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A display on the chamber-sponsored Flambeau International Sled Dog Classic sprint race attracted a steady stream of individuals and groups of people and their children both days, just as last year. They gathered around the display to watch puppies, sled dogs and video footage of the first race this February and of other races elsewhere in the U.S. and Canada.

The display, again put together by race coordinator Ann Jandernoa, included photos of the race and community activities involving her sled dogs, along with postings of the results of the first Flambeau International Sled Dog Classic on Feb. 17 and 18. A large banner informed visitors to the display that the race will be Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 16 and 17, next year. Jandernoa was assisted with the display this year by Terry and Rick Reneau.

Making his Expo debut this year, joining well-known lead dogs Jasper and Sneaks, was another of Jandernoa's highly-socialized lead dogs, Hunter, who took his job as "greeter" seriously from the time of his arrival Saturday morning to closing time on Sunday. Isham said he became the chamber mascot for the expo this year. All three of the adult sled dogs wore their colorful harnesses both days.

Five puppies sired by lead dog Jasper were popular with children.

Jandernoa said she knew after the race this year that a lot of community interest and support had grown for the race. She said following the expo that she had no idea until this weekend just how intense that support was. She said people visiting the booth clearly understood the significance in having the race with the highest point values among International Sled Dog Racing Association-sanctioned races. The accomplishment means that professional- class mushers will be looking to Park Falls next year for the most points toward earning a medal that they can get in any event.

Jandernoa said the community pride is well-justified, because the accomplishment would not have been possible without all the volunteers who turned out.

The same spirit that made that event possible was at work in insuring the expo a place in the community's major-event future. Fearful that she would omit the name of someone who worked long and hard to help produce the Expo, Isham felt the key organizers and volunteers deserved special mention.

"A howling success"
Visiting mushers give thumbs up to first running of Flambeau International Sled Dog Classic
The Park Falls Herald February 22, 2001


PARK FALLS -- It became obvious during an awards presentation for the first Flambeau International Sled Dog Classic that musher acceptance deemed essential to future races was realized with room to spare.

The winners of the 10-dog, six-dog and four-dog professional classes spoke for mushers of the 137 teams entered in the race and praised the event as they accepted their prizes from the Wisconsin Trailblazers. The awards were presented Sunday, Feb. 18, at Flambeau Lanes in Park Falls.

Most of the mushers spent hours on the road to get to the race and had long drives home, but each award winner took time to comment on the efforts, expertise and organizational skills of race coordinator Ann Jandernoa and others in making such an event possible.

They also commented on what they observed to be an extraordinary number of volunteers, exceeding anything they had seen at other races.

Both on the podium and in comments on the side, the mushers expressed their appreciation for the numerous ways the community demonstrated its total support of the event, including the presence of police, rescue and fire personnel not only on standby, but actively helping with the event and helping individual mushers.

Jandernoa said the only place she has seen anything comparable to the Park Falls volunteer effort and official support was the former race at Minden, Ontario. Leading up to this race, Jandernoa often cited the Minden race as the best example of the kind of event that is possible with total community support and the help of many volunteers.

She was pleasantly surprised when winning musher after winning musher told the awards program audience how impressed they were with the overall race, and especially with the trail. She was most surprised when the winner of the 10-dog class, widely known "pro" class musher Ed Streeper of Minnesota, added his voice to the praise.

Reinforcing what he alleged was a general impression that other mushers had of him, he said he is not easily impressed and seldom gives his opinion about a race event. But he said he was very impressed with what the Park Falls community had done.

He was preceded and followed at the podium by others who said it was not only impressive "for a first-time race," but would have been equally impressive if it had been older than a first-year race.

Many mushers, including those from Canada, drove long distances to be in the race, and even some from other parts of Wisconsin had fairly long drives.

Mushers also came from Michigan, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Iowa.

Jandernoa said that upon checking a website that contains the most up-to-date information on sled dog races, she observed that there was no race with comparable "pro" class entries this season anywhere in the Midwest, east of the Mississippi, or possibly Colorado as well.

Jandernoa said that as determined as the mushers said they were to return next year, their statements have to be looked at within the perspective of future races which might be scheduled elsewhere for the same weekend, and purses for those races.

For example, she said, if there was a purse for $2,000 less than for the Park Falls race at a race scheduled for the same weekend in Canada, mushers there would take into consideration travel time and expense in deciding whether to travel a great distance to Park Falls or a much shorter distance to the race with the smaller purse.

