RIVERS
BANNER August 11, 2017
ersary v i n Celebrating our 109th An
Gazette-Reporter
Serving the Rivers, Rapid City and Oak River areas for 108 years
Volume 110, Issue 6
89¢ + tax
Photo by Bev Wrightson
Drivers smoke their tires before racing down the old airbase runway, which is now Baseline Dragway. Rather than a half-ton truck outfitted with a water tank, as witnessed at the June event, a new water tower repurposed from old material was built and in use for the July competition.
Racing weekend profits palliative care By Bev Wrightson
On Saturday, July 22 Baseline Dragway held the Bill Osadchuk Memorial event. Bill was a husband of Lisa, father to Nickolas, Lynnette and Katherine and he was also an amazing machinist, engine rebuilder and drag racer. Bill was widely known by many other car enthusiasts including Henry Lepp, owner of Baseline. When Bill was diagnosed with cancer he asked Henry if he would purchase his race outfit; Henry agreed. We took Bill and his son Nick to Neepawa to enjoy a day of watching the dragster race and Bill willingly shared his wisdom of what made the rail car perform. Bill passed away in 2015 and we made it our
mission to race for him. That summer we went every weekend to race in Gimli, Minot, Altona, Neepawa and Jamestown. We always felt like Bill was with us in spirit; he is still part of our pit crew as we display his picture on the rail car, which is still referred to as “Bill’s dragster.” In 2016 we built the drag strip at the former Rivers airbase to further honour him, because he always thought there should be racing on that runway and he always said he would help. Bill helped us more than he knew. He was like the voice in the Field of Dreams movie, only his voice said, “If you build it, they will race.” And race they did.
A total of 89 cars registered for the event and more than 300 spectators came to watch. To help make the race a success, 30 volunteers made it happen and after rain and an oil down on the track, they stayed until the sun began to set. Greg Byrnes of Winnipeg took the bulk of the $1,800 prize; he beat out Jake Reimer of Plumas; Mike Hawco was the semi-finalist. Earlier in the day a moment of silence was observed and then Henry and a long-time friend of Bill’s, Leo Donald from Goose Bay, Labrador, raced. Bill helped Leo build his dragster over the phone, with Bill in Brandon and Leo on the
east coast. When Leo arrived at the track on Friday, he found out the next day was in honour of Bill. This made it an emotional time for him as Leo was there only by chance; he spends his summer going from track to track, racing. Bill’s wife, son and brothers Nick, Steve and sister-in-law Gail Skibo attended the memorial. One thousand dollars of the weekend proceeds were donated to Brandon Regional Health Centre’s palliative care unit, where Bill spent his final days. Sunday, July 23 was another great day of racing, with 69 entries and more than 400 spectators. Sam Meek of Estevan,
Sask. was a new junior racer; he went away with first place and more than $100 prize money on his first visit. Another firsttime racer, Delores Hoffart of Bienfait, Sask. and her 1968 Camero, went away with an envelope of cash for her first-place finish, beating out Gary Buhr of Bagot, Man. Trevor Hudey, of Winnipeg and Don Holod of Langenburg, Sask. were semifinalists. We can’t thank enough the racers, spectators and especially our crew, for making this weekend the success it was. Sept. 23 and 24 will be the final race at Baseline Dragway this season. We’ll see you there!