''Charity Sportfire" The final chapter.

[WinnipegStPaul9]

It was about 10 months ago when PJ Rickard (pjr) contacted me and suggested that we do a "charity" sled much like the "Make-A-Wish" sled (A Ski Doo in 2009). He even offered to donate a chassis from a 1980 Sportfire. Well, I wasn't against the idea but also wasn't eager to take it on either. I got to thinking about it and decided that perhaps it was a good idea. We posted the idea here and there was a lot of endorsement for the project. Next I visited with PJ ( at this time PJ you might want to not read the next few words ) and looked at his "project" sled. HOLY SHIX !! There wasn't anything there but a tunnel, bent TPR's, and some steering components!!!! I told PJ that while I can "restore", I certainly can't "resurrect from the dead". By now though the idea had grown and most likely had to continue, it was too late to back out.

The original plan was to auction the sled off at the 2010 Snowmobile Hall of Fame's Ride with the Champs. I will fast forward here to say that I received a couple of calls in early October stating that perhaps a raffle might bring more money than an auction. Naturally the callers (Wanie and Campbell you know who you are) were correct. I was so into the resto that I hadn't given that much thought. No big deal, let's have a raffle instead......whoops turns out raffles are indeed big deals. Most states including Indiana as of 7/31/09 have laws about how and who can conduct raffles. Up steps the TT Riders of Burnett, Wisconsin, a club containing several John Deere members who looked the situation over and agreed to conduct the raffle. I will be eternally grateful to them because things were not looking good until they stepped up the the plate. THANK YOU!!

I carefully watched Ebay and almost immediately a 1980 Sportfire became available in Michigan at what looked like was going to be a doable price. Indeed I won the auction and bought the sled for $250.00 AND the seller told me that he would be coming to a town near me to race boats so he delivered the sled as well. No backing out now.

Once I got the sled, I immediately tore it down and began finding folks (both here and at VSCA) that were willing to help with the project. I began shipping components from Minnesota to New York. All were told that the components needed to be done by mid-September (and they were!). Everyone did their jobs and all components were returned timely.

On Saturday, October 3rd the build team consisting of Kevin Campell (kwc), PJ Rickard (pjr), Roger Jordan (Jekyll), Dan Cunningham (Dinasour Dan), and Bob Amber (Deerekid9) met at PJ's shop at 8:00am. I know you've seen the pictures and have heard the build story before so I won't digress here except to say that it was one of the most exciting days of my life!! To walk into a shop at 8am and have parts laying everywhere and walk out at 8pm and have a completed sled is unbelieveable.

Following the build the sled hit the show circuit and IT WAS A HIT! Everywhere we took it folks asked if it was recently uncrated, they actually believed that it was brand new. (Side note: Last Friday night the folks at the Whitetail Inn where the banquet is held, was kind enough to allow us to bring the sled inside and put on display. Ross Heavener (Liquifire77) must have thanked the hostess "Joy" a million times but I think he had ulterior motives...... Anyway only in Wisconsin could six men carry a snowmobile into a busy restaurant where the patrons don't even look at you. It was hilarious, later some commented that they thought we were playing a practical joke on some unsuspecting snowmobiler by stealing it and bringing it into the restaurant. A highlight for me was when two gentlemen came up to me and said they were from Horicon where one still works building Gators and the other is retired. Both thought we had found an uncrated sled. They were totally amazed and even bought tickets) The sled traveled to the A1 show in Michigan, Waconia where lots of tickets were sold, and the Great Eastern Whiteout. In January some members of the TT Riders club traveled to Eagle River where tickets were sold even though the sled wasn't present. Only the banner. This will prove to be the trip where the winning ticket was sold.

This sled had become a "Major" part of my life. For almost 10 months it lived with me either in my garage or in my trailer. That would come to an end last Friday. It had been with Joe Rainville for two weeks but came back into my possession when he arrived at St. Germain. As most of you know, the recoil had broken at Waconia so with the most valuable assistance of Kenny Heins (THANK YOU KENNY!) we were able to put another one on. Eric Anderson had donated a replacement in the event it wasn't fixed before HOF. The replacement was missing a spring but thankfully we had a spare so Kenny and I were able to remove the recoil, overhaul it, paint it, and put it back on. Sounds easy I know but it took us several hours to get it done as we also had to chase some parts for other sleds being repaired. By late afternoon it was done and as I talked about earlier, several volunteers helped me take it to Whitetail Inn for display. Finally, for the first time in a long time the sled was out of my hands!

