OAKFIELD, N.Y. -- For the crowd of snowmobile enthusiasts in Oakfield on Saturday for the snowmobile bikini rally, the deeper powdery snow was some of the best they have seen in years.
“It’s just entertaining,” Oakfield resident Rachel Chaddock said about snowmobiling. “It’s something to do in the winter when there’s nothing to do and you’re hiding inside and want to go outside you go out.”
Chaddock did more than just enjoy the snow however. She joined 20 other riders turning their snow gear in for bikinis, all in support of the fight against breast cancer.
“It’s cold, but it’s worth it,” Chaddock said.
Money raised goes towards the nonprofit organization called Pink Ribbon Riders. Their volunteers provide direct assistance to men and women diagnosed with breast cancer. For each $5 pledge the spectators made, the contestant would do a lap.
“They are pretty brave,” spectator and Elma resident Nick Mathien said. “Anytime you get onto a snowmobile without gear and you fall in the snow, you’re going to have a bad time.”
It was however, good times all around. The 20 degree weather seemed almost like a heat wave compared to the recent single digits.
“The turnout, the weather, makes a big difference today,” Genesee Sno-Packers Bikini Rally Co-Chair, Jane Chaddock said. “So a lot more girls and a lot more fun.”
Chaddock helped organize the event with Sno-Packer member Dawn Clark.
Both said they didn’t have a specific goal in mind for how much to raise, but would like to continue doing the event in the future.
Money was also raised for the Genesee Sno-Packers Snowmobile Club, as well as an Erie County woman who had planned on being a contestant in the event, but was critically injured in a snowmobiling accident in January.