The St. Stephen Rivers Runners are a snowmobile club from all around central Minnesota. They have hosted a Vintage show every year on the first Saturday of February for the past 5 years, but this year there has been a slight change.
They have decided to make a new day, called Sno Days, with the vintage show still included, where people from all over Minnesota, or even the Dakota’s, Wisconsin, and Iowa come together to talk all things snowmobile and show off their old sleds and ride them on a 10 mile loop or join the first ever marathon ride. It was originally just a vintage show, where people brought very old vintage sled’s and could win an award in 7 different categories.
This year they decided to include the kids. There is a gift card for kids participating with the demo’s. One of the members of the club, Rodger Bellinger, makes every award from old scrapes and they always turn out great every year. They are always the favorite during the show and everyone is always so amazed of how well they turn out. Every year they are something different and I seriously think they are really a fan favorite at the event.
Everyone apart of the club is asked to help out as much as possible. Even kids from the members family help out. My dad is actually the president of this amazing club, so of course I get to be there all day helping out how ever I can. There is people helping set up the sleds for the vintage show and people making sure get their sleds registered. There’s people running the meet raffles all day and the silent auction goes on all day with members making sure it all looks good. It is so much fun being able to hang out with people who enjoy the same sport as my family and being able to talk all about it while seeing smiles on everyone’s faces and just having a great time.
This year the show has a slight change to it, since there is sadly no snow. This year there was so many plans that we will all just have to wait to see until next year. There was going to be a kid’s demo course, where younger children could try out new/ smaller sleds and get the love for snowmobiles like their parents. Kid’s do still get to sit on the sleds just unable to ride them, which, yes defeats the purpose, but they still get a chance to sit on them and get the feel for these awesome sleds. There was also this big plan for a marathon ride, which is not happening due to the lack of snow. It will probably be the biggest deal next year, they’re hoping.
Every year there is a 10 miles ride to a bar called Bialka’s, where everyone has a chance to ride their old sleds or, even new ones, to the bar and everyone always has a great time seeing all the sleds take off. They always sound so cool and some smell bad, because, well, they’re old. This year there will be a bus taking people to and from Bialka’s, so still had the chance to go but just not the same.
The main event is the 50/5o raffle. Every member of the club is given a packet full of tickets to sell for $20 each. Everyone seems to sell them super fast, which is always the best ever because it raises money for people to win in the drawings. There is 15 cash prizes and the drawing beginning at 7pm. There is also some meat raffles and auctions through out the day where people can win some items donated to the club.
This year for sure is not what the River Runners were expecting, but they are hoping for abig turn out, even if people are just coming to support the club. Everyone seems to enjoy the auctions and the raffles. Hoping for lots of snow next year to have all the things they are planning to come to real life. Thanks to so many sponsors, they are able to make this day great for everyone who comes. Make sure to follow the River Runners on Instagram and Facebook for updates on more upcoming events if you enjoy the sport of snowmobiling!