We arrived at the Whitetail Inn Saturday evening about 6pm in order to sell more tickets. Did we ever sell tickets!!!! We think we sold about 170 ($1,700.00) that evening thanks to a volunteer named Mick and our own first lady of jdsleds.com, Jan Carlson. It does NOT hurt to have a beautiful women selling tickets!!

Somewhere around 8:30pm it was announced that we would pull the winning ticket. Bob, Jan Carlson who would pull the winning ticket, and myself went forward. I can't tell you how emotional I was. It was a very bittersweet moment for me. On one hand I was finally getting rid of the sled and on the other hand it would be leaving me. After introducing Matt Spiece, Joe Wanie and Mike Firehammer of TT Riders, and the build team who were present, Jan pulled the ticket. The name was Mark Lambert and it only had a phone number. I left the podium and went to a quiet place where we (myself and Joe Wanie) called Mr. Lambert. At first I think he thought we were screwing with him but he came around and told Joe Wanie that he had purchased the ticket while at Eagle River. He actually bought the ticket from the TT Rider's group. How cool is that? Furthermore he is a huge JD fan and will really appreciate this sled. Arrangements were made to get him and the sled together. When the night was over, we took the sled to the Hall of Fame where Bob Anderson (Thanks Bob) would load it the following morning and deliver it to the Burnett Volunteer Fire Station. At this point I'll let Joe Wanie take it as when I left the sled Saturday night at the Hall of Fame it was most likely the last time I'll ever see it. ( Dang, I'm even getting emotional sitting here writing this.....)

I would like to thank everyone personally and name everyone who helped on this project but I would leave someone out and feel terrible. Those of you that helped know who you are and without you all this project would never had taken place. A special thanks to PJ for even thinking about the project in the first place, but.............PJ if you have any further thoughts about another project....................PLEASE CALL SOMEONE ELSE!!!!

Thanks everyone and perhaps we can finish this thread by those of you that helped in anyway including buying a ticket reply to this thread. There's not a doubt in my mind that this thread then would be the largest in the history of www. jdsleds.com.

Finally, after the banquet Jon Carlson encouraged us to not stop at this point and make a concerted effort to not only continue our efforts but to consider a project that would reach the $25,000.00 mark...WOW! What a challenge. You've noticed that I haven't mentioned the financial results and that's purposeful. This raffle belongs to the TT Riders of Burnett, WI and they should be ones to announce the results. Thanks again everyone and don't forget to post to this thread any involvement you had. Let's make this a huge thread!!

DA

[pjr]

Well, I'll guess I'll be the first to chime in with my thoughts on the project now that its drawn to a close. I can be a bit windy with this sort of stuff, so I'll make it short.

I've been back into snowmobiling now for about a full year, since my 30+ year hiatus from the sport when I used to ride Polaris a lot back in the late 70's. I'm truly thankful that DA and his son Bob were the first two gents to welcome me back to the sport, after I purchased my first two John Deere sleds from them last year. They have become very good friends whom I really like to chat "sleds" with and since those purchases, they have got me re-hooked on sledding, where I've bought, sold, swapped, etc. approx. 25-30 sleds since then.

I never would have guessed that this project would have gone so well like it did from start to finish and the fact that it did, on so many levels, just further illustrates how awesome the participating JDSleds.com Community really is! Like a spoke on a big wheel~ everyone's help made it possible for that "big wheel" to move forward as smoothly as it did! Thank you to all who donated their time, money, parts, services and labor to make all of this happen!

I myself had an absolute great time taking part in the powertrain & engine portion of the restoration and like DA said, it excites me and saddens me at the same time to see that sled go, knowing that I never did get a chance to ride it or to see how well the engine ran overall. Heck, there for awhile, that thing was in the way of everyone in the shop after it was completed, where it just sat here for weeks while we "tweaked" on it with finishing touches, before finally DA took it home with him. Who would've thought I'd really start to miss the thing being here, just as soon as it left.... Oh well, I'm just glad it's going to an appreciative owner that cares for the sled as much as we did.

