News updates 2011

For "Hot Off the Press" news as it happens,
please SEE OUR FACEBOOK GROUP

Please see PHOTOS from the ride in our new Photo Gallery!!

21 Sept 2011 - The ride rolls on!! Where to begin.. it's been a few days since we updated. Rosenfeld was amazing - for a community of 300 people they put together an excellent parade, dinner, silent auction, live entertainment & karaoke in the moonlight on a beautiful night, breakfast and hospitality for our riders amidst a flurry of pink. Thanks go to Art and Mary Anne Wiebe and the whole community!

For Altona, a town police officer came out to escort us across the main highway and into town on his day off! We had a yummy dinner at the Marten's and got to tour Stan Hiebert's "Wagon Museum" on his farm.

St. Jean rolled out the red carpet, with lots of folks out to wave as we rolled into town and a good dinner, live entertainment in the evening and a well-decorated town!

I'm skipping some towns here as I wasn't at each one unfortunately...

In Ste. Adolphe, we stayed at the A Maze In Corn and enjoyed ready-made pens for the horses, delicious dinner, live entertainment by the fire thanks to One Blue Door of Winnipeg, and got to play in the corn maze in the dark for a while before going to bed!

Tonight the riders are looking forward to enjoying the hospitality of Debonaire Campground in St. Malo, including a hot tub for those stiff and sore riding muscles...

10 Sept 2011 - We're on the road and rolling!! Friday night was Morden's wonderful Kickoff party, Saturday was the first day of the ride from Morden to Winkler, and Sunday was Winkler to Plum Coulee. Check out some of the pictures below!

In Plum Coulee, our "RCMP Escort" opted to ride in with us!

Barb Fenwick from Carberry rode for 2 days and had this to say: "I just came back from riding with the Wild Pink Yonder Ride. They launched the ride in Morden on Saturday. We rode to Winkler, camped there & rode to Plum Coulee today. All I can say is WOW WOW WOW...what a fabulous ride! What made it so great? The people...the food...the cause...the organization...and the fun of riding country you would normally "fly thru" in your car. The people we met, the kids & families lining the streets and standing in front of their homes...waving and supporting the cause. It is truly the most important ride I have ever been on. You REALLY ought to join them for a day or two. It is not too late...they are just getting rolling & $200.00 worth of pledges buys you a day of ride, food, fun and feeling so very good about doing something for womenkind. I rode for my sister & a daughter in law that are breast cancer survivors. Those that supported me in my ride got their money's worth I can tell you! It was +38C yesterday & we rode, laughed, sweated and knew we were all doing something important...something that bonded us all. There are not many riding so far, so it is peaceful, easy riding with good sensible horses and some great wagon folks too. Get on board...everyone one of us knows someone with breast cancer. Every one of us has a horse we can ride 10 miles for a day. I can't reccommend it enough. It will take your heart and mind down a trail that is so meaningful and fun as well. Do it!!! You can follow them & catch them in any town down south. All you need to get in is your MB horse council membership and your pledge. Wagons MORE than welcome as well. Whew...lots of memories...like riding next to an RCMP riding thru Plum Coulee. Or seeing the smile on Hilda's face as she spent the day riding in the Wild Pink Yonder wagon. We already have 22 riders for the last day from Dugald to BHP, which is 18 km & going to be a great windup day with beer gardens too! What a blast..."

8 Sept 2011 - Pam has now headed out to Morden for the kickoff Wild Pink Fandango Party on Friday night! Please call her cell 797-2561 to reach her on the trail - if she doesn't answer leave a message and expect a callback. If you haven't heard back from her and it's urgent, please call backup contact Myriam at 795-5519.