She explained that the higher the purse, the more likely it will tip the balance in favor of the Park Falls' race.

She identified races in Colorado as potential future competition to the Park Falls race, especially if the organizers of those races should decide to raise their purses. She said a musher could spend four weekends in Colorado for races with a purse total of $30,000. By the time the purse totals are broken down, only the top mushers come away from the races with cash prizes exceeding the cost of their trip to the race.

Jandernoa said the fact there was no snow at Anchorage until recently, resulting in the cancellation of the Fur Rendezvous and other races there, was among factors that boosted the number of mushers coming here.

She observed one development that may portend for the future if Park Falls is willing to take advantage of it and continue to put on a race of the caliber it now has shown it is capable. She said several of the "pro" racers picked Park Falls as their last stop on their way to Alaska to finish out the season, something that could become a permanent trend if the satisfaction with the first Park Falls race continues into the future.

Comparing the Park Falls race with other recent ones nearby in Wisconsin, she said the race here was "unbelievable" for a first-time event.

Jandernoa said she was uncomfortable with differentiating between organizers and volunteers, because in many cases those working on the race were both. She cited as an example chamber of commerce board members who spent hours out in the cold on the race trail both days of the race as trail volunteers.

As another example, she said Park Falls High School teacher Ed Busby not only worked with fellow teacher Chuck Woelfel to involve students in the race, but shot race video footage and continues after the race to organize both that footage and school presentation footage into a lasting video record of the event for the community.

She said all of the volunteers were terrific and said a blitz the last few days before the race in putting together sled banners to carry logos of sponsors in the race was phenomenal.

She said she was amazed at the instant reactions of volunteers to fix problems as soon as they developed along the trail.

Jandernoa said she could go on discussing the work of the volunteers forever, and continues to worry that in all of the haste of dealing with the wrap-up tasks after the race that someone very deserving of mention will be forgotten.

Park Falls Area Chamber of Commerce President Curtis Johnson voiced a similar concern in praising the efforts of all involved to bring about such an impressive first-time accomplishment. He said he would be expressing those sentiments more formally as chamber president soon, but he especially wanted to recognize Jandernoa as coordinator, Wally Perdun representing CenturyTel as the biggest sponsor of the race, and race committee chairman Skip Souther, who put many hours into the effort.

Johnson said the chamber began an attempt early in the weekend to estimate the total number of spectators, but the numbers soon became confused because of the mix of spectators, mushers and their helpers, and volunteers.

He said as very rough estimates that there were probably about 600 spectators altogether. Broken down by day, the numbers would probably be about 400 the first day and 200 the second.

He said the chamber had planned to serve about 400 people altogether, and came pretty close in estimating the amount of food to prepare. He said the chamber volunteers had about half of the chili they prepared left over, but ran out of hot dogs and other kinds of meat for sandwiches and had to go for more.

The two mushers giving dogsled rides at separate times gave a total of about 150 people rides over the weekend, including about 80 on Saturday and about 70 on Sunday.

Comments about the race could be overheard throughout the community, including remarks from a bar employee that sled dog trucks could be seen in motel parking lots "all the way to Minocqua."

A grocery store employee commented that many of the shelves had to be restocked because of the race, after a constant flow of visiting customers "stripped just about everything."

The first letter about the event to the chamber of commerce from outside the state was sent by an Iowa couple, Dave and Sally Maslowski of Blue Grass, on Monday, comparing the event favorably to another in Wisconsin and promising to return.

"My wife and I were in Park Falls over the weekend and really enjoyed the sled dog races. We had a great time, and somehow kept warm despite the cold. We've been to Klondike Days in Eagle River in the past, but watching teams go around the oval track just doesn't seem to satisfy as well.

"The idea of a race course added realism to the events, that made the watching and the waiting exciting for us. We hope the event will be held again next year. If so, we will be sure to be there," the letter read.

Jandernoa credited what she and others described as an incredible turnout of mushers for the race to the fact that there were no comparable events elsewhere that weekend and the mushers were aware that someone who had actually run fast teams in the "pro" classes in major races was in charge of putting in the trail.

She said that applied especially to the many "pro" class racers who entered. She said once the word was out in the mushing community that the trail was put in under the supervision of a "pro" class racer, they assumed the trail was safe and nothing more needed to be said.

