SPOONER — On Labor Day weekend Monday, Sept. 2, Rolling Hills Snowmobile & ATV Club will celebrate 50 years with a public gathering at the Railroad Park Pavilion in Spooner. The 50-year celebration will also serve as a fundraiser for Rolling Hills.
“Rolling Hills Snowmobile & ATV Club was originally incorporated October 17, 1974,” said Randy King, Rolling Hills president.
Many of those who helped get the club started back in 1974 are no longer with us, but several are. It is hoped that they will be able to attend the celebration on Labor Day weekend.
“Of those involved in the original incorporation, a few are still in the area,” said King. “We are in contact with them and they will be joining us for the Labor Day celebration on Sept. 2 at the Railroad Pavilion in Spooner.”
The event will be open to the public. Great food for the event has been donated by Strongman. There will be beer and other refreshments, door prizes and raffles throughout the day. The Big Cash Raffle features $2,500 for first place; $1,000 for second; $750 for third; $500 for fourth; and $250 for fish. Drawings will be held at 1 p.m. at the pavilion on Sept. 2.
Looking back, the original officers for the new Rolling Hills Snowmobile Club (ATVs and now UTVs were still in the future back then) included President Darrel Swearingen, Vice President Harold Millard and Secretary-Treasurer John Walker. Directors were Richard Brede, Chester Peterson, Donald Scalzo, Richard Scalzo and Dick Swearingen.
King offered an overview of the club and event.
“Rolling Hills has grown dramatically over those 50 years to over 180 members, about 100 landowners and many businesses in the area as sponsors,” said King. “We presently maintain 132 miles of snowmobile trails and 107 miles of combined ATV and UTV trails.
“We are an all-volunteer group that spends hundreds of hours each year in maintaining the trails, including grading in the summer, grooming in the winter, signing, brushing, maintaining two 150-horsepower tractors valued at about $300,000 each, a $30,000 mower for brushing, a $24,000 grader and two groomers valued at about $18,000 each, plus many hours administering all of this. The grants we receive from the state are simply not enough to maintain the Club and we therefore must have fundraisers like the 50th-anniversary celebration.”
The members of Rolling Hills are dedicated and tireless in maintaining the trails for snowmobiles, ATVs, and UTVs, a huge part of the outdoors experience in a place like wild northwestern Wisconsin.
“We are obviously very proud of our club and the excellent condition of the trails,” said King. “The financial impact to the community of having hundreds (perhaps thousands) of ATVs, UTVs and snowmobiles using our well-maintained trails system cannot be overstated. Indeed, we are often told that we have the best trail system in the state of Wisconsin!”
With a nice clubhouse in Trego, one only has to look at the happy faces of members in photos from the club Facebook page to see that the last 50 years have been a huge success.
“We are putting a lot of effort into celebrating our 50th-anniversary on Labor Day,” said King. “We will have good food, drink and major raffles, including a Blackstone grill, a chainsaw, bucket raffles and 50/50. Please join us!”
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