One of the best parts of this job is getting to create experiences that people don’t normally get.
Last week, Danny Ismond and I had the chance to meet up with one of our lucky GX94 winners before the Yorkton Exhibition Summer Fair. Jennifer from Sturgis, her sister, and Jennifer’s three kids won fair passes, but before they hit the midway, we had a little surprise waiting for them.
We took them behind the scenes to the chuckwagon grounds, where our GX94 Chuckwagon Driver, Kelvin Hawreluik, and the rest of the racing crews call home during fair week. It’s a whole different world back there. The wagons are lined up, the horses are settled in, and everyone is busy getting ready for race time.
Kelvin’s son, Tanner, brought their beautiful grey horse, Ash, out so the kids could meet and pet. You could see the excitement all over their faces. Then came another highlight—they climbed up into the big GX94 chuckwagon for photos, and Kelvin surprised everyone with brand-new Hawreluik Racing team T-shirts.
Jennifer told us her family loves checking out the summer fairs every year, from Preeceville to Sheho to Yorkton, so they’re no strangers to chuckwagon racing. They live right in Sturgis, so getting this close to the horses isn’t something her kids get to experience every day.
A huge thank you to Jennifer and her family for spending part of their day with us, and to Kelvin and Tanner Hawreluik for opening up their little corner of the fairgrounds and making our winners feel like part of the team. It’s experiences like these that make summer fair season so much fun.
Later that night, I got to ride in the parade with Kelvin the second night of racing got underway. Always the highlight of my summer!
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