She said she never knew when she took on the task of coordinating the race that she would not have enough time to adequately train her own 10-dog and six-dog teams. was on the move constantly during the two-day event, patrolling the trail for any problems and positioning and re-positioning volunteer trail helpers as the need arose. She only took breaks long enough to run her four-dog team, placing ninth in a field of 42.

Jandernoa said she is looking for possible ways that the burden on the race coordinator could be eased sufficiently to allow her to train her teams without sacrificing the quality of the race. She said that in her case, two of her dogs that qualified for the world cup twice probably were at the end of their peak this year, and she will never know if they would have made their best showing this season if she had had time to train properly.

She said no matter how good the potential of any musher's team, it cannot become a winning team without rigorous training and there were many hours of such training behind each of the winners' success.
 

"Mayor says Flambeau International Sled Dog Classic will put Park Falls on the world map"
Race coordinator says it will be held this year 'one way or another;' more volunteers needed
By: GEORGE TRESNAK The Park Falls Herald  February 07, 2002

PARK FALLS -- Mayor Eugene Schneider is confident the Park Falls Area Chamber of Commerce's Flambeau International Sled Dog Classic will soon put Park Falls on the world map if it hasn't already, and considers it especially important that the race be held this year.

He said local businesses are hurting because of the small amount of snow, and even though conditions this year also are far less than ideal for a sled dog race, the event is badly needed to compensate for the sharp drop in numbers of visiting snowmobilers.

Race coordinator Ann Jandernoa said for precisely that reason, the race will be held "one way or another" as scheduled Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 16 and 17.

Encouraged by the recent snowfall and confident there will be enough of a base on the race course off Airport Road with additional snow expected before the race, she said the chamber race committee has a contingency plan should that prediction not come true. She declined to elaborate, but said that even on the prepared race course, the less snow there is, the more volunteers will be needed.

She explained that mushers will be unable to set their snowhooks in shallow snow if they have difficulties, and will need help holding their teams if they have to stop to untangle teams or for any other reason during any of the heats.

She said everyone who volunteers will be put to work, whether or not they attended any of the volunteer training sessions. People willing to volunteer are encouraged to attend a volunteer meeting at 7 p.m. Tonight, Thursday, Feb. 7, at Jandernoa's house, N14908 Kaiser Road, to go over details.

Jandernoa said people without prior experience who are assigned to various points along the race course won't have to worry that they will be left all alone. She said maps will be available breaking the race course into five quadrants to which volunteers will be assigned under the supervision of an experienced crew leader for each.

Anyone who wishes to volunteer and be contacted should call the chamber office, 762-2703, and leave a message to be contacted personally or to get on the race e-mail list. The new race internet site is flambeausleddogclassic.org. Jandernoa also urged that people keep tuned to radio stations WNBI, WCQM and WJJH for information.

Jandernoa said the end of the race won't be the end of the excitement for the volunteers. There will be a big sleddog race volunteer party at Wojcieszak's Flambeau Resort the following Sunday, Feb. 24. Admission will be by volunteer passes given out to volunteers.

"It will be a good time," she said.

Preparations for the race have included meetings between Police Chief Scott Streaetz and Price County Sheriff Robert Randolph and Chief Deputy Tim Gould, with attendance by Jandernoa, Fifield Fire Department member and EMT Dan Stangle and Park Falls Safety Officer Phil Bochler, who will serve as liaison between the people involved in the race and emergency services.

Straetz said Bochler will have the same kind of radio as the race organizers and volunteers, and they all will know he is the one to contact if there is an emergency requiring rescue personnel, EMTs, police or fire personnel. Police will be busy providing patrol and security for the race, while Park Falls Fire Department members will provide traffic control.

Control of traffic will be less of a problem this year because of changes that incorporate the closing of Airport Road while the race is going on due to road race course crossings. Jandernoa said Bob Kopisch, who managed traffic control at the crossings last year, will be in charge of control of traffic at the crossings that are not covered by the road closing.

Jandernoa said the race has grown so rapidly that organizers were only able to hire bulldozing sufficient for mainly a musher parking area this year, so the majority of spectators will be asked to depend on shuttle buses that will be operating between the west Park Falls High School parking lot and the race site. Jandernoa explained that there won't be parking along the airport runway this year, and only a small amount of parking will be available for spectators right at the airport site and at Hines Park. Jandernoa said everyone will be urged to use the shuttle buses, except for handicapped drivers who may have difficulty getting in and out of a bus and who understandably would prefer to drive to the race site.

