2012 Issue 4

The Pony Express
The 2012 Alberta Tour:
Aug 10 – Sept 1
Cypress Hills
to
Whitemud Equine
Learning Centre,
Edmonton
Painting the west pink ... one town at a time.
May 2012
Volume 2, Issue 4
Welsh’s Saddlery & Western Wear goes pink
Tons of excitement around camp these
days. Welsh’s Saddlery and Western
Wear just signed on as a Wild Pink
Yonder sponsor. We’re thrilled to have
them.
Instead of our usual fee to be a sponsor,
this time we requested they give us
merchandise instead. Heads up, riders!
This merchandise will be prizes for you!
There will be two prizes up for grabs this
year. Each prize features a western
saddle, bridle, reins and breast collar,
and each is valued at approximately
$2,500!
We’ll be giving the first prize to the rider
who raises the most amount of money
overall. We don’t care if you ride for one
day or the whole 23-day marathon. If you
raise more money than anyone else,
you’re taking home a $2,500 saddle with
all the trimmings.
Prize number two is the same outfit, only
this set will be a draw. For every $200
you raise, your name goes in the draw
once. Obviously, then, if you want to
stack the deck in your favour, you’ll raise
as much money as you can.
So, riders ... the race is on!
We have a winner for our beautiful boot quilt!
As most people involved with Wild Pink
Yonder know, we’ve been selling a “bootload” of raffle tickets on an incredibly
beautiful, handmade quilt. The quilt is
compliments of Vera Stubbington of
Sherwood Park. We started ticket sales
last summer, so we really have had a
“boot-load” of possible winners!
We have our winner now! Jolee Aulak
from Stony Plain is the lucky one.
Jolee doesn’t remember where she
bought her ticket, but she is very excited
to win.
Jolee and her family live on an acreage
and have three horses. They love to trail
ride and do gymkhana, so this quilt is
going to a very fitting home!
In speaking to Jolee, we learned that her
children are a little too young for Wild Pink
Yonder yet, but next year one daughter
will be old enough and Jolee is thinking of
doing a mother/daughter trip with us then,
and another when the youngest turns
twelve.
In the meantime, happy trails, Jolee.
Page 2 of 3
From time to time Wild Pink goes “off-roading”
One of the things that our riders really
like is when we can go “off-roading” with
our horses. This year we have a number
of off-road days planned (and maybe
some others yet too).
Of course you know that the first two
days will be off-road because we’ll be
riding in the Hills of Cypress.
The next day of off-roading will be as we
head into Bassano. The plan is to ride
the dirt road that is beside the irrigation
canal! Those roads are terrific! No
traffic. No gravel (at least on the ones
I’ve seen so far). Sky as far as the eye
can see!
After Bassano, we will haul to Richdale
where the locals are planning an off-road
event that will take us to their favourite
riding places.
Then, when we get to Veteran, we’re
hoping to have received permission from
all the landowners along a certain trail. If
they all agree, we’ll ride an abandoned
railway line.
And finally, we’re talking now to a woman
who lives south of Wainwright. She will
hopefully lead a ride from her place out
into the Wainwright Dunes, a provincial
park with – you guessed it! Sand dunes!
Sand dunes that can reach 30 metres.
That’s nearly 100 feet!
So, to those of you who enjoy offroading, pick the days that you plan to
ride the pink trail with care.
Relaunching WPY in Manitoba
It was wonderful to get a Wild Pink toehold in Manitoba last summer, but we
found that the format we use in Alberta
didn’t gel there. We knew there was no
fixing the problems that arose, but we
certainly didn’t want to give up! What to
do? And then it happened. (It is
amazing how the universe conspires to
help one achieve good in this life!)
At one of our stops last summer, we met
a dedicated group of 4-H leaders. After
everybody else headed off to bed, we sat
and talked to them ... and eventually they
turned the talk to Wild Pink Yonder and
what a perfect fit it would be for their 4-H
group!
What happened next was a wonderful
meeting of minds as we sat around the
glow of the campfire dreaming of
possibilities. Before we went to bed,
promises were made to keep this going.
