2021 International Snowmobile Congress BY JIM DUKE
LEFT: ISC Co-Chairs Jeff Kracl (L) and Stan Stuthiet (R) offer opening remarks at first general session. RIGHT: The newly elected Executive Board for ACSA. They are (L-R) Dan Long (IL), President; Chris Willey (IA), Delegate-at-Large; Brian Erickson (SD), Delegate-at-Large; Christine Jourdain (MI), Executive Director; Scott Herzog (MT) Past President; Len Neisler (IN), Secretary/ Treasurer; and Bert Miller (WY), Vice President
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fter the brief interruption in the annual scheduling of the International Snowmobile Congress and the cancellation of the 52nd event which would have taken place in Regina, Saskatchewan in early June of last year, the 2021 Congress (aka) ISC-53, under proper precautions concerning the continuing coronavirus pandemic, took place in the beautiful City of Omaha, in the midwestern state of Nebraska between Wednesday June 9th and Saturday June 12th. Although it was much smaller than delegations at previous ISC’s, Michigan
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did make a showing, and was an integral part of the daily meetings and other activities. For myself and daughter Karyn who is my constant traveling companion and a mainstay to keep me on track, we departed from her residence in Munising shortly after sun up on Monday the 7th of Congress week, making our way out of Michigan at the state line in Menominee, the southernmost point in the Upper Peninsula and into the great state of Wisconsin. Our pre-planned itinerary would have us traverse that state from northeast to southwest on US
SEPTEMBER • 2021 • MICHIGAN SNOWMOBILER + ORV
Highway 151 and enter Iowa near Dubuque. Our intention was to drive to Cedar Rapids, Iowa and find suitable lodging for the night, find a nice restaurant for dinner, then get a good night’s sleep and an early start for our second day on the road, but upon arrival at that destination we found, due to the change in time zones, we still had a few hours of daylight and we really weren’t ready to call it a day yet, so we continued our drive a bit further and ended our first day just off Interstate 80 in the little town of Coralville, the same location where the 2010 ISC was held.
We were unable to find lodging at the same hotel of the 2010 event, there were plenty of other hotels in the immediate area and the one we chose provided all the amenities we needed including a good dinner, a well- stocked bar, and a nice sized room at a reasonable price. Since we had reduced the number of miles left on our trip by a few miles, we agreed that an early start as previously planned wasn’t necessary and we could take our time and enjoy a nice breakfast before we continued our journey on Tuesday. We didn’t have anywhere in particular in mind to stop, but we did take a short side trip and toured the Town of Urbandale and the smaller community of Waukee just to kill a bit of time, and a purchase a few items before we continued on to Omaha, found the hotel where this year’s Congress would be held, and where we had reservations for the next five days. Although we had arrived a day early, we were not the first on the scene by a long shot, and were greeted by many friends and acquaintances, most hailing from different states but all sharing the same passion for winter recreational activities. It was already shaping up to be a memorable experience. A few of us met in the dining area for dinner and catch up on everyone’s activities since we hadn’t had an opportunity to be together for more than a year, and other than the occasional Zoom or Go-To webinar meetings, hadn’t seen each other or even been able to communicate.
