Lincoln Sno-Cross organizers say event a success

LINCOLN – With 104 snowmobile racers, close to 2,000 spectators and a course thick with snow, the Lincoln Snowhounds Snowmobile Club’s seventh annual Sno-Cross Races this weekend were a success, organizers said Monday.

The event drew an estimated 1,200 spectators on Saturday and 800 on Sunday, said Alan Smith, race coordinator and past club president.

The club’s dance Saturday night drew another 100 people, but Smith said true success doesn’t come without one very important number.

“We had one of the largest numbers of races and racers that we have ever had, and nobody got hurt,” Smith said Monday. “That’s the best thing.

“One of the guys went out yesterday afternoon and counted 110 sleds that people had ridden up to see the races. That’s a pretty good measure of people getting out,” he added. “I heard good comments that the trails were in great shape. The other indicator is that the motels all had business, stores and gas stations had business. … People were busy.”

The amount of money raised was still being compiled Monday, but Smith said the events raised several thousand dollars.

About 230 members and 35 businesses from the Lincoln area belong to the club, said Joni Smith, Smith’s wife and a club member.

Besides maintenance of the clubhouse on Town Farm Road, the annual event, Alan Smith said, pays for maintenance of the more than 100 miles of snowmobile trails, which are a valuable tourism draw for the town – if Mother Nature provides enough snow.

To help make the event a go, town Public Works Department workers hauled 2,314 cubic yards of snow to the clubhouse in the weeks leading up to the event. A loader operator and three truck drivers volunteered about 22 hours each to the effort, public works Director David Lloyd said.

Public works volunteered its services as a demonstration of local government’s commitment to town businesses, Town Manager Glen Aho said.

Several club members also volunteered. Club members were continuing cleanup efforts at the clubhouse Monday that are expected to last a few more days.

Smith was grateful for the volunteers.

“We would not have had the races without them,” he said.