The chamber has arranged for the buses to run about every 15 minutes, so that people will be able to go back and forth any time without having to worry about parking. The buses and any other traffic to and from the race site will travel on Saunders Avenue and have access to and from the race site on a lane through the golf course that will be temporarily reopened especially for the race event by special permission of the Park Falls Country Club Board of Directors.

Chief Straetz urged that people avoid parking on Saunders Avenue in order to avoid traffic congestion and to keep a clear passageway for any emergency vehicles going to or from the race or to a destination in the neighborhood.

Race Committee Chairman Skip Souther joined Jandernoa in expressing optimism about the likelihood of more snow to improve conditions before the race weekend, and to assure the public that an alternate plan will be put into motion if it becomes apparent there won't be enough snow on the race site. One of the problems with a shallow snow base is that the wind blows snow from parts of the course that are out in the open, exposing rocks that could be hazardous to dogs, mushers and their equipment. That problem was partly addressed after the Jan. 31, snowfall, by city crews carrying snow cleared from city streets to areas s on the race site as directed by Jandernoa.

Jandernoa said that work by city employees is a continuation of work they have been doing year-round. She said along with the chamber of commerce, the city and community have "bent over backwards" to bring the event to the community and "make it work," including the public works department, police, fire and other emergency services departments, landowners and others.

Souther said the organizers are looking forward to seeing many new faces joining the volunteers who are returning from last year. He encouraged all volunteers to bring a friend, and predicted that each year there will be more people volunteering as interest in the race grows.

Jandernoa noted that Souther and other race committee and chamber members are among the volunteers who have spent many hours getting the course ready. She said Souther went out by himself to spend hours hanging gates, and he, Darla Isham, Beth Hagmann, former chamber executive director, and Jane Bentz, chamber director, worked diligently to recruit sponsors. She said Jon Bukachek constructed many racks for signs of various kinds for the race.

Jandernoa said it was impossible to remember everyone who has helped over the course of the year since the first extraordinarily successful race, and she is reluctant to single out anyone for special mention, but one of the most visible and helpful in the entire effort is Wally Perdun, CenturyTel area operations manager. He came forward with the first $2,500 sponsorship by CenturyTel last year, was directly involved by organizing the snowshoe race that was part of the race weekend, and this year presented a check for $5,000, doubling the CenturyTel sponsorship of the year before and again volunteering to organize and conduct the snowshoe race.

Perdun said he and the company are pleased both that such an event is being held here and to be able help with the race. He said CenturyTel belives in "giving back to the community" and in being a good corporate citizen. He said he is very excited about the race this year, is looking forward to continuing success of the event in the future, and hopes the organizers and the chamber will be able to bring the World Cup event to Park Falls.

Perdun said of the snowshoe race that he has help from others in the CenturyTel office in putting together that race attraction, which will be on a 5-K (3.1-mile) course. He said there also will be a sprint snowshoe race for kids, who will not be charged an entry fee. The entry fee will be $12 for all other participants, who will receive t-shirts and compete for trophies. Winners will be by age group, with each winner receiving a trophy. Registrations for the snowshoe race are being taken at the chamber office, and can be made by calling the office at 762-2703.

Jandernoa said another significant development was a new $2,500 sponsorship this year by Price Electric/ Touchstone Energy, adding significantly to the total of contributions from a host of repeat and new sponsors.

Hagmann, who continues to work on the race although she no longer is chamber director, noted that Discover America, the travel series featured on the Teaching & Learning Channel, will be in Park Falls to film the race for a segment of the TV show.

Jandernoa urged calm and patience in the face of the uncertainty over the weather, asking for forbearance by the public in whatever develops and help in whatever has to be done to make the second race a reality. She said that patience will be especially important if it should happen that the alternate plan has to be engaged.

"It's difficult to try to juggle two sites, but one way or another we'll figure it out. One thing you can't get too wound up about is what nature gives you. If God gives you only six inches of snow, you have to have a contingency plan," she said.

"The key is to hold the whole event together to keep the quality that attracts the mushers that will then bring the spectators," she said.

She added that two big reasons for what is developing into widespread musher interest in the Park Falls' race is the quality of the race course and awareness by mushers of the commitment of the community to putting on a "world-class" race.

