St. Stephen River Runners event set for Feb. 4

by Dennis Dalman

The fifth annual St. Stephen River Runners Vintage Snowmobile Show and Drive will take place on Saturday, Feb. 4 starting at Trobec’s Bar & Grill on St. Stephen’s main street.

All are welcome, including people who are not members of the River Runners.

The event will feature a Vintage snowmobile awards show, a 50/50 raffle drawing, door prizes and a snowmobile drive on groomed trails to Bialka’s bar in Opole and back to St. Stephen, a round-trip of about 20 miles.

Registration will begin at Trobec’s Bar & Grill from 9-10:30 a.m., and the Vintage Show will start at 11 a.m. Judging for Vintage Show snowmobile entries will take place at 12:30 p.m., and the awards for the winners will be announced right after the judging.

The classes of entries for judging are People’s Choice, Race-Vintage, Rat Sled, Furthest-Traveled Sled and Unrestored Original Machine.

Once the snowmobilers return to Trobec’s Bar, there will be the meat raffle from 3:30-6:30 p.m. and a raffle drawing at 7 p.m. after final raffle-tickets sales end at 6:30 p.m.

Door prizes will be given throughout the day and evening.

Founded in 1969, the St. Stephen River Runners is one of the oldest snowmobile clubs in Minnesota. It maintains about 20 miles of trails that connect St. Stephen to Holdingford in the north and Sartell to the south. More recently, it prepared a new spur trail to the Rice bridge.

Volunteers work with landowners to obtain land-use permits so snowmobilers can legally cross their property. Volunteers also clear brush and fallen trees or tree limbs from the trails. Grooming the trails with a large grooming machine keeps the trails clear, relatively smooth and safe.

Last season, the club’s members spent 265 hours of volunteer work. Its president is Dan Neid.

The St. Stephen River Runners has members from nearby cities, including Sartell and St. Joseph. It meets at 7 p.m. every other Wednesday, starting on the first Wednesday in September and meeting through April. The meeting place is at Trobec’s Bar & Grill in St. Stephen. People who would like to join can just show up at one of the meetings.