midgley; paternal grandparents, Max and Esther Leonard; brother, Michael William Leonard, Matthew L. (Penny) Leonard, Shari R. (Michael) Jackson, Julia S. Leonard; aunts and uncles, Carolyn (Dr. Homa) Firouztash, Betsy (Wayne) Searles, June Hale, Dr. Duane (Sue) Dunnewold; father-in-law, Vincent (Genny Leone) Soper; brother-in-law and sisters-in-law, Matthew (Desiree) Soper, Kyle Dunckley, Kelsie Dunckley; nieces and nephews, Donovan, Dakota, Max, Oliva, Kyle, Charlene and Cedric; several cousins and many friends also survive. He was predeceased by his mother-in-law, Christine Holcomb. Dan was born on June 12, 1977 in Ithaca, NY a son of Ruth Midgley and William Leonard. He was a graduate of Newark Valley High School Class of 1995, Tompkins Cortland Community College and attended Cornell University. Dan was a dedicated sixth generation dairy farmer. He enjoyed dirt and motorcycle racing, snowmobiling, and hunting with his brother in Colorado, although his greatest enjoyment was being surrounded by his family and many friends. Known for his smile and quick wit, Dan made many people laugh. He will be greatly missed and his memory lives forever in our hearts.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/theithacajournal/obituary.aspx?pid=155628494

- Ebb Conrad -

- John Allen - 

- Stuart Coates -

- Chris Wood -