The first race last year drew 130 mushers, and the International Sled Dog Racing Association ranked the event's 10-dog race as the 10-dog "pro" event of the year. The Flambeau International Sled Dog Classic also includes six-dog and four-dog "pro" races.

Other attractions include a 100-yard dash celebrity sled dog race and dogsled rides. Jandernoa noted that one of the non-pro mushing activities held as part of the race event last year, the mutt race, will be held on Sunday and is being refined for this year because of its value as a spectator attraction. She said the mutt race is for children mushers and well-socialized family dogs of any size. Participants have to be registered by 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, and also can register on Saturday. The racers will be provided with harnesses for their dogs and sleds. They will be timed while running on a straight course of about 100 yards.

Jandernoa fully expects that what is happening with the weather in other race communities will have a bearing on what happens with the Park Falls' race, and feels the growing focus by mushers on Park Falls this year is a little frightening. One of the concerns is sufficient motel space for mushers within reasonable driving distance, and she asked that operators of motels that still have vacancies for that weekend call the chamber office so that mushers without accommodations can be referred to them.

She said the lack of snow is not unique to Park Falls, and is causing similar problems for local economies over a wide area.

"They've canceled races all the way to Fairbanks (Alaska). There's not enough snow on the Tudor track in Fairbanks to even train dogs.They will be holding the Yukon Quest pretty soon, covering 1,000 miles, and there's hardly any snow. The Iditarod will be really rough," she said.

Jandernoa said snow depth is less of a concern for distance races than it is for sprint races such as the Park Falls' event because the distance dogs go eight to 10 miles per hour while the sprint dogs "peak out at 28 miles per hour." She said more snow is needed for the safety of the mushers and dogs when going at that speed.

Jandernoa noted that the only part of the country where races aren't being canceled is out West, in Idaho, Colorado and Wyoming, and in the Northeast, in upstate New York and Maine. She said the race at Kalkaska, MI, which has already been run, is the only one not canceled so far in the Midwest, and prospects look good for a race at Merrill following seven inches of new snow last Thursday.

But with what Jandernoa calls the widespread snow "drought" and the resulting focus on Park Falls by mushers in addition to those who were here last year, Jandernoa is getting increasingly nervous.

"If we have as many mushers as I think we'll have, they'll eat up more parking area than you can imagine. I know all the racers are eager to race here. They're really looking forward to it. I've been receiving a lot of calls," she said.

Jandernoa said the problem with having a race become a world-class event so fast in the eyes of mushers is that it doesn't have time to keep up with the growth. She said $2,000 spent on bulldozing to get the course ready took into consideration an expected greater number of mushers, but not as great a number as may show up. Not enough money was available to do all the work last summer that was needed to accommodate this year's event, so the race committee had to make do with what was possible with the intent to do more as funds were available, she explained. Besides expanding the parking areas, more bulldozing will be needed to take the race entirely off of City Wells Road, one lane of which is used for about a mile of the 10-mile race course.

She said the popularity of the race is now "three years ahead" of what she originally expected it to be at this time, and "it takes awhile for the income part to catch up" to needed expenditures.

"This year people will just have to be a little understanding," she said.

Among the most understanding is the mayor, who fully expects to be at the race to demonstrate his support.

"It's really great for the city, and I thank the chamber and all the dedicated people who are making it possible. It is putting Park Falls on the map in the United States and probably the world. It gives you a good feeling to see so many people supporting something that could expand to be one of the biggest events in northern Wisconsin," Schneider said.

"Race reflections"
Sled dog race supporters hear news of two 'event of the year' distinctions; Tourism Secretary Speros presents awards, praises community for success
By: GEORGE TRESNAK The Park Falls Herald June 05, 2002

PARK FALLS -- Wisconsin Tourism Secretary Moose Speros helped pass out awards and praised Park Falls and the surrounding community Thursday, May 30, for the extraordinary success of the Flambeau International Sled Dog Classic.

His praise was among accolades, award presentations and predictions of continuing growth and success of the sled dog race that an audience of about 80 award recipients and race supporters witnessed during the two-hour program in the Park Falls Public Library Auditorium.

It wasn't until after final closing comments by Speros and Mayor Eugene Schneider that those attending heard the latest news of the growing international standing of the race. The International Sled Dog Racing Association (ISDRA) has awarded the Park Falls race two "event of the year" distinctions for 2002; one for the race's 10-dog pro event and the other for its three-dog skijoring event.

