Weather forecast threatening to keep the sleds at home

By Robert Williams

Editor

The Naytahwaush Nightriders Snowmobile Club will hold its 20th Annual Hospice/2nd Annual Tommy Mac Memorial Ride from Feb. 3-4. The snowmobile ride is open to the public, and there is no cost to participate. 

Riders are asked to gather pledges to benefit Hospice of the Red River Valley. Register for the ride by contacting Anna Paul at (218) 849-5921 or jb.nightriders@gmail.com.

The roundtrip ride starts Feb. 3 at 9 a.m. at Pinehurst Resort in Naytahwaush and travels to Park Rapids for an overnight stay at AmericInn. Riders will stop for lunch and fuel. Pizza will be provided for dinner courtesy of the club. Riders will leave for Naytahwaush on Sunday at 10 a.m.

Ride organizers are hoping for a little help from Mother Nature with limited snowfall this year potentially hampering portions of the ride. The 10-day forecast for the Park Rapids area is not looking conducive to getting the sleds out. Temperatures for the two-day event are currently forecast to be near 40-degrees with very little precipitation prior to the ride.

“Unless snow conditions improve drastically in the next week or so, it’s a great possibility that we will be driving vehicles to our destination instead of riding snowmobiles. If we drive, we plan to depart Pinehurst Resort around 11 a.m. Saturday morning, still planning on stopping somewhere for lunch, with the destination being AmericInn in Park Rapids,” said event organizer Anna Paul.

Throughout the past 19 years, participants have raised more than $160,000 for Hospice of the Red River Valley through the Hospice Ride. The money raised helps provide medical, emotional, spiritual and grief support for Hospice patients and their families in Naytahwaush and the surrounding areas.

This year’s ride is also the 2nd Annual Tommy Mac Memorial Ride in honor and memory of Tom McArthur who was an active member of the Naytahwaush Nightriders Snowmobile Club and was a huge help in the success of the Hospice Ride year after year. It is an honor to continue this event and to spread Tom’s legacy.

For more than 50 years, the Naytahwaush Nightriders Snowmobile Club has been working to promote and advance the sport of snowmobiling. The Naytahwaush Nightriders Snowmobile Club works with snowmobilers, resorts, businesses, government units and local landowners to develop, build and maintain a network of snowmobile trails for recreational use. The Naytahwaush Nightriders are proud to be affiliated with the Minnesota United Snowmobiling Association.