RECAP: Milbank Show -- its 25th Anniversary
It was way back in 2017, at our summer meeting in Hutchinson, Minnesota that we heard an offer from Todd Schrupp that we couldn't refuse. Todd had driven in from Milbank, South Dakota and invited ASCOA to join their show on it's 25th iteration. We had been there before, with success and so the summer 2020 date was agreed. This is a report on the COVID postponed event, held June 4 &5 2021.
I know what some of you are thinking --- "Where in the world is Milbank?". It is a small town on the far east side of South Dakota, a few miles from Minnesota. And, yes, their early June show celebrated 25 years. The event is revered by many because of it's laid-back approach. It has traditionally been at a city park at the edge of the community. This year was different. With the park being upgraded, the event was relocated to a nearby old tractor/thresher grounds. As it turned out, a great location with a creek running through stately trees and old buildings. This allowed attendees to park (or camp a motor home) in a secluded spot and hang out for the weekend on lawn chairs. After COVID took away our socializing for more than a year, there was a lot of catching up to do!
Our Milbank 2021 summer meeting witnessed members that traveled from as far away as Michigan, Ohio and Montana. Our Saturday morning Directors and Membership meetings were held in the headquarters hotel in town. Immediately after that, it was back to the grounds where event coordinators Cal Moser and Todd Schrupp had arranged for a large tent to centralize all the formal activities. The event theme was Back to the 60's Snowmobile Rendezvous and featured the Hamm's Bear (of Hamm's Beer advertizing fame). FREE Hamm's beer, 1919 root beer and the Friday evening hog roast... I marveled at the community support and depth of support staff. Great Midwestern hospitality.
ASCOA invited any and all to our club events, including the catered Saturday supper, and evening live auction. Enterprising organizers (Les Pinz and Dakotas Director Steve McLaen) put on some fun and innovative events, including a SLOW race on antique snowmobiles and 2 wheeled vehicles. I "raced" a Polaris Trail Tractor and found that it isn't easy to drive slow and keep your balance. The snow machines with centrifugal clutches are likewise hard to run a hair over engagement speed -- and any machine hat stopped moving was disqualified. Another contest was for the slowest running snowmobile engine -- 2 and 4 stroke classes. See elsewhere in this newsletter for winners of these contests.
Understandably, the Milbank 2020 show had to be COVID-canceled and this year the organizers got creative in fundraising. Event co-coordinator Cal Moser started off with financials in the red. Undaunted, Cal conceived an excellent pre-show Internet marketing idea --- an opportunity for attendees to donate $ 100. What was the deal? How about a free commemorative beer mug, with free Hamm's beer or root beer throughout the weekend, multi-day event admission, free weekend camping space, or $ 20 off a night at Milbank motels, free vendor-swapper-exhibitor space, free sled show admission, free Friday night hog roast and a commemorative t-shirt or hoodie. Quite the deal, indeed!
John Green, a commercial artist was commissioned to create two paintings depicting antique snowmobiles in idyllic winter scenes. Included were Eliasons, Polar, rear-engined Polaris and a tracked Model T. Beautifully framed and one of a kind, both were purchased by the same lucky show attendee.
Meanwhile, our ASCOA members unveiled their newest creation. It is a 1963 Ski Doo restoration that will be raffled off at our winter meeting in February (Mercer, WI). It sure turned out great, what with its professionally rebuilt engine and basecoat-clear coat body shop paint job. In fact, this is our fourth such club build. Tickets have already been printed. Call Valdi and he will mail you tickets that you can sell at shows near you, at local snowmobile club events, etc. As usual, an upcoming ASCOA newsletter will enclose 15 tickets. Note that this round there will be no need to return unsold tickets. As for the 1963 Ski Doo, it will go on tour. Next stop is the VSCA Nationals Show in Wisconsin. Thereafter, Princeton, Hay Days and Midwest Ride-In.
A special shout-out to member Gary Koska for sponsoring a Kid's Trivia Contest. Gary wrote the questions and provided three trophies for the youngsters. He tag-teamed with Milbank co-coordinator Todd Schrupp who served as emcee. Speaking of Todd, he organized the judged show and also made up a quiz for the adults. As it played out, the questions must have been challenging, because the highest score was only 4 right out of the 15 total questions! I asked Todd about it and he revealed that he generated the questions from brochures and owners manuals posted on David's Vintage snowmobile website. That is, test-takers couldn't simply GOOGLE the question to get a computer answer...
Saturday evening, we were treated to a great tasting prairie farmer roast beef dinner, under the tent. It was so good that when seconds were offered, the long line started up again! NEXT -- time for our summer meeting live auction. In short, the club coffers were enriched by some $ 6,832. A big haul for us members and it was because of our combined contributions to the good cause. I want to single out a couple of members in particular. Member # 992 --- Ed Spencer from Wisconsin is moving away and donated all of his remaining sleds, parts and engines to ASCOA. Member # 658 --- Howard Miller, also from Wisconsin, cleaned out his office and donated a raft of magazines, books, and Polaris memorabilia. Great stuff, including some rolled up 1963/4 engineering drawings of Lil Andy, Trail Tractor, Travelers that fetched big money. Think about that for a future summer meeting. What might you have collecting dust?