This is the second year in a row that the Park Falls race has received the 10-dog event-of-the-year award. For a race to receive an ISDRA event-of-the-year award in its first year was unheard of until last year.

Race coordinator Ann Jandernoa announced the new ISDRA awards as a grand finale, later promising a special statement soon to explain the full significance of the ISDRA event-of-the-year awards to the race and community. She said she will explain what ISDRA takes into consideration in making the awards, and the lasting importance of the awards to a race's reputation among mushers.

The loudest applause during the program came when Jandernoa presented CenturyTel Operations Manager Wally Perdun with the award for being the race's $5,000 Gold Medal sponsor.

Also enthusiastically applauded was Tim Warner, who accepted the award to Price Electric Cooperative, member of Touchstone Energy Cooperatives, for being the race's $2,500 Lead Dog sponsor. The award was presented by Junior Musher Rebecca Homann, who was coached by Jandernoa and took second with Jandernoa's dogs, Jasper and Hunter, in the two-dog junior class in the Park Falls race this year.

Homann first told of her experiences helping to care for Jandernoa's dogs, training with them and persevering in the race despite a very fast course and a number of spills.

Terry Valitchka of Green Bay and Beth Castaldi of Antigo, two mushers who ran their teams in the Park Falls race and who made a special trip to Park Falls to help with the awards presentations, also spoke in praise of the event on their behalf and the behalf of other mushers. Valitchka, who presented awards to $1,000 Point Dog sponsors, praised the way the entire community came together to put on the race despite very difficult conditions and said he was especially impressed by the friendliness and hospitality of the people here.

Receiving Point Dog sponsor awards were Park Manor Nursing Home, Auto World of Park Falls, Thomas Swann, Winter Woods, Stueber's Beverages, WJJH Bay Broadcasting and The Park Falls Herald.

Castaldi, whose part in the program preceded Valitchka's, was similarly complimentary about the community's accomplishments in putting on two highly successful races in a row, and commented on the rapport that developed between people in the community and the mushers. Bringing up the possibility of Park Falls as a multi-race site for future racing seasons, she said she felt the mushers and community would work well together in putting on a series of sled dog racing events every winter.

She then presented awards to the $500 Team Dog 2 sponsors. Recipients were Wojcieszak's Flambeau Resort, Allied Health, Wells Fargo, Fraser Papers, Master Care Services, Flambeau Lanes, WCQM, the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, Lake of the Torches, South Side True Value, Novitzke Funeral Home and Pilch & Barnet.

Jason Gotz, who ran one of Jandernoa's teams in the six-dog race this year, presented awards to the $250 Team Dog 1 sponsors after first telling of his experiences as a first-year sprint racer. Recipients were Weather Shield, Mid-Wisconsin Bank, First National Bank, Day Lilly Lodge on Newman Lake, Century 21 Hilgart Realty, Associated Bank, Eye Care & Eye Wear Associates, Flambeau Hospital/Marshfield Clinic, Bob's Factory Outlet Furniture Division, Price County TelCom, Flambeau Oil, Hegstrom Jewelers, Sign Studio & Print Shop, Amoco, Gustafsons' IGA, D&D Tire & Auto, Bob's Factory Outlet Flooring & Appliance Division, Auto Parts of Park Falls (NAPA), Miller Beer of the North, Pamida and Seed-N-Feed.

Jandernoa also called attention to a list in the printed program of 31 businesses that donated to the event.

Following the sponsor awards, special awards were presented to people who helped with the race in various ways. Culminating the special award presentations was a joint presentation by Speros and Schneider of an award to the Park Falls Area Chamber of Commerce for putting on the race and seeing it through to its second highly successful year.

In accepting the award for the organization, Chamber President Bob Gustafson predicted continued success and growth of the race. He announced that the chamber will continue its involvement with the race but that the event had gotten too big and was growing so fast that the chamber can no longer put on the race by itself while continuing its other annual projects. He said an association was being formed that would concentrate solely on the race.

Jandernoa then joined Speros and Schneider in presenting special plaques and certificates to chamber board members.

"Without the physical and financial support of the chamber, the Flambeau International Sled Dog Classic as we know it today would never have reached the level of recognition and awards that the race has received in the two short years of its existence," Jandernoa said, addressing members of the chamber board present prior to presentation of their plaques, certificates and framed race bibs.

