Annie Micklitz of Seeley Lake poses on her new 2020 Khaos 850 with Levi Lavallee at the 2020 Seeley Lake Driftriders Snowball Jan. 18 at Paws Up.
Attendees at the 2020 Seeley Lake Driftriders Snowball had an opportunity to participate in 12 different raffles, silent and live auctions and many other games to win a chance at the 2020 Khaos 850 and 2019 Polaris EVO 144.
Levi Lavallee hands Jimmy Fryberger, part-time Seeley Lake resident, an engraved Golden Boy 22 with Lavallee's signature custom engraved. Jimmy's father Cody bought it during the live auction for $2,500.
Wyatt Daniels of Helmville smiles as Levi Lavallee signs a brand new 509 helmet for him. All of the children at the event received a new helmet signed by Lavallee.
SEELEY LAKE – "And the winner is..." said auctioneer Dan Pate of Pate Auctions after the winning ticket for the 2020 Khaos 850 was drawn. Anne Micklitz of Seeley Lake went home with the 2020 Khaos 850 and Spencer Graveley won the 2019 custom Built Polaris EVO 144. Many others won prizes from local businesses, Klim, 509 and other sponsors of the Seeley Lake Driftriders Snowball Banquet and Fun Run this past weekend. Driftriders President Bill Swain said it was a fantastic weekend. He was excited about how many people it brought to the area while also supporting the Club's grooming program.
Nearly 300 people attended the Snowball Jan. 18 at the Paws Up Saddle Club. While the Club regrets having to take the event out of town, "there is no place in Seeley to have an event that big," said Swain.
With nearly double the number of attendees from years past and the new location, there was a learning curve.
The Driftriders set up a shuttle service out of Seeley Lake and Missoula. Swain felt that was a nice option and it worked out well.
This was the first year that the majority of tickets for the events were purchased online and meal tickets were used. This created a bottleneck at check in.
"We know what the cause of that was and we will have that corrected for next year," said Swain who added the sound system will also be changed for next year.
Thirteen-time X Games medalist and world record holder Levi LaVallee was also a big hit at both the Snowball and the Fun Run.
At the Snowball, a Henry Golden Boy 44 and Golden Boy 22 rifles with LaVallee's signature custom engraved on them were auctioned off. He also signed brand new 509 helmets for all the children in attendance. Sunday he took photos and signed autographs.
Swain said having him attend was an effort to attract more kids to the event. He thought it was a fun addition and one that helped add a big name to the event.
"We have some stuff to work on but overall I think it was a fantastic event," said Swain.
"We had a really good turnout and we hope everyone had a good time."
Swain said Sunday's Fun Run drew the most people he has seen participate in the past several years he has been involved. The weather was perfect, the cookout at the end of the ride was fun and people really seemed to enjoy themselves.
"The whole purpose of this is to promote tourism," said Swain who added there was a group from Wisconsin and one from Alaska that came for the event this year. "That is the whole purpose of it is to get people to come to town. Hopefully we can come up with other events so we don't just have the one weekend."
All proceeds support the Seeley Lake Driftriders' trail grooming program as well as raise funds for their new groomer shed.
Reader Comments(0)