The Estevan Motor Speedway has joined the list of organizations looking to make this summer a memorable one for the people of Estevan.
The speedway confirmed what had been announced earlier, that it will host a doubleheader for the Dakota Classic Modified Tour in July. The track has hosted doubleheaders for the tour in the past, but never on a weekend, and so the track wants it to be a weekend that we won’t forget.
Indeed, they’re billing it as the biggest event in their 21-year history.
If it was going to be just two nights of great racing at the track, that would be one thing. Racing fans would have reason to be excited, but you’d have to wonder about the anticipation from the general public.
But it’s not just a race weekend. There will be kids activities, a party in the speedway pits, a pancake breakfast, a golf tournament and a shopping experience.
(Given the state of the Canadian dollar, dollar-conscious American visitors might be eager to spend their money here).
The speedway is claiming they will have 80-100 racing teams in Estevan for the weekend. There will be several people as part of each of these teams. Some will bring their families. And you get some fans who follow the tour, spending several days of their summer watching quality racing.
You can see the possibilities for an economic spinoff for this event.
We’ve been on quite a run for exciting event announcements for the city. It started when it was revealed that Estevan would be hosting the 2022 Centennial Cup national junior A hockey championship.
Then the Estevan Exhibition Association said it would have a four-day fair, with the Estevan Sings competition and the Estevan rodeo serving as added attractions. The bonus is that we’ll have a concert at Affinity Place that will bring country musicians like Gord Bamford and Jess Moskaluke to Estevan.
Finally, there was the revelation that Estevan would host the provincial men’s and women’s curling championships in 2021.
This is combined with popular annual events such as the Rafferty Rumble that we’ll be having this year.
Maybe you roll your eyes with each of these events, or wonder why we’re making a big deal about it. Maybe you’re going to say that these things aren’t my thing.
Reality is that the vast majority of people in town will attend at least one of the events mentioned above, and many will attend at least two.
But these events are vital for Estevan. They bring people to the community, people who are spending their-hard earned money in the city.
They are a chance for us to show off our hospitality sector – our hotels and our restaurants. It’s not just the accommodations that they offer and the food that they serve, but the people they employ.
They are a chance to showcase our business community, even with an event that is only going to be here for a couple of days, such as the mod tour doubleheader.
And they are a chance to showcase us, so let’s make sure we’re at our absolute best – welcoming people regardless of where they’re from, and giving them reason to think this would be a great community to come back to once the event is finished.
Maybe auto racing isn’t your thing. You might not go watch some of the most talented modified drivers on the continent.
But maybe one of the events that will happen in conjunction with the doubleheader is your thing. Maybe you’ll want to be in a fun golf tournament or attend a pancake breakfast or take advantage of the shopping deals.
We’ve talked about these events that create a level of excitement in the community. Well, part of that is making a wide variety of people excited about these events.
And with each of these events, we get people coming here and spending money in our city.
In a time of uncertainty, when there isn’t as much money floating around the city as there used to be, and when we don’t have as many transient workers as we used to, it’s more important than ever to have these great events in Estevan.
