Google search engineGoogle search engine
HomeNews2012 Snowmobile Hall of Fame Inductees

2012 Snowmobile Hall of Fame Inductees

The Board of the Snowmobile Hall of Fame (SHOF) is proud to announce the 2012 Inductees to be enshrined, Saturday, February 18, 2012: Larry Bosacki of Minocqua, WI, Joel Hallstrom of Thief River Falls, MN, Toni Haikonen of Finland, and Marcel Fontaine of Quebec, Canada. 

The induction banquet follows the day-long celebrity trail ride, now in its 29th year, known as The Ride With The Champs (RWTC). The RWTC has become snowmobiling’s most prestigious ride and includes two late model rider groups and two vintage sled rider groups.

The Snowmobile Hall of Fame operates a year around museum on Hwy 70 W in St. Germain. The museum includes a gift shop, the wall of fame and a tour of the race shop for the oval race team of Brad Bettin, #20 of Woodruff, WI. An open house will begin at 3:00 pm on Friday Feb 17 at the Hall of Fame for early arriver, inductees and families.  Refreshments will be served. The public is invited.

CLICK HERE for info on the SHOF.

 

Joey Hallstrom, Arctic Cat, SHOF 2012 InducteeJoey Hallstrom

DATE OF INDUCTION: February 18, 2012

CAREER SPAN: 1979 – Present

BRANDS REPRESENTED: Arctic Cat

AGE AT INDUCTION: 51

Combining a deep passion for the sport with the competitive heart of a racer, Joey Hallstrom built the Team Arctic Racing Program into a winning powerhouse; helped launch the iconic Jeep 500 cross-country race; and strongly influenced several pioneering Arctic Cat snowmobiles. The many accomplishments during his 25-plus-year career at Arctic Cat reflect his strong vision, persuasiveness and force of will.

An independent Arctic Cat terrain racer beginning in the late 1978, Hallstrom’s career with a reborn-Arctic Cat began first as a racer then as Race Manager in 1987. Recognizing the talent of racers and technicians and leveraging both in equal measure, Hallstrom built Team Arctic into a dominant force whose success defined the 1990s. Recognizing Arctic Cat’s need for race-focused snowmobiles, Hallstrom strongly influenced the creation of the iconic 1990 EXT Special and the legendary ZRs. He was intent to grow the sport of racing, spearheading the “boy racer” Jag Special in 1990 and launching a unique program that offered beginners the opportunity to freely compete on such machines in snocross. He dedicated similar support to Formula III and Mod class oval racing by commissioning small production runs of such chassis by T/S Racing beginning in 1989.

Hallstrom’s vision to grow the sport included helping launch the Jeep 500 cross-country snowmobile race in 1987 and initiated the first NHRA snowmobile asphalt drag exhibition in 1994. He played key roles at magazine photo shoots and helped produce two books on Arctic Cat’s history. Hallstrom transitioned to Arctic Cat Product Manager in 1999, where he continues to influence the success of Arctic Cat snowmobiles now and in the future.

 

Toni Haikonen, 2012 SHOF InducteeToni Haikonen

DATE OF INDUCTION: February 18, 2012

CAREER SPAN: 1983 – 2002

BRANDS REPRESENTED: Ski-Doo, Polaris, Lynx, Arctic Cat

AGE AT INDUCTION: 41

An international racing legend whose raw talent intersected with the rebirth of North American snocross, Toni Haikonen catapult himself and the sport into new heights beginning in the mid-1990s. Haikonen’s fluid style and blazing speed would produce historic wins at nearly every venue, while his easy-to-like personality made him fan favorite throughout the world.

With a snocross career that began at age 12, Haikonen scored a Finnish National Championship, Scandinavian Championship and hundreds of victories prior to his introduction to North American snocross in 1993. His success in the U.S. earned him a sponsored ride with Ski-Doo/FAST beginning in 1994. In a history-making night at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minn., in 1995, Haikonen began double-jumping the course’s massive jumps to score a monumental victory that simultaneously launched the high-flying era of snocross.

In 1998 Haikonen notched another historic first by winning the inaugural ESPN Winter X Games snocross in Crested Butte, Colo., setting the stage for another period of snocross popularity. During his eight years of racing in North America, Haikonen scored dozens of National snocross wins, European Snocross Championships, MRP Championships and was a top finisher in select cross-country events. His last victory came in 2000, and he retired from the sport after the 2002 season.

 

Marcel Fontaine, 2012 SHOF InducteeMarcel Fontaine

DATE OF INDUCTION: February 18, 2012

CAREER SPAN: 1970 – Present

BRANDS REPRESENTED: All

AGE AT INDUCTION: 63

From racer to mechanic to race director, Marcel Fontaine lived, loved and dedicated himself to the sport of snowmobile racing for more than four decades. Most often cited for his undying passion for oval racing in Quebec, Fontaine masterfully guided Eastern Canadian oval racing for 30 years. His influence extended to nearly all forms of competition as he added snocross, drags, hillcross and watercross to his palette of offerings, while simultaneously building both relationships and coalitions that have preserved and expanded snowmobile racing during good times and bad.

