A lifelong passion for classic snowmobiles

By Casey Krautkramer

Bernard Martin of rural Stratford fondly remembers having a photo taken each year of him riding on his late mother Gladys’ lap on the family’s 1966 Ski-Doo. This family memory was the impetus for him buying vintage Ski-Doo snowmobiles that are similar to the one his parents had.

The oldest vintage snowmobile Martin owns is a 1961 Ski-Doo that has wooden skis. Bombardier, the Canadian company that manufactured Ski-Doo’s, transitioned from wooden to steel skis in late 1961.

Martin was introduced to snowmobiles at an early age on his family’s dairy farm in Halder. He shared an interesting family story about his late father, John “Jack” Martin.

“One time my dad drove his truck home from Wausau with four snowmobiles in the truck box, along with boxes of parts and motors,” he said. “We got three of the four snowmobiles running.”

The mechanical skills that Martin learned on his parents’ farm still help him today. For example, this year he bought a non-operable 1975 Ski-Doo 245 RV and rebuilt the motor to make it run again.

Martin had 16 vintage snowmobiles, most of them Ski-Doos, on display at Saturday’s ninth annual Emmett Sno Drifters vintage snowmobile show in Halder.

The Sno Drifters snowmobile club still held its annual event, despite warm temperatures melting the few inches of snow the area received during the Jan. 12 storm. Southeast Wisconsin received the majority of the snow from this storm, forcing snowmobile enthusiasts to travel south instead of north like usual to access open trails.

Saturday’s annual vintage snowmobile show in Halder gave snowmobile enthusiasts a little excitement this winter, considering the area hasn’t received enough snow to open the snowmobile trails. The annual vintage TeePee snowmobile trail ride after the show couldn’t occur this year.

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CLASSIC SLED - Bernard Martin of rural Stratford sits on his 1961 Ski-Doo that has wooden skis during Saturday’s ninth annual Emmett Sno Drifters vintage snowmobile show in Halder.

STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER Show

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Martin, vice president of the Emmett Sno Drifters, said the annual vintage snowmobile show needed to still happen on Saturday so the snowmobile club could raise money to make its monthly bank loan payments on its trail groomer. He said local snowmobile clubs haven’t received any money from the state this winter for taking care of their snowmobile trails because the trails haven’t opened.

Martin brought his late 1960s Sea-Doo and Bombi tracked machine, a snowmobile groomer, to display at Saturday’s vintage snowmobile show in Halder. He also displayed his early 1970s Jac-Trac and Sno-Bunny vintage snowmobiles. Jack-Trac Inc. was a former Marshfield business in operation from 1968-74 that assembled the Jac-Trac and Sno-Bunny snowmobiles. Martin also displayed his 1971 Evinrude Norseman 437 snowmobile on Saturday in Halder.

“I thought it was unique looking with its red and dark blue colors,” he said. “I have an Evinrude motor in my pontoon boat so I thought it was neat to find a vintage Evinrude snowmobile.”

There were 106 registered machines at Saturday’s Emmett Snow Drifters vintage snowmobile show in Halder.

Next year’s show is scheduled to occur on Saturday, Feb. 1, whether there is snow or not.