Stranded snowmobilers find helping hand in Emo

Five snowmobilers from Pennsylvania won’t soon forget their first trip to Emo.
Steve Forrester, his cousin, Dale Forrester, Steve Lowery, Barry Dice, and Joey Edwards travelled all the way from Shippinsburg, Pa. to Thief River Falls, Mn. to fulfill a dream.
“We’ve been talking about this for 10 years,” Steve Forrester said Monday from Borderland Esso in Emo.
“This” was to buy a brand new Arctic Cat snowmobile right off the assembly line at the factory in Thief River Falls and drive it back home to Pennsylvania.
So the quintet did exactly that and were on their way home when the weather became a factor in their choice of routes. As such, they decided to cross the border and try their luck here.
“There’s better snow up here,” said Forrester.
But two of the snowmachines ran into a little trouble along the way—literally in the one case. “One hit a tree and the other had a problem with the chain case,” Forrester explained.
Since the mechanical failure was covered by warranty, it was decided to stop in Emo, where Dave Goodman of Borderland Esso also has an Arctic Cat dealership.
Since the parts needed were not at his dealership, Goodman lent the men a car to drive back to Thief River Falls to pick up the parts.
He then stayed open late to make the repairs so the group could catch a truck to ferry their machines to Nipigon, where they intend to continue their trek.
Goodman explained his generosity by noting he once found himself in a similar situation when he was stranded with a broken-down snowmobile in Saskatchewan.
There, a local dealer had helped him in a similar way.
“We were really happy to return that service to someone else, but I think that is something you often see in the sport of snowmobiling,” Goodman said in an e-mail to the Times yesterday.
The five men left early yesterday morning for Nipigon, where they will continue on to Quebec. From there, they will split into two groups, said Forrester.
“Some of us will go to New York and some to Maine,” he said before departing Tuesday.
Forrester estimated the trip will take about two weeks—assuming there are no more breakdowns, that is.