| Jan 20, 2011


Photo: Skills Link participants will be raring to go on February 21st.

It’s been over five years since the Sharbot Lake Snow Drags were last run, but the memory of the event has lingered in the minds of many.

Most of the participants in the Skills Link program that has been running for the past five months in Sharbot Lake remember going to the Snow Drags when they were still in elementary or intermediate school. So when the program co-ordinator, David Hitchcock, asked his group what they wanted to do as a culminating project, they jumped on the idea of bringing back the Snow Drags.

“I thought they were going to want to put on bake sales or something, but this was a lot more ambitious than that,” said Hitchcock.

The group approached the Oso District Recreation Committee with the idea, and the rec. committee agreed to include the snowmobile races along with the other events at their annual outdoor fun day at the Sharbot Lake Beach on the Heritage Day holiday Monday, which will be on February 21 this year.

“The rec. committee wanted the track to be moved from the government dock, where it was located before, to a spot near the beach, and they wanted there to be two instead of four tracks, and our group adjusted their plans accordingly,” said Hitchcock.

Members of the rec. committee, particularly committee chair Dave Willis and member Charlene Godfrey, have been working with the Skills Link group on the planning, and the group has been attending weekly organizing meetings for the Fun Day event.

“People like Gary Parks and others who were involved in the Snow Drags when they were such a big event have been offering a lot of practical advice on what has to be done,” said one of the Skills Link participants, “there are a lot of details to be covered.”

Local contractors have offered equipment to help build the track, and the 10 members of the Sharbot Lake Skills Link group will be joined by 20 others, the Skills Link groups from Perth and Smiths Falls, in the days preceding the drags so there will be plenty of hands available for the work of preparing and putting on the event.

One of the biggest differences between the events in the past and this one will be that only stock snowmobiles will be allowed to participate, even in the open class for larger machines.

“Through word of mouth and Facebook a lot people have contacted us and want to come out and race,” said Hitchcock.

The event will be split into different racing classes, including stud and rubber track, powder puff and the kiddy-kat class. Racers will be able to register in advance or on race day starting at 7:00 am at the community room on the lower level of the Sharbot Lake Family Health Team.

The Skills Link program has been active in the community and in their home base at the North Frontenac Telephone Company. Over the next few weeks, they will be visiting a number of colleges in the region (Algonquin, St. Lawrence, Loyalist, etc.) as a number of participants are headed to college when the program ends.

A second Sharbot Lake Skills Link is now in the planning stages for start up in May. For information about the Snow Drags or Skills Link, call 613-279-2700

 

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