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Picking up Trash for Trails: 2003 |
The Sno Dragons Snowmobile Club have been picking up the trash at the
Sno Barons World Championship Haydays Grass Drags
since 1995, when they co-worked the event with the Ham Lake Sno Force.
Since 1996, the Sno Dragons have been doing it on their own. With the
help of most all members (some have their entire families participate),
about 100 people take care of the grounds from a few days before Haydays
begins until a few days after it is over. The 2003 "Trash master" was
Scott Johnson. The Trash master's responsibilities include coordinating
with the Sno Barons for all the details of the job, organizing each of
the Sno Dragons into their assignments, and working out the logistics
with ACE Waste - all to make sure that the 50,000 people who attend
Haydays are not wallowing in the 30+ tons of garbage that they create
throughout the weekend.
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Thanks to the generosity of Arctic Cat, the Sno Dragons receive 8 new
ATV's each year to use at Haydays. The ATV's are hooked to utility
trailers, which get loaded up with empty trash barrels and several club
members. Each team is directed to various areas of the Haydays grounds,
where they look for full barrels to swap with their empty ones. They
visit merchandise vendors and food booths to haul away the vast amount
of empty boxes, cardboard, and miscellaneous waste that accumulates all
day long. If the grounds have litter scattered around, each Sno Dragon
is equipped with a "picker" (an aluminum handled stick with a point at
the end), so they can walk along and stab all the debris on the ground,
to deposit it all in a trash barrel. They even cruise through the swap
areas, handing out garbage bags to all those who have staked out a spot
for the weekend. |
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The long, hot days at Haydays can take their toll, so the Sno Dragons
have established a comfortable camp area where the club members can rest
and relax between garbage runs. The official camp cook, Vicky Buck,
prepares meals for the group, three times a day. Hearty, balanced, and
delicious, the meals are a welcome respite for all the volunteers who
have been picking up trash all day.
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The club gathers under a large tent to enjoy some shade and
refreshments, before heading back out into the crowds of snowmobile
enthusiasts. Between meals, club members can always get beverages and
snacks, whenever needed, to keep their energy and hydration up. The past
few Haydays events have been so incredibly hot that having plenty of
water available is a necessity (during Haydays 2002, the Sno Dragons ran
out of all the drinking water they had in camp, so a few members ran to
the nearest grocery store, where they bought all the cases of water
there were in the entire store).
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After the races are over on
Sunday, the Sno Dragons keep right on working. As vendors take down
their tents and displays, they leave lots of garbage behind. Boxes,
cardboard, posters, signs, etc., all need to be hauled to the dumpsters.
Swappers are generally pretty good about using the garbage bags
provided, but many just throw their empty cans, bottles, and wrappers
underneath their vehicles all weekend long. When they leave the Haydays
grounds, a pile of garbage is revealed. The weekend has already been a
long one for the Sno Dragons, but they walk down the swapper's aisles
with the pickers, and clean up after them.
Is all of this work worth it?
You bet it is. Haydays is the only working event for the Sno Dragons
each year. With the funds received for taking on this task, the club is
able to help support snowmobile trails throughout the State of
Minnesota. A club donation committee researches various clubs with
various needs, and evaluates them for donations. They even take the
weather into consideration (a good or bad snow winter can help determine
whether donations are made to Grant-in-Aid clubs or Performance Based
clubs). Last winter, the Sno Dragons sent a total of $3000 in donations
to 6 Minnesota clubs, and one in Wisconsin. Funds were received by the
Aitkin Sno Drifters, the Babbitt-Embarrass Development Association, the
Forest Riders Snowmobile Club (Park Rapids), the Haypoint Jack pine
Savages (Hill City), the Hoyt Lakes Ranger Snowmobile Club, the Nevis
Trail Blazers, and the Iron River Snowmobilers (WI). The Sno Dragons
were also able to use some of the funds to donate to Region 6 of MnUSA
for the Summer Campout, so that all the clubs who attended the event
could enjoy the hospitality through MnUSA.
Haydays 2003 was very hot and very dusty, and the work was very tiring.
But through it all, the Sno Dragons kept it all in perspective. And to
let everyone else know what this garbage crew is all about, they proudly
wore their new T-Shirts emblazoned with the slogan: "Picking up Trash
for Trails". |
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