(see Photo Gallery below)
With just a few extra events, Canora Ag Days reached new heights of success during the weekend, says Colby Wolkowski, president of the Canora Agriculture Society.
With 11 heats each day for the chuckwagon races, that was a new high for the five years of the races, he said. There were 13 heats of chariot races each day.
The new chuckwagon drivers were full of compliments and they loved the venue – the track and the wide open spaces to set up their camper village, Wolkowski said.
James Trofimenkoff and Kerry Fullawka deserve a lot of appreciation for the work they did to organize a 16-team slo-pitch tournament, he said. They did the work to get a slopitch league going again and they attracted teams from some great distances for this tournament. Though all 16 teams did not play, the tournament was still close to double the size it was last year. On Saturday, games started at 8 a.m. and continued until darkness.
As an extra event, the slo-pitch organizers organized a homerun tournament which had about 30 participants and some very attractive prizes, Wolkowski said.
There was a seniors’ slo-pitch tournament on Sunday.
Another event that got much bigger is the Cruisers’ Car Club show and shine, he said. There were many different vehicles each day and there was always a crowd looking at the vehicles. The addition of a burnout competition each day was also a crowd pleaser.
With so much going on, the whole agricultural grounds were in full use both days, Wolkowski said. There was close to 1,000 paid admissions each day, but there was no record of children. In total, there had to be more than 1,100 people on Saturday and more than that on Sunday.
The weather was a little sketchy, but it actually worked out well, he said. It wasn’t too hot and the little rain shower on Saturday even helped to hold down the dust on the track. Regardless, thousands of gallons of water were spread on the track to keep the dust at bay.
The cool weather didn’t seem to damper spirits Saturday night, he said. Saddles and Steele offered deejay services on Saturday night and on Sunday afternoon, Kelly McTavish put together a few musicians to entertain the crowd around the beer gardens.
Everything ran so smoothly all weekend that most people may not be aware of the large number of volunteers who worked many hours to make the event happen, said Wolkowski. They all deserve a lot of appreciation.
It was some very minor improvements that made this the race weekend with the highest attendance in the five years since the races began, he said. There are always new ideas being entertained to offer even more activities for the crowd. One idea being tossed around is to organize a human foosball tournament.
Chariot winners
With 15 heats of chariot racing each day, the winner with the top combined time for the two days was Curtis Longman with a time of 135.03. Colleen Genoway placed second with a combined time of 135.49. Jessie Buhler placed third with a combined time of 137.85.
The other drivers were: (some driving more than one team) Calvin Longman, Jeese Kilborn, Stephen Podaehl, Riley Braaten, Cody Pegg, Collin Kilborn, Jarod Prouse, Larry Schnell, Larry Wickstrom, Jim Jedlicka, Reider Knudson, Bert Buhler, Blair Braaten, Walter Longman, Twyla Salmons, Brianne Braaten, Blair Farmer, Bryce Young, Dakota Schnell, Raelynn Knudson, Kelvin Young, Floyd Hooge, Kevin Gareau, Dakota Schnell, Heidi Leach, Larry Salmond, Wayne Salmond, Hayden Rooks, Ryan Peterson, Shayne Salmond, Cody Leach, Wade Salmond, Carol Hooge and Casey Peterson.
Chuckwagon winners
With 11 heats of chuckwagon racing each day, the winner with the top combined time for the two was Shayne Salmond with a combined time of 140.50. Carol Hooge placed second with a combined time of 140.85. Larry Salmond placed third with a combined time of 141.42.
The other drivers were: (some driving more than one team) Blair Farmer, Paul Perepeluk, Denny Langevin, Clayton Hawreluik, Wade Salmond, Riley Braaten, Ryan Peterson, Kevin Gareau, Kelvin Young, Larry Schnell, Calvin Longman, Rick Althouse, Ray Rooks, Riley Kvemshagen, Larry Wickstrom, Cody Leach, Darrel Prouse, Buddy Prouse, Colin Kilborn, Clint Salmond, Clayton Hawreluik, Tyler Salmond, Bert Buhler, Hayden Rooks, Kevin Hawreluik, Casey Peterson, Curtis Longman, Wayne Salmond, Randy Schnell and Steven Galloway.
Show and shine
Eugene Keyowski who once again made the unique trophies, which were works of art made from vehicle parts, had the pleasure of presenting the trophies to the category winners. The judges were the audience who voted for their favourite vehicles.
In the 1930 and older category, Brad and Shauna Osatchuk won with a 1926 Ford. Ed Krotenko won for the best motorcycle.
Vincent and Dwayne
Skurat won the burnout competition with a Camaro. Kevin Ludba won the 195059 category with a 1953 Ford. Shadd Tratch won the best truck category with a 1987 Chevrolet. Cory Nemeth won the 1990 and newer category with a 2004 Chrysler Crossfire. Iona Hleboff won the 197089 category with a 1981 Camaro. Ed Keyowski won the 196069 category with a 1969 GTX. Bob Bartch won the 19401949 category with a 1949 Rover.