An oval racer from 1970-1976, Fontaine would transition to mechanic, then to race director for CCMQ beginning in 1983. It was as a race director and sanctioning body that Fontaine would fulfill his greatest achievements and lasting contributions. He founded SCM and Eastern Pro Tour, worked with ISR and Quebec race rules committees and raised the professionalism of snowmobile competition throughout North America. In particular, Fontaine’s efforts to improve safety and fairness made him a standout race director who was recognized by racers, peers and industry as one of the great leaders of the sport.

Fontaine’s honest embrace of the snowmobile racing world as his “family” fostered a deeply loyal base of competitors and officials, and his unyielding professionalism leaves a legacy of success that will be felt for future generations of competitors.

 

Larry Bosacki, 2012 SHOF InducteeLarry Bosacki

DATE OF INDUCTION: February 18, 2012

CAREER SPAN: 1967 – Present

BRANDS REPRESENTED: All

AGE AT INDUCTION: 79

By embracing and nurturing the sport of snowmobiling during its formative years, civic-minded people like Larry Bosacki transformed winter recreation and the Wisconsin north woods. The third-generation owner of Bosacki’s Boathouse eatery on Minocqua Lake in the town of Minocqua, Larry understood that the fledgling sport was about people, experiences and hospitality. For more than three decades Larry gave from his business and himself to foster those key elements.

By partnering with snowmobile clubs, grooming local spur trails at his own expense and promoting snowmobile tourism at every turn, Bosacki helped grow the winter economies of an entire region. To expand his local business and the opportunity to ride, he operated a Ski-Daddler dealership from his boathouse in the late 1960s. Bosacki also leveraged his many statewide political relationships to help forge important trail accesses and routes that would come to define the north woods snowmobile experience. Two breakthrough efforts included saving railroad trestle bridges for snowmobile trail use, as well as spearheading the first dedicated snowmobile trail crossing of an active railroad track.

His love of snowmobile competition took many forms, including supporting and working on several race teams, and helping launch (and fund) the Snowmobile Hall of Fame. Bosacki’s accomplishments over three decades are testament to the power of people who act locally.

RELATED ARTICLES

11 COMMENTS

  1. GREAT TO SEE LARRY BOSACKI..After summers in Minocqua in 1940’s and early 50th have not been to Minocqua.. Now live in China but plan to visit Wisconsin and Minocqua in July this year 2012 and wish to see Larry. As I knew his mother and father and family. Congratulations Larry……Bob( Piano)

  2. How is my Greek Mythology Speech?6860Beauty can overcome Beauty and Strength Greetings my felolw Gods and Goddesses, I am Hephaestus—the Greek God of fire, volcanoes and the forge. In Roman terms my name is Vulcan. I have come here to claim the throne of Mt. Olympus and get rid of my own father, Zeus, as the king of Gods and the leader of mankind. I am the most unique and enigmatic god amongst all immortals simply because of my displeasing appearance and my supernatural mind. At first, I though being an ugly god would not matter to the other gods, but as time passed by I was proven wrong. There would come a point in my life where my own parents, Zeus and Hera, would not even look at me which lead them to throwing me off Mt. Olympus. After falling for one day in the air, I hit the ground with such a powerful force that I broke both of my legs. This act from my parents angered me emotionally as it lead me to fulfill my revenge. I climbed back up Mt. Olympus with courage and confidence to confront my parents about their immature behavior towards me. So in order to get my revenge I created a magical throne that would capture any individual who would sit on it. With this throne I captured my mother and did not let her go for three days until Dionysus drugged me with alcoholic wine. This event sent a huge message to the immortal community to not underestimate my intelligence. I am here to prove that Intelligence can overcome beauty and strength. As such, if I could capture my own mother, I would surely replace Zeus. After falling for one day ,I landed at the island of Lemnos, I was nurtured by sea nymphs at an underwater volcano. As I time passed by I developed a talent no other god could match. I started creating a myriad of inventions from metals. My inventions soon developed a popular reputation in the immortal community. Not long after, Zeus ordered me to create a weapon of mass destruction—the lightning bolt. I surely could not construct this weapon all by myself, so I established my own working industry at Mt.Etna. Over there I employed a plethora of one-eyed Cyclopes. Thinking logically, Zeus’ only weapon is the lightning bolt and since I am the God of volcanoes, his weapon would not even compare to the destruction and protection as my mega-volcano would. Continuing on , my industry soon began to construct most of the weapons for the immortal Gods such as : Athena’s spear, Poseidon’s trident and many more. This brings an advantage for me in war. If my industry makes most of the weapons for the immortals, I would surely know each and every weak spot for a certain god’s weapon. If I were to be elected, I would offer enough protection to the Greek mortal community from any lofty threats. Zeus is considered to be an unfair ruler who approaches important decisions in an intolerable manner; he continues to commit the same mistakes by cheating on his wife. Most importantly Zeus always treated me as a helot, giving me orders to invent objects which would not make any sort of difference to the community such as robotic women. Then one day he consulted me about a terrible headache, I was shocked at first because of the fact he consulted me instead of Apollo—the God of medicine. What occurred to be a headache was really the Goddess Athena inside his head, so I cut open Zeus’ headed with my metal tools and there Athena was born. Looking back at the successful surgical operation, if I were to never help Zeus’ with his headache he would continue to suffer and Athena would have never been born which means there would of never been a city called Athens. If it were not for my intelligence, there would be an abundance of chaos in the immortal community. Standing here at this opportunity hoping I have offered enough conciliation through my points, it is time we have a new leader. I have the traits which will guide me to success in leading the Greek community. My intelligence will help me keep prosperity and happiness at its highest standard. Most importantly, I will ensure equality amongst all the gods in decision making. Gods and Goddesses I humbly thank you for giving me this opportunity to talk with you today.Rate it out of 25 please

