Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
MERCER SNO-GOERS president Andy Smith poses for a pictured with Lynsey Burzinski, the Association of Wisconsin Snowmobile Clubs 2017-18 Miss Snowflake, Saturday during the snowmobile club's annual Winter Blast fundraiser.
By RICHARD JENKINS
MERCER, Wis. — The Mercer Area Sno-goers’ grooming barn was more crowded than usual Saturday as the snowmobile club held its annual Winter Blast Festival.
The event is the club’s largest fundraiser of the year, according to club president Andy Smith, who said the money raised will go to towards maintaining the 220 miles of trails in southern Iron County the group is responsible for. Due in large part to the member’s efforts, Smith said all the trails the club maintains are open and generally in “fair to good” condition.
“The groomers have been out night and day, trying to make the best trails better — that’s our motto,” Smith joked.
Saturday’s festivities started with a pancake breakfast at 8 a.m., and continued throughout the day — with a pig roast, live music, raffles, other food and drinks and crafts for the kids.
Lynsey Burzinski, the Association of Wisconsin Snowmobile Clubs 2017-18 Miss Snowflake, even stopped by to chat with members and pose for pictures.
Burzinski, who is from Beloit and attends UW-Oshkosh, said as Miss Snowflake she travels around the state to events such as the Winter Blast the various clubs hold.
She said she won the title at the association’s annual meeting in fall.
Smith was pleased with how the day had gone, saying there was a steady flow of people starting at the pancake breakfast and continuing on.
“It’s been going really good,” Smith said.
He said with snowmobilers from around the Midwest flocking to the area due the conditions, it is often hard to keep the trails perfect with all the traffic on them. Along with the hard work by the club’s members, Smith credited the good relationship with the neighboring clubs in Vilas County and the White Thunder Riders in northern Iron County for making it possible for users to enjoy the trails.
“When you have that much traffic, it’s really hard to keep up,” Smith said.
He also noted the incredible amount of work that goes into maintaining Iron County trails; saying that while Vilas County had around 11 snowmobile clubs last year, the Sno-goers and White Thunder Riders are the only two clubs in Iron County.
For more information on trail conditions around Mercer; visit the club’s Facebook page, Mercersnogoers.com or contact the Mercer Chamber of Commerce.
