Here’s a shot of most of the sleds and riders who participated in the vintage section of the Snowmobile Hall of Fame Ride with the Champs event on Feb. 9. I was joined on the ride by Pride Magazine editor John Sandberg of Prior Lake, Minn. (78 Jag). He and I agreed that the trail riding was fun, but the highlight of the day was sitting with Don Amber of Churubusco, Ind. at lunch and enjoying his stories about riding in the Winnipeg to St. Paul I-500 on a Polaris in 1973 (when he finished) and 1974, and on a Deere in 1975. He’s now an active Deere collector and was at the HOF event to ride with a gang of other Deere-heads who have gotten to know each other through the jdsleds.com site. So you just never know who you’ll meet on these rides. The main ride from St. Germain to Minocqua and back was about 50 miles, but some of the Deere boys made a longer loop and went about 65 miles. There were no breakdowns, which was pretty amazing.
Shown in the photo (left to right) are: Perry Sekel (1989 AC Wildcat), Mike Weinfurter (1979 Ski-Doo Blizzard), Charles Plueddeman (1969 AC Panther), John Sandberg’s 1978 AC Jag, Bob Amber (1977 Deere), Brian Linder (1974 Deere), Ross Heavener (1977 Deere), Don Amber (1973 Deere) Kevin Campbell (1976 Deere) and Greg Shaboluk (1981 Deere). Missing from the photo are Keith Warning, who lead the group to Minocqua on a 1976 Ski-Doo RV, and Jon Bertolino on a Yamaha V-Max.
Sent in by Charles Plueddeman