"The chamber truly exemplified the motto of the race, and that is one must 'Believe in Order to Succeed.' With this belief in sight and with dedication and hard work, the Flambeau International Sled Dog Classic has grown to be a model that other races that are held across North America will aspire to. For all those that have raced on this course and visited the Park Falls area, the same phrase is said over and over by visiting mushers and seasoned race fans, from New York to the western province of British Columbia, Canada, 'There is no race like the Flambeau International Sled Dog Classic!' Take time to truly look back and reflect and realize that as a chamber, you have brought to this community an event that is truly family oriented and that has broad appeal to all ages. Once again, all your hard work and time is truly appreciated," Jandernoa told the chamber board.

Just as she had special praise earlier in the program for "Top Dog" award recipient and Chamber Race Committee Chairman Skip Souther, Jandernoa had special praise for several members of the chamber board and race committee and others who also received "Top Dog" awards. They included Rich and Ann Wojcieszak, Darla Isham and Terry Reneau who were present, and Jon Bukachek and Bob Hilgart, who were not present to receive their awards in person. Jandernoa explained that "Top Dog" was an award category created to confer special recognition now and in the future on people whose efforts on behalf of the race are exemplary.

Jandernoa praised the Wojcieszak's for constantly providing needed equipment to work on the race course, doing a variety of other things for the race and for other volunteers, and making their lodge available for volunteer gatherings. She praised Isham for her thorough work in recruiting sponsors. She praised Bukachek for completely taking charge of putting up signs throughout the race course and area as well as working constantly at the site as the race date drew near. She praised Hilgart also for his constant work at the race site, and for use of a truck and employees from his business both for setting up for the race and for hauling numerous items from the site after the race.

Also receiving certificates of recognition for many hours of taking care of race business in the chamber office were Chamber Executive Director Jane Bentz and Office Manager Amy Brumble.

Jandernoa, Schneider and other speakers credited the work of race volunteers for the success of the race both last year and this year, but most of the praise of volunteers came from the person who Jandernoa credited with recruiting a solid base of volunteers shortly after organization of the first race began.

Upon being presented with her "Top Dog" award for those efforts, Reneau expanded on Jandernoa's frequent comments that neither the first nor the second race could have been held without the volunteers. She called attention to members of one volunteer family present, Bonnie and Dave Dryer and sons Chris and Marcus, who she said always showed up for work that had to be done not only at race time but year round.

Jandernoa also singled out another volunteer, Talei Robinson, for special recognition. She said that besides helping regularly, Robinson personally made the race bibs and did the artistic framing of the bibs presented with the awards.

In introducing Souther for presentation of awards to several key organizations and other individuals who provided valuable help, Jandernoa praised his tireless year- round work, both at the race site and in taking care of important details. She said he often worked for hours by himself at the race site, and took it upon himself to take care of numerous race matters.

The first award presented by Souther, to the Price County Trails Association, was accepted by Tim Werner on behalf of the association, and the second, to the Eisenstein Bushwackers Snowmobile Club, was accepted by Bobbi Damrow on the club's behalf.

Other recipients were Rick and Karen Dums and David Palacheck, owners of land on which part of the race trail was run; groomer operators Pat Gruber and Lawrence Hilgart; Park Falls Country Club; race photographers Gretchen Hilgart and Neil Hagmann; The American Legion and the Park Falls Chamber Ambassadors.

Souther then introduced Bob Kopisch to present special awards to units of government and departments for their vital roles in the race. Souther praised Kopisch for his work on the race both last year and this year and joked about the title, "traffic and road crossing logistics coordinator," that Kopisch was given after finding himself in charge of what turned out to be a complicated traffic situation at the first race.

Kopisch, who said he didn't know whether he would keep the same title for future races, was lavish in his praise of city and town officials and heads of departments for their parts in the race. He noted especially the roles of the city of Park Falls and towns of Lake and Chippewa in literally building the trail by bringing snow to the race site, and the personal participation by Eisenstein Chairman Arnold Herbst and Eisenstein Supervisor Norm Miller as volunteers during the race.

Lake Town Chairman Jack Koch, accompanied by Supervisors George Diem and Gerald Hetzel, accepted the award for Lake; and Chippewa Town Chairman Robert Rybak accepted the award for Chippewa.

