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.
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.
“There are millions of dollars worth of snowmobiles out front,” says rally chair, Randy James. “All 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.”
Fellow Optimist and club president, Blake Brownridge agrees.“ It's by far our biggest event. It's not just an Arcola thing anymore. We get riders and spectators from all over Saskatchewan.”
“We're very grateful for support from the southeast corner of Saskatchewan, too,” adds Brownridge. “The 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).”
“We 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.”
“I'd like to give a big 'thank you' to all of the communities that come out to the rally,” adds Brownridge. “They get to see the benefits firsthand.”
As rally chair, James says the Arcola Optimists aim to make it a great day out for both snowmobilers and spectators.
“The 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.,” says James. “We'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.”
“Along 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.”
Brownridge says prizes for the event have grown in both quantity and quality since the first rally. “It'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.”
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 RZR 800le EPS side by side. Second and third prizes are $1,000 cash.
Rally chair James says the event will go ahead, no matter what the weather holds. “We'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.”
“Thanks 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.”
“It's a fun event, a pretty good show and an excellent ride.”
For more information, contact Randy James at (306)-575-7833 or Blake Brownridge at (306)-577-9904.