Next meeting --- February 11-12, 2022 in Mercer Wisconsin
It was way back in 2017, at our summer meeting in Hutchinson, Minnesota that we heard an offer from Todd Schrupp that we couldn't refuse. Todd had driven in from Milbank, South Dakota and invited ASCOA to join their show on it's 25th iteration. We had been there before, with success and so the summer 2020 date was agreed. This is a report on the COVID postponed event, held June 4 &5 2021.
I know what some of you are thinking --- "Where in the world is Milbank?". It is a small town on the far east side of South Dakota, a few miles from Minnesota. And, yes, their early June show celebrated 25 years. The event is revered by many because of it's laid-back approach. It has traditionally been at a city park at the edge of the community. This year was different. With the park being upgraded, the event was relocated to a nearby old tractor/thresher grounds. As it turned out, a great location with a creek running through stately trees and old buildings. This allowed attendees to park (or camp a motor home) in a secluded spot and hang out for the weekend on lawn chairs. After COVID took away our socializing for more than a year, there was a lot of catching up to do!
Our Milbank 2021 summer meeting witnessed members that traveled from as far away as Michigan, Ohio and Montana. Our Saturday morning Directors and Membership meetings were held in the headquarters hotel in town. Immediately after that, it was back to the grounds where event coordinators Cal Moser and Todd Schrupp had arranged for a large tent to centralize all the formal activities. The event theme was Back to the 60's Snowmobile Rendezvous and featured the Hamm's Bear (of Hamm's Beer advertizing fame). FREE Hamm's beer, 1919 root beer and the Friday evening hog roast... I marveled at the community support and depth of support staff. Great Midwestern hospitality.
ASCOA invited any and all to our club events, including the catered Saturday supper, and evening live auction. Enterprising organizers (Les Pinz and Dakotas Director Steve McLaen) put on some fun and innovative events, including a SLOW race on antique snowmobiles and 2 wheeled vehicles. I "raced" a Polaris Trail Tractor and found that it isn't easy to drive slow and keep your balance. The snow machines with centrifugal clutches are likewise hard to run a hair over engagement speed -- and any machine hat stopped moving was disqualified. Another contest was for the slowest running snowmobile engine -- 2 and 4 stroke classes. See elsewhere in this newsletter for winners of these contests.
Understandably, the Milbank 2020 show had to be COVID-canceled and this year the organizers got creative in fundraising. Event co-coordinator Cal Moser started off with financials in the red. Undaunted, Cal conceived an excellent pre-show Internet marketing idea --- an opportunity for attendees to donate $ 100. What was the deal? How about a free commemorative beer mug, with free Hamm's beer or root beer throughout the weekend, multi-day event admission, free weekend camping space, or $ 20 off a night at Milbank motels, free vendor-swapper-exhibitor space, free sled show admission, free Friday night hog roast and a commemorative t-shirt or hoodie. Quite the deal, indeed!
John Green, a commercial artist was commissioned to create two paintings depicting antique snowmobiles in idyllic winter scenes. Included were Eliasons, Polar, rear-engined Polaris and a tracked Model T. Beautifully framed and one of a kind, both were purchased by the same lucky show attendee.
Meanwhile, our ASCOA members unveiled their newest creation. It is a 1963 Ski Doo restoration that will be raffled off at our winter meeting in February (Mercer, WI). It sure turned out great, what with its professionally rebuilt engine and basecoat-clear coat body shop paint job. In fact, this is our fourth such club build. Tickets have already been printed. Call Valdi and he will mail you tickets that you can sell at shows near you, at local snowmobile club events, etc. As usual, an upcoming ASCOA newsletter will enclose 15 tickets. Note that this round there will be no need to return unsold tickets. As for the 1963 Ski Doo, it will go on tour. Next stop is the VSCA Nationals Show in Wisconsin. Thereafter, Princeton, Hay Days and Midwest Ride-In.
A special shout-out to member Gary Koska for sponsoring a Kid's Trivia Contest. Gary wrote the questions and provided three trophies for the youngsters. He tag-teamed with Milbank co-coordinator Todd Schrupp who served as emcee. Speaking of Todd, he organized the judged show and also made up a quiz for the adults. As it played out, the questions must have been challenging, because the highest score was only 4 right out of the 15 total questions! I asked Todd about it and he revealed that he generated the questions from brochures and owners manuals posted on David's Vintage snowmobile website. That is, test-takers couldn't simply GOOGLE the question to get a computer answer...
Saturday evening, we were treated to a great tasting prairie farmer roast beef dinner, under the tent. It was so good that when seconds were offered, the long line started up again! NEXT -- time for our summer meeting live auction. In short, the club coffers were enriched by some $ 6,832. A big haul for us members and it was because of our combined contributions to the good cause. I want to single out a couple of members in particular. Member # 992 --- Ed Spencer from Wisconsin is moving away and donated all of his remaining sleds, parts and engines to ASCOA. Member # 658 --- Howard Miller, also from Wisconsin, cleaned out his office and donated a raft of magazines, books, and Polaris memorabilia. Great stuff, including some rolled up 1963/4 engineering drawings of Lil Andy, Trail Tractor, Travelers that fetched big money. Think about that for a future summer meeting. What might you have collecting dust?
Next meeting --- February 11-12, 2022 in Mercer Wisconsin