Forty years of hard work and good times has established the St. Victor Boogie as one of the best and longest running motorcycle events in Western Canada.
This year the Saskatchewan Independent Riders will host the 40th St. Victor Boogie at Sylvan Valley Regional Park from June 14-16.
“The Boogie has improved over the years. It’s bigger, better, more efficiently run. We’ve changed lots of things,” said Colleen Dancey who is the sponsorship coordinator for the Saskatchewan Independent Riders. “Our club built the brand new bar down there. Every year we also go down before the Boogie and clean up the park and mow all the grass for the season. For the handful of members that we’ve got, we do pretty good. It’s a lot of work that’s for sure.”
There is a good reason for all of the hard work – all of the proceeds from the Boogie go to charity. The SIR is a not-for-profit and members of the club volunteer their time to raise money to donate to charities, communities, people in need and people in crisis throughout Saskatchewan. More than $360,000 has been donated to date through the SIR’s charitable activities.
“Last year was our first year where we started a sponsorship program,” Dancey explained. “That really helps us out, because otherwise, we are doing this other fundraising. We still do other fundraising – we do things like our poker run and our toy runs. We’ve done steak nights and all sorts of stuff like penny parades, raffles and we raffle off a Harley Davidson motorcycle every year. All of the money we generate goes to pay for the Boogie and we’re a not-for-profit, so all of the money that we generate goes to charity.”
All of their gaming and raffles is done through the Sask. Liquor and Gaming Authority. There is a Harley Davidson motorcycle raffle at the Boogie as well. They attend various events during the year with the Harley that they’re raffling to raise money. They started selling tickets before Christmas, drawn at the Boogie.
Over the years, the SIR has also done a lot of work to the site, which is home to the St. Victor Petroglyphs. It is located 20 minutes south of Assiniboia on Highway 2.
“The park has been improved here and there as much as we can,” Dancey said. “We give them money to keep the regional park going.”
Lewellyn Moss from Melfort will be performing Friday and Saturday at the Boogie which will also have a beer garden and shooter bar, plus food concessions. There will also be motorcycle games and a burnout pit.
“We have prizes for our games and this year we’re giving trophies and medallions,” Dancey said.
Attendees are invited to camp on site, but there is also a commuter bus to Assiniboia for that don’t wish to camp.
“We have a bus that goes to and from Assiniboia, so people aren’t drinking and driving. For those that live in Assiniboia they can come down and not drink and drive or for those who don’t want to tent or camp, they can do the hoteling,” Dancey said.
The Boogie draws attendees from across the prairies and the U.S. and is one of the longest-running motorcycle events in Western Canada. The Boogie can be very weather dependent and can vary from 500 to 1,200 attendees that travel from across Saskatchewan, other provinces and the United States.
“There are a lot of farmers and a lot of people who don’t ride,” Dancey explained. “People come down and camp in their trailers. People come the week before or some people stay for the week after. Whoever wants to come and have fun. It is a motorcycle event, but we have a little bit of everybody.”
She did add that it is primarily an adults-only event.
“We have had some children down during the day to watch the games, but they go home after because it is an adult’s event,” Dancey said.
