SAVOY, Mass— Southside Sales & Service is back for season two of our Create an Ad series. 

 

Every month, local businesses partner with us to provide students in grades one through eight at various schools the opportunity to create an ad. 

 

The family-owned small business Southside Sales & Service, located at 546 Curran Highway in North Adams, has been for the last six decades, selling and servicing a wide range of equipment, including tractors, lawnmowers, snowmobiles, all-terrain and utility task vehicles, and more. 

 

It stocks a range of brands, including Bobcat, Mahindra Tractors, Polaris, Diamond Mowers and more. 

 

This year, Southside Sales & Service signed on to have third and fourth grade students at Emma L. Miller Elementary School, in Tracey Tierney's class, colorfully represent its Polaris snowmobiles. Check out all the drawings here. 

 

"When we did this last year, we did this with tractors and loaders, and this year decided to do it with snowmobiles, just to do something on the fun side, not the work side," owner Bruce Gaspardi said.

 

He said Savoy has a very active snowmobile club, the Savoy Kanary Kats Snowmobile Club Inc., which does a lot for the snowmobiling industry. He said it was natural to involve the Savoy school.

 

Although the business has changed over the years, the snowmobile industry has been a part of the business since its inception in 1969, he said.

 

Gaspardi said at that time, his father had products from Massey Ferguson, which made everything, including snowmobiles. However over time, less and less companies started producing snowmobiles . 

 

So, when Gaspardi entered into the family business he immediately took a snowmobile manufacturer on, which was Polaris. 

 

"We're, like, 39 years into selling Polaris snowmobiles, which now is pretty much about a six month part of our business because people really take it seriously, and they get ready," he said.

 

"That stuff starts in August, and we work on it until April. So, it's a very busy portion of our business."

 

Selecting the winners was difficult due to all the fantastic entries, he said. Students included the surrounding landscape, showcased the various uses of snowmobiles in the snow, and highlighted snowmobiling as a social activity by featuring people in their artwork.

 

"Snowmobiling is really a group effort kind of thing. A lot of people like to do it as a group. They have their crew that they like to ride with…so they did a great job drawing and really being meticulous about skis and track and all the things on the snowmobile," he said. 

 

Gaspardi selected the final three winners as: first-place Maddison Frew, second-place Maison Malloy, and third-place Vivian Bruso. 

 

It was the amount of detail the winners incorporated that set them apart, Gaspardi said. 

 

Frew drew a person standing next to a snowmobile with studded tracks, saying  "Go and get a snow goer" with Polaris Southside Sales prominently displayed at the top. 

 

Malloy drew a yellow, orange, and green snowmobile with studded tracks on a snowy day. He also showed how Southside Sales and Service has the "best prices in town." 

 

Bruso took from his own experiences, drawing a guy ice fishing next to a purple, blue and red snowmobile with studded tracks. 

 

"The reason why I did it was because when I drive past the lake, I usually see people on their snowmobiles ice fishing. So, that's where I got the idea from," she said. 

 

"Sometimes I snowmobile because my grandpa has a big field and he has, like, trails in it. So I snowmobile on those trails." 

 

Frew and Bruso also included Polaris’ logo on their snowmobiles. 

 

Frew visited Southside Sales and Service with her family to get a close look at what it has to offer. The visit included a bag of popcorn and, of course, an exploration of the Polaris snowmobiles. 

 

One highlight was seeing the inner workings of a 2022 Polaris XC model that had been taken apart to be painted for a customer. 

 

Frew and her family were especially excited to see a 1996 Polaris Indy 500 being serviced, which perfectly showcased the evolution of snowmobiles. Frew also learned how newer model Polaris snowmobiles automatically come with heated handles to keep your hands warm. 

 

The Create an Ad series not only allowed the kids to learn about Southside Sales but also got them involved in their community and served as a learning experience, introducing them to the influence of advertisements, said Tracey Tierney, principal and third and fourth grade teacher. 

 

Although challenging, the drawings came out fantastic. 

 

"[It was] very challenging to draw a snowmobile. We actually had to do it several times before we actually got it. We did take a look at some online resources to help us with drawing snowmobiles," she said. 

 

"We also did go back and look at other ads from iBerkshires to see what other classrooms had done. So, that was helpful, and the kids were excited to see that other kids had done this as well, and that they had a chance to do it.

 

"I think it's fantastic that Southside does this and collaborates with schools and gives students the opportunity to do this. Hats off to all the businesses that do that. It's able to build that community between businesses and schools and getting our kids involved and to see what's happening in the community."