The 7th Annual Deering Vintage Snowmobile Show was held this past Sunday. About 100 sleds of old were on display, colorful reminders of the days when a wide variety of snowmobiles could be seen running area ditches, drifts and tracks.

“We’ve got sleds here from 1965 to 2000,” said Blaine Kotasek, Minot, co-chairman of the show sponsored by the Vintage Driftbusters. “The good part is, we’ve got all the different brands here, a rainbow of colors.”

Included in the display were blue Sno-Jets, yellow SkiDoos and green John Deere snowmobiles. Many other brands were there too from an era when riders had many different sleds to choose from. Today most of those brands have faded away, but they lived on for a few hours here Sunday.

“There was, over the years, almost 200 different manufacturers between the U.S. and Canada,” said Jon Connole, Minot, co-chairman. “We’ve got every brand, every motor size here. There’s SkiDoo guys, Polaris guys, Arctic Cat guys and they get together to discuss who is better and who is faster.”

Kim Fundingsland/MDN Snowmobile enthusiasts were eager to see vintage snowmobiles of all types at the 7th Annual Deering Vintage Snowmobile Show.

Connole added that the show is held annually in memory of the late Joel Lochthowe. Lochthowe was a long-time snowmobile enthusiast who had actually worked on some of the motorized sleds that were included in the display on Deering’s Main Street.

“He helped a lot of people make them go,” remarked Connole. “He spread a lot of joy in the snowmobile community and this is our way of remembering him.”

Wind gusts of more than 60 miles an hour hit the Deering area the morning of the show. Gusts over 40 miles per hour were prevalent for most of the show, but it wasn’t enough of a deterrent to stop snowmobile enthusiasts from walking among the several rows of vintage sleds. For some the experience brought back memories of earlier days seated on a snowmobile and racing over the snow.

Warm temperatures and a lack of snow resulted in the cancellation of a fun run scheduled in conjunction with the vintage show. Nevertheless, the event had to be measured a success based on the number of snowmobiles on display and the people there to see them.