聽 聽 聽The Arcola Optimist Club will once again be holding its biggest-and loudest-annual fundraiser on January 31, as they host the 22nd Annual Snowmobile Rally at Arcola's Prairie Place Hall.
聽聽聽聽 The annual day-long event routinely welcomes hundreds of snowmobile enthusiasts from throughout the province as riders traverse a scenic and challenging 100 km route, competing for hundreds of prizes.聽
聽聽聽聽 鈥淭here are millions of dollars worth of snowmobiles out front,鈥� says rally chair, Randy James. 鈥淎ll of the action takes place at Prairie Place Hall and there has been upwards of over 500 riders. The start is a come and go, and there is often so many sleds that it can take up to three hours for them all to show up, sign up, and take off.鈥�
聽聽聽聽 Fellow Optimist and club president, Blake Brownridge agrees.鈥� It's by far our biggest event. It's not just an Arcola thing anymore. We get riders and spectators from all over Saskatchewan.鈥�
聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e're very grateful for support from the southeast corner of Saskatchewan, too,鈥� adds Brownridge. 鈥淭he snowmobile rally has benefitted a lot of local projects, causes, and organizations. This year, we're doing a lot of work on the theatre (in Arcola).鈥�
聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e know it's not feasible for a lot of young families to go to Estevan or Weyburn to see a movie. We've never really raised prices. Instead, we want people in this area to use and enjoy the theatre with their families. It's everybody's theatre.鈥�
聽聽聽聽 鈥淚'd like to give a big 'thank you' to all of the communities that come out to the rally,鈥� adds Brownridge. 鈥淭hey get to see the benefits firsthand.鈥�
聽聽聽聽 As rally chair, James says the Arcola Optimists aim to make it a great day out for both snowmobilers and spectators.
聽聽聽聽 鈥淭he Arcola Fire Department puts on a pancake breakfast at 8 a.m. At 9 a.m. until noon, the riders sign up and take off. We try and get everybody back to Prairie Place before 4 p.m.,鈥� says James. 鈥淲e've got a beer garden and food inside the hall all day for people who've come out to watch. We'll have lots of silent auction items, a raffle, 50/50 tickets and we'll be playing sled videos.鈥�
聽聽聽聽 鈥淎long the trail itself, we have turnback points, so no one has to do the whole thing if they don't want to. We've also got warming stations along the route with food, drinks and gas, anything a rider might need.鈥�
聽聽聽聽 Brownridge says prizes for the event have grown in both quantity and quality since the first rally. 鈥淚t's always been our philosophy that we get good prizes into as many hands as possible. This year is no exception, and we have a lot of sponsors and community organizations to thank, as far as prizes and volunteering at the rally itself.鈥�
聽聽聽 One-this year's lottery prize- is no exception. The Optimists are currently selling 2,500 tickets at $20 each for a first prize choice of a Polaris 800 Switchback Pro-S snowmobile or a Polaris Scrambler 1000 EPS 4x4 quad or a Polaris聽 RZR 800le EPS side by side. Second and third prizes are $1,000 cash.
聽聽聽聽 Rally chair James says the event will go ahead, no matter what the weather holds. 鈥淲e've had a year where we had what seemed like mountains of snow and one year, we had no snow. That year, instead of snowmobiles, we had about 200 people show up with quads.鈥�
聽聽聽聽 鈥淭hanks to a lot of our volunteers and other clubs and organizations in town, the event runs pretty well. I really encourage people to come out. It's one of our bigger events and it's well-known throughout the province.鈥�
聽聽聽聽 鈥淚t's a fun event, a pretty good show and an excellent ride.鈥�
聽聽聽聽 For more information, contact Randy James at (306)-575-7833 or Blake Brownridge at (306)-577-9904.