I asked Rod Brown of Eastman Ghostriders 4-H to drop me an email in
October. He was as good as his word –
and has turned out to be even better.
Many phone calls and emails later, we
had a plan. Then Rod ran the plan past
the Executive Director of 4-H Manitoba
who got as excited as Rod is!
It’s a go!
Wild Pink Yonder will ride in Manitoba
again this year though we’ll be known
there as “Wild Pink Yonder, in
partnership with 4H Manitoba”. It’s got a
nice ring to it, doesn’t it?
The Manitoba Wild Pink Weekend
We’re implementing a new concept in
Manitoba: “The Wild Pink Weekend”.
Each 4-H group that wants to host a ride
will find three towns to ride between. We
could wind up with an incredible number
of towns (and riders)! Riders won’t have
to be 4-H members.
The possibility exists for hundreds of
riders to participate, and for an
extraordinary amount of money
to be raised for
breast cancer
research!
Go, Manitoba 4-H, go!
Page 3 of 3
The competition is definitely heating up on the
Pinkest Little Town in the West front!
Box 97
Lamont, Alberta
T0B 2R0
Canada
Phone:
(780) 363-0003
Fax:
(780) 363-0004
E-Mail:
[email protected]
It seems that the United Church women’s
group in Killam put on a dynamite soup
and sandwich luncheon to raise funds for
Wild Pink Yonder. In their words, they
were “overwhelmed by their own
success”. Their total raised? $1,100 ...
and they have more events planned.
Still in Killam, the ATB has decided to
jump into the fray as well. They’ve
designed Killam Wild Pink T-shirts that
will go on sale soon.
Meanwhile, about 85 km north and west
of Killam we have Ryley, and they’re
certainly doing their thing! We hear that
Ryley town business cards are sporting a
PINK version of the Ryley logo! They
have nearly a dozen events and items on
the agenda so far, and it isn’t even
summer yet! According to Angel
Matyachuk from the town office, “It’s
getting quite interesting around here”.
Down in Richdale, they’ve held two Wild
Pink Texas Hold ‘Em Tournaments and
they’ve cleaned 55 km of highway for
which they were paid. While out there
doing ditches, they took the opportunity
to string pink streamers all along the
route. The day ended with a potluck
dinner for all the workers. Go, Richdale!
And kids are getting involved too. We
have two young men in Hanna who dyed
their hair pink, and then had it shaved.
Between them, they raised $1,400 for
Richdale.
The Newest WPY Sponsor is ...
On the trail
to a cure.
ATB Financial. How’s that for a “home
grown” sponsor! They’re in just about
every small down in all of Alberta! For
sure, they’re in 21 of the towns we’ll be
visiting this summer. We are as pleased
as pink to have them on board.
We’ve already heard that some of the
ATB offices are champing at the bit to
get going and raise money for the cause.
We’ll be sending out a proposal to all the
ATB’s on our route – an idea that we
think will get town recognition for them
and much needed funds for us.
If you’re an ATB Financial customer,
please thank them for their support the
next time you’re in their office.
About Our Organization…
Wild Pink Yonder Charitable Society is a not-for-profit organization that raises money
for breast cancer research. In Alberta we fund Alberta Cancer Foundation (ACF).
Pinkest Little Town in the West is a contest that is hosted by Wild Pink Yonder. The
winning town is the one that raises the most money (per capita) for Wild Pink Yonder
and that, quite literally, turns itself the pinkest. Our winner receives a free music
concert plus bragging rights in the form of two 7’6” x 3’6” highway signs that proclaim
that town to be the Pinkest Little Town that year.
In the fall of 2011 Wild Pink Yonder launched a second ride and contest -- in Manitoba.
Funds raised there will be used for breast cancer research as directed by Cancer Care
Manitoba.
th
On August 20 , 2011, Wild Pink Yonder hosted a fundraising event called On Track to
Beat Breast Cancer in Millarville, AB. This spring we will add Northlands Racing to our
stable. Eventually, we would like to include all five Alberta tracks, and possibly the
track in Manitoba as well.