It’s time to blow out the dust and rev up the engines; the annual Midnite Riders Classic Old Timer’s Snowmobile Run is right around the corner.
The event, which has been a tradition in the lakes are for nearly three decades, is Saturday, Feb. 7.
Registration begins at 8 a.m. at the Lake Park Liquor Store, with the ride beginning at 10:30 a.m.
“We usually get anywhere between 300 to 500 sleds in the judging,” said Tom Holmes of the Midnite Riders. “We have nine trophy classes starting with vintage, all the way through 25 years and older.”
Vintage race sleds will be judged, as will custom sleds for people who create their own ride.
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“We’ve had some really interesting ones in the past,” laughed Holmes. “One year we had a guy cut a hole in the bottom of a boat and mount it on top of the snowmobile so that it looked like a boat going down the trail.”
This category takes riders as far as their imagination and a number of bolts and parts will take them.
“We get people converting any vehicle into a snowmobile - John Deere tractor… whatever,” said Holmes.
Midnite Rider club members will be judging the sleds.
When the ride begins at 10:30 a.m., the event swells from 300 to 500 vintage sleds to 800 to 1,500 snowmobiles.
“Everybody is welcome for the ride, it doesn’t matter what the year of the snowmobile,” said Holmes, who says they will be making 10 different stops around the Cormorant Lake area.
“This has been filmed from the air, and it is quite an event,” said Holmes. “It’s a 39-mile ride with door prizes at each of the 10 stops.”
The Midnite Riders are also selling raffle tickets for a grand prize of VIP tickets to WE Fest.
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Holmes says people come from all around a five-state radius to be at the Old Timer’s Run.
“It’s fun that people like coming out to and seeing the old stuff,” said Holmes. “There’s quite a few that come out just to meet up with people and see old friends.”
Riders of all ages make the run, from kids all the way up to the human old timers.
“We have an 80-year-old that still comes out to ride it,” said Holmes, who says top speeds reach only 12 to 14 miles per hour.
“That gives us enough time to enjoy everything around us,” said Holmes, who says the day is a full one that typically ends around 6 p.m.
For the first time, however, there will not be a swap meet included with the event.
“We just haven’t had enough activity with it,” said Holmes. “We couldn’t get anybody to organize it; it’s a whole separate entity that had to be dealt with.”
But despite snow levels, the ride will go on.
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“We’ve never cancelled,” said Holmes, who says the event ends up being a good boost to not just the town of Lake Park, but to all of the stops made that day.
Registration can be done the morning of the run; raffle tickets can also be purchased that day or in advance at any of the 10 Cormorant-area businesses that will be one of the stops, or from any of the Midnite Riders.
The event itself is free and open to the public.
