The Estevan Snowmobile Club’s fundraising cabaret Saturday night was a popular event in the community, raising f funds for both the club and the Prairie Women on Snowmobiles (PWOS).
The cabaret was held at the Estevan Exhibition Association building. President Dave Heier said the building was about two-thirds full, and they received a lot of support from the community through attendance, door prizes, a silent auction, a raffle and sponsorships.
A tally on how much money was raised via the cabaret was not immediately released.
Since it was a fundraiser for the PWOS, several women who were part of the Mission 2020 ride in February were in Estevan for the fundraiser, including president Kelly Kim Rea and Carievale’s Alison Taylor, who has been one of the core riders for the mission in the previous two years.
“The club has decided to adopt the Prairie Women on Snowmobiles,” said Heier. “We like to support them, and it has worked out pretty good.”
The club has donated about $10,000 to the PWOS through previous fundraisers.
Rea gave some background on the PWOS, who had their 20th annual ride this year, and discussed how they have assisted the Canadian Cancer Society and the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency.
“She talked about all of the core riders and the program that they have and their history and how the money has gone to Saskatchewan equipment and Western Canadian research,” said Heier.
The cabaret capped the 2019-20 season for the club. It was a challenging year, as the Estevan area didn’t receive enough snow to groom and stake the trails.
Estevan received nearly 25 centimetres of snow during a storm in mid-November, but that snow slowly eroded over the course of the winter, and the region didn’t receive much snow in the past 3 1/2 months.
The club did receive some money through licence sales for snowmobiles, as did other snowmobile clubs in the province. That money goes to insurance and maintenance of the groomer, and next year’s operations.
“We drove out several times, looking and checking snow depths to see if we could put trails in,” said Heier.
The club needs enough snow to hold up the 2,000-3,000 stakes they have to mark the trails.
Among next year’s highlights will be hosting the 2021 Saskatchewan Snowmobile Association’s provincial convention March 5-7. Heier said 300 snowmobilers are expected to attend.
