"SAFE WHEELIN' WEEKEND" EVENT HELD IN MINNESOTA

NOHVCC's Tom and Karen Umphress featured in local news ATV safety segment

Click here for the video

      Minnesota's Tom and Karen Umphress have been very busy this year in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. They began the summer season by manning the NOHVCC booth at the first annual ATV Fair which was put on by the ATV Association of Minnesota (ATVAM). The Fair was held near the town of St. Cloud with the intention of drawing more of the general public out to discover the sport of OHVing. In year's past, the ATVAM traditionally held a Spring Ride in the northern part of the state, but switched to the ATV Fair idea this year. The fair featured lots of booths from OHV businesses, organizations such as WATVA (Wisconsin ATV Association), many dealers and manufacturers, trail and land-access information booths, media, and demo rides. Also included was an ATV swap meet and an Obstacle Course competition. Tom and Karen would like to thank the ATVAM for donating the booth space for their NOHVCC display.

      Several weeks later, the MN state DNR held a "Safe Wheelin' Weekend" where government OHV enforcement officers from several branches (DNR, Sheriff's Dept., etc.) were encouraged to participate in a "saturation" event at the local riding trails. "The idea was not necessarily to go out and hand out a bunch of tickets," reports Tom, "but rather to offer an opportunity for enforcement officers to explain the current rules and regulations to the hundreds of Minnesotans who hit the trails on summer weekends around here. It gave the officers a chance to explain the 'whys' behind the rules, which will hopefully cut down on infractions as well as giving the anti-access folks less ammunition to work with."

      The media was also invited to oversee the event and one of the local TV news channels did a fine piece on the ATV safety issue with the help of Tom and Karen who did much of the riding in the video. Included in this article are some photo outtakes from the filming of the segment, as well as the Adventure Trail display the Umphresses set up for the media. Good job and a big thanks to Tom and Karen!

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