Two close friends from the Carievale area are looking forward to riding together with the Prairie Women on Snowmobiles (PWOS) Mission 2019.
Janis Stanley and Alison Taylor have been selected to be part of the ride, which will start Feb. 3 in Meadow Lake and wrap up Feb. 8 in Prince Albert.
Both said they have had an admiration for the PWOS, and the organization’s efforts to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society, for some time. In Stanley’s case, she thought she had to be a cancer survivor to participate.
“I’d never really thought about participating, but a friend of mine (Alison) contacted me this spring and asked me if I knew they were looking for riders, so she asked me if I would be interested, and I applied,” said Stanley.
Cancer has affected her family, as both an aunt and a grandmother have died from the disease. She also works at the Gainsborough Health Centre, and has seen the impact of cancer on patients.
In her profile on the PWOS website, she noted one patient at the health centre died due to breast cancer after Stanley was accepted for the ride.
“Once I knew I was accepted, I was able to talk with her about it, and she was a very nice lady from this community,” said Stanley.
She is looking forward to participating in the ride with such a close friend.
“I don’t know what I would have done without Alison throughout this fundraising and stuff like that, because I’m not a very good public speaker, and I’m not a very outgoing person, so it was nice to have that support from her,” said Stanley.
Taylor said she had filled out the application form on numerous occasions, but she tossed it to the side each time because she had a lot on her plate, and Taylor said it didn’t seem like she was deserving of participating.
“I’ve had a busy few years,” said Taylor. “In the last five, my mom and dad have both passed away from cancer.”
But the timing seemed to be right this year.
Her parents’ respective battles with cancer played a big role in her desire to be part of the mission.
“I also have five daughters, so I don’t want them to be afraid when they hear the word cancer,” said Taylor. “I don’t want them to think that cancer means death. There is hope with money and funding and all that lovely stuff that maybe we can find a cure and people can live longer.”
It will also be nice to have that support during the ride, because she’ll be riding with someone she knows.
Taylor agreed that it wouldn’t be possible to do this without Stanley. She is also thankful to have the support of her husband, and Stanley’s husband.
Taylor said she’ll come up with the ideas, do the writing and post the ideas online, but Stanley is the more effective speaker.
“She is our PR lady, and she’s done very well with it,” said Taylor. “And it’s so nice to know that she knows all of my history. We’ve been friends since ’07, so we’re 12 years of a strong friendship, and she knows all of my ups and downs like nobody else. She knows when things are hurting. It’s best to do this with a best friend.”
Both are also avid snowmobilers. Stanley enjoys snowmobiling with her family, as it’s a chance to get outdoors and in the fresh air.
But she has never been on such a marathon snowmobile ride that will cover nearly 1,500 kilometres in six days. The longest ride that Stanley has been on came when she rode from Carievale to Killarney, Man., in a day, and then rode back the next day.
“I had a backpack, and my shoulders were sore from the weight of the backpack, but other than that, it was good,” said Stanley.
Taylor and her husband have ridden to Brandon, Man., on many occasions, and have done overnight rides, too. But she expects doing it with a bunch of women over so many kilometres each day will be completely different.
Taylor hopes they encounter lots of snow this year. She recalled that when the PWOS were in southeast Saskatchewan last year, there wasn’t snow on the ground, and so the participants completed much of the ride in a van.
“It takes so much to be able to commit to this,” said Taylor. “It’s not only me, it’s my husband who has to drive me up there. My husband is going to take some time off of work.”
Stanley and Taylor teamed up for their fundraising, and brought in around $20,000 combined. They had a breakfast during Carnduff’s rodeo, sold crab apple jelly at numerous trade and craft shows, held a raffle for a quilt created by three cancer survivors, organized an elimination draw that was held over the course of 10 weeks, and held a fundraising supper in November that they called a Boob-B-Q that fetched more than $6,000.
“We’re from a very small community, so we thought we were going to have trouble raising $3,000, let alone $3,000 each, and then to have raised around that $20,000, it’s just absolutely blown our mind,” said Stanley.
Taylor agreed that she thought the fundraising would be the toughest part.
The first fundraiser was when Taylor’s grandson collected $500 in donations at the Canada Day fireworks in Moosomin, and that brought in $500.
Before the start of the ride, they will have to ensure their snowmobiles are in good working condition. They have to take a backup sled with them, in case something happens to the main ride.
There will be a lot of sore muscles and a lot of emotion. Those who have been on the tour have said people need to pack lots of Kleenex and to be prepared to cry.
But the most important part of the mission is to spread awareness about the fight against breast cancer and other forms of cancer, listen to stories and be there for each other, Taylor said. The ride is the bonus, and, of course, she’s hoping for snow.