  3. Is this PC worth the $1280?Case: CoolerMaster Elite 430 Mid-Tower Gaming Case with Side Panel WindowInternal USB Extension Module: NoneNeon Light Upgrade: NoneExtra Case Fan Upgrade: Default case fansNoise Reduction Technology: NoneCPU: Intelae Core™ i7-950 3.06 GHz 8M Intel Smart Cache LGA1366Freebies: Civilization V Full Version GameStar Trek Online Digital Deluxe GameVenom Boost Fast And Efficient Factory Overclocking: No OverclockingCooling Fan: Asetek 550LC Liquid Cooling System 120MM Radiator Fan (Advanced Cooling Performance + Extreme Silent at 20dBA) [+18]Motherboard: (3-Way SLI Support) MSI X58 Pro-E Intel X58 Chipset SLI/CrossFire DDR3 MainboardMotherboard Expansion Card: NoneMemory: 6GB (2GBx3) DDR3/1600MHz Triple Channel Memory Module (Corsair or Major Brand)Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 1GB 16X PCIe Video Card [+55] (EVGA Powered by NVIDIA [+10])Freebies: FREE H.A.W.X.ae2 GameVideo Card 2: NoneVideo Card 3: NoneDedicated PHYSX Card: NoneMultiple Video Card Settings: Non-SLI/Non-CrossFireX Mode Supports Multiple MonitorsPower Supply Upgrade: 500 Watts Standard Case Power Supply [+22]Hard Drive: 1TB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD (1TB x 2 (1TB Capacity) Raid 1 High Performance with Data Security [+65])Data Hard Drive: NoneHard Drive Cooling Fan: NoneExternal Hard Drive (USB3.0/2.0/eSATA): NoneUSB Flash Drive: NoneOptical Drive: Samsung SH-B123L 12X BLU-RAY Player DVDRW Combo [+3] (BLACK COLOR)Optical Drive 2: NoneSound: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO3D Vision Glasses: NoneLCD Monitor: None2nd Monitor: None3rd Monitor: NoneSpeakers: NoneNetwork: Onboard Gigabit LAN NetworkNetwork Surge Protector: GigaByte Lightning Guardian Angel LAN Surge Protector [+18]Mega Notebook/Netbook/Server Bundle: NoneKeyboard: Xtreme Gear (Black Color) Multimedia/Internet USB KeyboardMouse: CoolerMaster Storm Sentinel Advance 5600 DPI OLED Gaming Mouse + FREE! CoolerMaster HS-M Weapon of Choice M4 SSK Mouse Pad [+46]Gaming Gear: NoneExtra Thermal Display: NoneWireless 802.11B/G Network Card: NoneExternal Wireless Network Card: NoneWireless 802.11 B/G/N Access Point: NoneBluetooth: NoneFlash Media Reader/Writer: All-in-One External USB 2.0 Card Reader/Writer (Blue Color) [+11]Video Camera: Logitech HD Webcam C510 [+58]Headset: NonePrinter: NoneCable: NonePower Protection: NoneSurge Protector: NoneIEEE1394 Card: NoneUSB Port: Ultra ULT31808 External 7-Port Buddy USB Hub [+30]Floppy: NoneOperating System: None FORMAT HARD DRIVE ONLYMedia Center Remote Control TV Tuner: NoneOffice Suite: NoneGames: NoneUltra Care Option: Ultra Enhanced Packaging Solution Protect Your Dream System During Transit [+19]CoolerMaster Thermal Fusion 400 Extreme Performance CPU Thermal Compound Optimized for Thermal Dissipation [+10]Professional Wiring for All WIRING Inside The System Chassis Minimize Cable Exposure, Maximize Airflow in Your System [+19]Service: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORTRush Service: NO; READY TO SHIP IN 5~10 BUSINESS DAYS$1280Is it worth the price?I have a access to a win 7 OS. So don’t wdoner why i didn’t pick an OS. http://jyffnpivlte.com [url=http://cwaueikpuua.com]cwaueikpuua[/url] [link=http://jpairss.com]jpairss[/link]

Leave a Reply to Jordan Cancel reply

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Most Popular