February 7, 2014 at 4:41 p.m.
Ho-Drags on Ice canceled due to lack of sufficient ice
Ho-Drags on Ice canceled due to lack of sufficient ice
The Rhinelander Area Chamber of Commerce made the announcement late Wednesday afternoon.
Tourism and Event Coordinator Kate Bauman said the ice conditions on Lake Thompson are potentially dangerous for drivers and spectators.
"We went out to the ice (Wednesday) morning and measured and figured it was 26 inches, but that first six inches was all slush which gives us the minimum 18 inches to pull off the event, however part of that is still slushier yet," Bauman said. "We determined that even with the one truck we parked out there - I think it was parked out there maybe about an hour - there was a layer of slush underneath the vehicle and if we multiply that by any amount whatsoever, we could be in trouble. There's just no way that we're going to risk anybody's safety for the event."
"I never would have guessed that with the winter we had this year that this would even be a factor, but it's just because of that snow layer and that slush, we will not risk it," she added.
The 18-inch ice requirement is new this year. It is a provision included in the new ice racing ordinance adopted by the town of Pelican in December.
Pelican worked with the town of Crescent to develop the ordinance - Lake Julia is located within each town, therefore the towns had to have identical ordinances - and the 18-inch ice requirement came out of discussions between the towns, race organizers and the Lake Thompson Association, according to Crescent supervisor Joel Knutson, who was one of the main forces behind the ordinance.
"The 18 inches was actually based on the subsequent discussions we had with the town of Pelican and the lake association and the organizers," Knutson said. "Principally, the number we came back with was a function of the discussion that took place with the Pelican Town Board and representatives of the draggers and the lake association as well as looking at the Merrill ordinance, which we used while creating the ordinance. It was a number we all found agreeable in terms of safety."
After news broke Wednesday that the event would be canceled, both Pelican Town Chairman Gerald Roou and Kari Zambon, an at-large member of the association and the owner of the lakeside resort Holiday Acres, said it was the right choice to make.
"I think that it was a wise move. They went out and looked at the ice and there's so much snow that when they even tried to put a hole in the ice, there's just tons of slush," Zambon said.
"There were a number of safety questions that were considered and I think, when it's a matter of safety, you go for safe."
Roou said safety has to be the number one priority.
"It was done because of safety factors, which is good. If it can't be safe, we don't want to do it. It's just one of those things that happens and we'll try again next year," he said.
Bauman said the chamber is not giving up on the event and hopes to host it next year, if the weather cooperates.
"This event is not done by any means. We will be back again, weather permitting, in 2015," she said. "It was such a success for us and the only reason that it's canceled this year is because of Mother Nature."
Lake association president Charles "Frosty" Smith said the association members he's spoken to were happy to hear that the event has been canceled.
"From the people I've talked to and the emails I've received, a lot of us are happy to hear the races won't be on the lake this year. We're not totally against having the races, but we never really wanted them on our lake at all, but because it's a state-owned property we don't really have much choice on the whole matter," Smith said. "We feel that Mother Nature is on our side this year by providing poor ice conditions."
Because the ordinance allows for ice racing events to take place between the first Saturday in January and the first Saturday in March, Bauman said a new date may be considered. An earlier date would allow the chamber more room to reschedule the event should there be poor ice conditions again.
"That might be up for debate. I know with the ordinance, we're under time regulations where we can only have the event during a certain time frame so that does give us kind of a more limited time, but that is something that we might talk about," Bauman said, adding that the chamber targets the date later in February because it is a week after an ice drag event in Merrill.
"The other reason that we've done it on this date was also to coincide with the Merrill ice drags. The week that they got done, the week right after was our race, so the guys had all of their equipment ready, they would travel here and it would just be an extra week of racing for them. That really, really helped us out as far as getting a good turnout," she said.
No matter the date, the fate of the 2015 event will be in the hands of Mother Nature.
"We'll be looking forward to having this again if Mother Nature cooperates in 2015," Bauman said.
Marcus Nesemann may be reached at [email protected].
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