(File photo/northeastNOW Staff)

By Cam Lee

Cancer awareness

Prairie Women on Snowmobiles about to begin Mission 2020

Jan 16, 2020 | 1:37 PM

An annual tradition returns in a couple of weeks.

The Prairie Women on Snowmobiles’ Mission 2020 will begin Feb. 1 with a kickoff event in Humboldt.

President Kelly Rae told northeastNOW this year marks the breast cancer awareness event’s 20th anniversary.

“We were started by two women 20 years ago — a breast cancer survivor and her best friend,” Rae said. “They took 10 ladies and toured around the province to bring awareness to the early detection of breast cancer, and to raise funds for breast cancer research.”

Rae said the missions have raised awareness, not to mention $2.5 million for breast cancer research, and over $370,000 for the purchase of equipment that stays in Saskatchewan.

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With the recent snow dump, this year’s crew and route are set. Extra surprises are in store for the milestone anniversary, Rae said.

She added nine women will take part this year, many of which joined on previous missions. A total of 164 women made the arduous trek over the last 20 years.

To participate, riders need to meet a minimum $3,000 fundraising requirement. Corporate sponsors also provide donations to help with cost of room and board.

While the original route was planned to visit riders’ hometowns, Rae said this mission will focus instead on travelling to areas not visited before.

“We really want to get our message out about the early detection. The new executive has started picking it from the map and filling in the little empty holes where we’ve never been before,” Rae said.

Since its inception, the mission visited 198 communities across Saskatchewan.

This year’s ride begins with a kickoff banquet in Humboldt Feb. 1.

The remainder of the mission is as follows:

• Feb 2 – Bruno, Prud’homme, Yellow Creek, and Star City
• Feb 3 – Ridgedale, Tisdale, Porcupine Plain, and Weekes
• Feb 4 – Greenwater Provincial Park, Kelvington, Wadena, and Wynyard
• Feb 5 – Punnichy, Cupar, Craven, and Moose Jaw
• Feb 6 – Marquis, Eyebrow, Elbow, and Outlook
• Feb 7 – Hanley, Allan, Aberdeen, and Martensville

The finale will take place in Warman Feb. 7.

The lengthy ride is a taxing one. Rae said depending on the amount of kilometres travelled and the conditions, riders can spend up to 12 hours on their sled each day.

She added she hopes to see many people cheer on the riders. Artist Glen Scrimshaw is painting a second portrait in the Prairie Women series, which is available on his website as well as the Prairie Women on Snowmobiles website. The money raised will go toward breast cancer research.

“Everyone, men, women, children, need to do their monthly self-breast examination to avoid starting a cancer journey,” Rae said. “That is your best chance of survival.”

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cam.lee@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @camlee1974