Other recipients were the city of Park Falls, Park Falls Public Works Department, the Park Falls Fire and Rescue Department, the Park Falls Municipal Airport and the Park Falls Police Department.

Police Chief Scott Straetz, who accepted the award on behalf of the police department, was singled out earlier in the program by Valitchka in his comments about the community's hospitality to mushers. Referring to Straetz's presence at the race site throughout the race this year and the rapport that he and his officers developed with mushers, Valitchka recalled that Straetz had an engaging sense of humor.

Schneider and others among the local speakers described similar sentiments of the entire community toward the visiting mushers for both races, and cited a family kinship with mushing from an experience with a Samoyed his family owned while his children were growing up. He said the difference between that kind of mushing and the kind he saw at the race was that "instead of six dogs pulling one sled, one dog pulled six sleds." Schneider said the dog was so powerful and so enthusiastic about pulling that it pulled all the children in the neighborhood at once on their individual sleds, every one behind the lead sled holding on to the one in front.

Noting that he was unable to attend last year's race because of a prior commitment, Schneider described what he witnessed at the race this year as "absolutely fantastic." He said that despite all the enthusiasm every year for other events in the community, he never before saw the kind of community- wide commitment and enthusiasm that he saw for the race.

After commenting further about the help the city received for the race and other community events from Speros and about his long association with Speros that included frequent requests for money, Schneider then formally introduced him as the next speaker.

Speros began by needling Schneider over the fact that he himself had been to both the first and second Park Falls races, but Schneider had been to only one. Joking about his experiences in training for and participating in the celebrity race and a number of spills he took on the sled, Speros made clear he was looking forward to more of the same in the future.

He said he was impressed this year with the improvements at the race site, and compared Park Falls experience with the sled dog race and its future potential with the experience of his own community of Hayward in putting on the American Birkebeiner cross-country ski race. He said it started with 75 skiers, and the total this year was 7,500. He said he was especially impressed with the fact that mushers came back for the program to say "thank you," and what that said for the community.

Adding his voice to the praise of the volunteers, Speros said "you can't thank the volunteers enough." He noted that this year there were 1,000 volunteers for the Birkebeiner, some of them flying over from Europe just to volunteer.

Speros described the kind of hospitality and friendliness experienced by the mushers here that were described by the two visiting mushers who spoke during the program as even exceeding the hospitality that makes Wisconsin "the number-one tourist destination in the Midwest."

He said the hospitality demonstrated here was obviously "genuine hospitality," but the economic impact and the effect on the local and state economy of such efforts as Park Falls own "success story" could not be ignored. He said the impact of tourism in the state in 2001 was $11.4 billion, and that "380,000 people work in this industry." Speros told the audience that "you are very important to that success." Jandernoa presented Speros with a framed picture of him, with dogs and sled, at the celebrity race.

Speros' closing comments brought to full circle the matter of the potential economic impact of the race that was first alluded to in opening comments by Deb Klatkiewicz, race volunteer and coordinator of "race central" this year. Klatkiewicz told of her own experience of getting involved as a volunteer and meeting people for the first time who, like she, were long-time residents of the community.

Klatkiewicz said that in coordinating the race here, Jandernoa used as a model the former Minden Sled Dog Derby in Minden, Ontario, Canada. Klatkiewicz called attention to a letter in the printed program from Stu Brandon of Minden, describing the economic impact of that race which has not been replaced since it was lost.

Unlike the Park Falls race, which has multiple sponsors, that race depended entirely on one large sponsor. Loss of that single large sponsorship was the reason the race was discontinued. In a note in the program accompanying the letter, Jandernoa described the Minden race as "the first-class race the Park Falls race is patterned after."

Brandon's letter, in part, reads: "The Minden Sled Dog Derby was created to effect a positive economic impact on the small village of Minden (1,200 residents) in the slowest season of the calendar year. The 'vision' was to create a world-class event that would attract 'new money' to the community. Minden is in a summer resort area, and although snowmobiling, ice fishing and cross country skiing brought some visitors to the area in winter, the impact on the village was limited.

"TV commercials ran on two Toronto stations (125 miles away) with great success. Spectator numbers were estimated by Toronto newspapers at 5,000 to 7,000 by the Toronto Star, and 7,000 to 10,000 by the Globe and Mail. A consulting company doing work in our area at the time estimated the direct economic impact of between $1.5 million and $3 million over the three-day event."