BACK ON THE ICE
9th Annual Low Buck Vintage Riders Show
By Charles Plueddeman
Cold weather arrived in central Wisconsin just in time to put the 9th Annual Low Buck Vintage Riders show and swap where it belongs ’Äì on the ice of Lake Winnebago. Low Buckers and friends decamped to the lakeside Waverly Beach Club on Jan. 27, and the turn-out was great, with close to 300 show sleds on the lake competing for more than 50 awards.
Low Buck is a club that believes foremost in fun, and the judging categories reflect the organization’Äôs sense of humor. Top of the list this year was the new Barn Fresh class, which was won by Jack Raether with a 1973 John Deere JDX8 displayed with a thick coating of pigeon poo and manure dust. Another new class, Bolt On Safety, went to the reflectorized 1972 Ski Doo Nordic of Mike McGuire. The Chick Magnet award for a sled deemed simply irresistible went to the super-sexy 1978 Ski Doo 340 RV owned by Tim Nadler. A 1975 Johnson Rotary earned owner Mike McGuire the Potential High Maintenance award for a sled likely to require extensive, expensive repairs. The Triple Threat award, for a sled with a three-cylinder engine, went to the beautiful 1972 Arctic Cat EXT 650 shown by Greg Handt.
Special awards for not-quite-vintage sleds made from 1980 to 1984 included the Gas Sipper for the 1981 Yamaha Enticer 250 of John Holewinski; the Top Gun for the 1980 Polaris TX 440 of Joe Rohe; Wet Under Pressure for the liquid-cooled 1981 Arctic Cat El Tigre of Curtis Denk, and Hot But Not Melting for the free-air 1980 John Deere Sportfire of Mary Weber.
The prestigious Killian Classic Award is a tribute to the late Dick Killian, who devoted a good portion of his life to supporting the sport of snowmobiling in the Fox Valley area. Judges pick a sled they think Killian, who was partial to antiques, would have liked, and chose the unrestored 1960 Autoboggon W9 owned by Todd Koehn.
Finally, two Best of Show awards were presented at this year’Äôs event. The first, for an original (unrestored) sled went to Jim Kimball of Appleton, Wis., for a super-sano 1973 Mercury Hurricane Mark I. Best of Show for a restored sled went to the 1970 Sno Pack owned by Phil ’ÄúDuck’Äù Drake of Roscoe, Ill.
The Low Buck Vintage Riders crowned two Best of Show winners. Phil "Duck" Drake of Roscoe, Ill., won Best of Show Restored with his immaculate 1970 Sno Pack, while Best of Show Original award went to Jim Kimball of Appleton, Wis., for his super-clean 1973 Mercury Hurricane MKI 644. The Barn Fresh Award went to the 1973 John Deere JDX8 owned by Jack Raether.
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