GRAVENHURST, ON-On November 19th, President Kelly Binden and her husband Jason from the Ontario Watercross Racing Association (OWRA) talked with the Gravenhurst council about their past races in the community and any future races.
During the council meeting, both environmental and noise complaints and concerns were mentioned.
In an interview with the MyMuskokaNow.com newsroom, Binden said that she felt she put the environmental concerns to rest. “There haven’t been any real environmental dangers from the snowmobiles and I just believe that it was just people being uninformed,” said Binden.
Binden did acknowledge that their snowmobiles are loud and that they are sorry. “There is not much we can do especially because we are out on the open water,” said Binen.
One of their more well known events has been puddle jumping. It has been part of the winter festivities in Gravenhurst for the past four years, but according to Binden, they are unsure if they will participate this year. They are however taking part in a snowmobile event in Minden this winter.
Following federal ISR, the OWRA hosts four races a year and this year they are operating as a not-for-profit organization. “This is simply for the love of the sport,” said Binden.