I know I'm not a veteran "hardcore" JD guy like DA, Bob, Joe Rainville, Matt or some of the other well-known guys' are around here, but I've truly enjoyed being a part of this project from start to finish and I only wished I could have been there this past weekend to see the sled off for the final time. Thanks for taking my silly idea seriously last year DA and again thanks to all for letting me take part in it with you! truly appreciate it and I won't soon forget the memories and friends I've made along the way!!


Cheers guys!
Phil "PJ" Rickard

P.S.~ Hey DA, I'm ready to start that 650cc Big Block Liquifire/Cyclone project we've spoken about when you are buddy!! Time's-a-wastin'!!

[dator]

Hey Don,while reading your post this morning,i could feel your emotions comeing out.All you guys that put this project together,should be very proud of what you did.I'm sure the charitys you did this for, are proud of you guys.
That was great to have Jan Carlson pull the winning ticket out. Wish i could have been there.

Good job,talk to you soon.

Bob

[400brian]

Don

We are all in your debt, because you made the entire group look good! Your tireless work to see the project to completion, and then to get the tickets sold, was an inspiration to us all.

The results did us all proud, and Loren was saying as much Saturday night, you would be a hard act to follow my friend.

[JDT]

Well Don, I just need to say thank you.
The time you put into this was major and it shows. The sleds turned out way better than we could have hoped for.
The first time I saw it in person was at Waconia Saturday night and it looked great.
Then Sunday it was outside in the sun shine and it looked even better!

Thanks to PJ for his expertise, time, talents and supurb organizational skills.
The layout of refinished and NOS parts shown the photos on build day made me drool.
And to his engine rebuild was spectacualar!

The build team can be really proud of what they did and that it was completed in just one day.
I am glad I had the opportunity to help with a few parts and with some ticket sales.

Count me in on the next project... whoever is going to head it up.

[pjr]

Count me in on the next project... whoever is going to head it up.

DA is...he just thinks he isn't. We'll just give him some time to "lick his wounds" and he'll be "ready" for the next chapter in no time.

peeje

[JDT]

I am sure you are right PJ.
Once a guy gets it in his blood you can't hold him back.
DA is a tropper!

[JoeRainville]

Don,

You are "THE MAN" for running point on this project. Congratulations for leading such a sucessful endevor! I guess I will tell the tale of my small part in this...

...So Don calls me and asks if I can rebuild the rear suspension for the team, and maybe donate a few parts from the list he posted. I offered up everything I had in stock that he needed, but didn't have the speedo drive. So I found a complete Trailfire speedo kit on Evil Bay and packaged it up in an NOS care package to Cherobusco, IN. I was able to send some clutch parts, a fuel tank door, handle bar medalion from my barn and loan the build team a set of manuals. Even with supporting the MAW 340/s, I wanted to help Don out too.



The suspension arrived a few days later, and looked really good...until I started taking it apart. Both rails were burned through from worn out sliders. Luckily I was able to supply a mostly complete NOS rear suspension, but it really needed freash paint. After loosly assembling the unit, rebuilding the rear idlers and adding a set of NOS upper wheels, I snuck into MI and left it on Kevin Campbells front porch while stealing a nice 78 Liquifire he left in the driveway. Kevin was able to strip down the skid and repaint the entire until for the project, saving my bacon since I wasn't able to secure paint facilities in time. THANKS KEV!

Last little part I donated was when I got a call from Kevin: "Rainville - HELP!" He needed another left side hood decal, as one had torn. Luck was on our side again, as I had ONE and only one decal for the 1980 Sporty hood, and it was the one he needed. Sent it out priority mail the next day.

At Don's request I brought the sled from Waconia to the Great Eastern Whiteout where Nick and Jennette, the Watersboy, and Matt helped sell tickets. Sales were not great, but we moved another 25 or so tickets in addition to the 10 I already sold. I was hoping for better results, but we were not in a high traffic area. I was glad to get it back to Don at the HOF, as transporting a sled that pretty makes me nervious.

I will admit I even bought several raffel tickets as Don is right, several folks asked me if it was "brand new" since the resto was perfect. I was happy to do my small part to make this project sucessfull.

-Rainville

[buck43]

DA you and the guys did a fantastic job on the sled you all should be very proud! I couldnt help with the build I tried to get you my nos chrome shocks but JDT i thinkcame thru for you we all know how you like the chrome! so i did what i could with a donation. It allways a good thing to help others we should all be proud! Shannon Garver

[merctt]

Well I will start out introducing myself. My name is Mark Lambert. I am from Casco, Wi. About 20 miles east of Green Bay Wi. I am the lucky winner of the sportfire. I will give a story on how this all happened and how i bought my ticket. I have been a vintage fanatic for about ten years now and really enjoy the sport and the people i have met over the years. My family and I have been involved with racing sleds for many years and about 6 years ago my brother and I formed what we call ourselves as "The Merc Boys" We have been grass dragging vintage Merc Trail and Sno-twisters Since then.
So the last couple of years we have been doing a little racing in the winter months. So back in Dec. 09, I get this wild hair to build a JD liquifire for cross country and endurance racing around our area. so I put out a wanted add on vintagesleds for a liquifire. 2 days later Dave peterson from Burnett, Wi. calls me and says he has one in the barn, been sitting for 4 or 5 years. Just what im looking for. So i pick it up, get it home and start the rebuilding process. But I need parts to finish the sled.
Fastfoward to Jan. 2010, Eagle River vintage weekend. My brother and I are watching the vintage races, when I see the TT Riders, So I go talk to them about parts I need to complete my Liquifire. All the guys were really nice, and I got to meet Scott Nitschke. Who told me he has parts for my race sled to finish it. And asks if I want to buy a ticket for a raffle. My 1st thought is I NEVER WIN but what the hell its only 10 bucks. So I buy one.
So now its Sat. Feb. 20th. Tired from rader running all day, I am relaxing in my recliner when at around 8:30 p.m. the phone rings. I answer it thinking a telemarketer wants my money again. On the other end some guy tells me I just won a snowmobile. I think I told him he was cracked and I almost hung up on him, when he told me it was a John Deere, Then I started thinking about the ticket i bought from Scott. I must of told DA and Joe W. ten times, you are kidding me. Well they were not. I was so excited I could'nt sleep that night.
So, I am sure everyone is wondering, What are you going to do with it. Well I have been thinking about it and this is where I am leaning. My plans are, The sled will never see snow or grass and will never be ridden. I plan on showing it at a few shows this summer,and in fall when we go to Eagle River for the Reunion I would show it there. And from there I would like to put it in the HOF For everyone to see it. I think it would only be fair to all who helped with the build to look at it in the HOF and say that he or she had a part in this sled. That is if Loren A. accepts it into the hall. In my heart I feel I have just bought a ticket. I did'nt do the work on the sled to say its mine. It's all the people that put time in on this project that should be proud to tell there family and friends that they worked on it. So DA you might get to see her again.
I just want to say thank you to everyone who was involved with this charity event. It is just not the sled that i have won, It's all the friends I have met along the way. Again,Thank You

Mark Lambert

[JD600]

Mark,

Welcome and congrats. It is easy to see that the Sportfire is in good hands.

DE

[WinnipegStPaul9]

I am speechless..............maybe tomorrow I can comment. Can't wait to meet you Mark.

DA

[robtan88]

Do you guys remember my post not so long ago about the 340s auction ? Here is another good example of a group of friends (NO I,LL CALL IT A FAMILY) going above and be-yond. This will remain etched in the minds and hearts of everyone involved in this build for a very long time. Congrats. to you all, and welcome to the John Deere family Mark....Rob.

[Sprailfire340]

[Matt]

Mark, thank you so much for buying a ticket, and coming here to tell the story!

My part in the process included ticket sales & distribution, and a small parts donation to the sled. I'm very proud to have a hand in it, and everyone here should be proud of what they've accomplished by supporting this project, even if you just purchased a ticket.