• More highlights - country music star Julian Austin is coming to Kleefeld for the Wild Pink Yonder Benefit Concert on September 25th!!! We are waiting on confirmation on 2 more artists so stay tuned and register for the Kleefeld leg or the trail!! This is going to be a BIG one!! The concert starts at 7pm with a magic show and admission is donation only!! Se you there!!
• Only 9 rider spots left for Dugald to Birds Hill Park and our fantastic Trail's End Wind Up Wild Pink Fandango! aka Wind up party. Better hurry up or it will be toooooooooo late!
• An 8-horse hitch of miniatures is going to be joining us for at least 3 days on the pink trail!! Don't miss these lil cuties... Here is a message from Rod and Heather Hart from Meadowind Miniatures on why THEY are coming on the ride: "Everyone has been touched in some way by Cancer. We have lost a father, brother, cousin, aunt, uncle grandfather and a number of friends due to various forms of cancer. The good news is that research has made a difference for many, many people. Through chemo, a stem cell transplant and prayer, after 12 years, Rod continues to lead a normal life. For him, among other things, that includes training, driving and showing Miniature Horses, particularly his Meadowind Miniature Eight Horse Hitch. We have a number of friends who have been successfully treated for Brest Cancer. Our friend, who is also our former neighbor and collegue, is presently recovering from treatment. Because we want to support Heather M and others, we have decided to be a part of the Wild Pink Yonder Trail Ride/Drive with our Eight Horse Hitch. Watch for us on September 11, & 12 as well as on September 25."
  
  

We can still take rider registrations during the ride, so if you haven't gotten yours in yet pls get it in ASAP!! We need to let the towns know how many riders are attending and other such details, so plan ahead and let us know!

30 Aug 2011 - We just can't keep up with posting the news here... there is so much happening as we are organizing - but suffice it to say that the level of stuff happening in the various towns are blowing our socks off and I'm sure they're not even telling us all that's going to happen but waiting to surprise us when we ride in!!

For "Hot Off the Press" news as it happens,
please SEE OUR FACEBOOK GROUP

Some highlights:

• Windup party at Bird's Hill Park will be Pig Roast dinner and social evening for 200 with our "Pinkest Little Town in Manitoba" Prize band "Two Dollar Pistol" performing. Watch for info on how to get tickets. This windup will be held in conjunction with the Manitoba East/West Provincial Challenge, so come on out and watch the various events, cheer the WPY riders as they come in (between 4-5pm) and stay for the dinner and social!
• The Manitoba Draft Horse Club is making sure we have a team and wagon for the whole ride, spelling each other off to tow the "pink wagon" the whole way! We also have so miniature hitches participating on some days.
• We have our supply line and logistics in place - FREE flatdeck trailer, porta-potty courtesy of Moe's Septic, water tank etc. A shuttle van and trailer for sale of the fundraising items is also in place for the whole ride.
• There is some amazing art and other items that will be raffled off as fundraisers in certain towns.
• 2 Winnipeg Police Services, Mounted Division are joining us in Oakbank and riding to Birds Hill Park with us!
• The Steinbach stop will be hosted by the Mennonite Heritage Village with dinner served by the Lion's Club
• There is WAY too much going on in all the towns to post here, but let's just say competition for the "Pinkest Town in Manitoba" contest is really heating up... we're going to have a hard time declaring a winner I think!!

30 July 2011 - Things are really starting to come together!!

Many of the small towns have started fundraising activities - Ste. Anne held a "Pots and Pans Baseball" game in June, with some crazy pinkness going on, as a community fundraiser. The Youville Villa in Ste. Anne also bought all their flowers for this year in PINK in honor of the Wild Pink Yonder ride. A "countdown" signboard is up at one of the main cross-streets, keeping track of how many weeks till the WPG ride comes through town. Their community group is also arranging to order and sell pink cowboy hats and other promotional items to raise funds for their town's WPY donation!

Richer is gung-ho, with the Community Club, Young at Hearts Club, and Metis groups getting together to fundraise and organize the town activities. A hog roast, a dinner/dance and much more will be happening on Sept 27th! Pink ribbons are also being sold around town to raise funds for WPY.

Our overnight accommodations and camping stops are coming together really well - we will be staying at the following overnight stops just to give you an idea of accommodations which are being provided so far - the Winkler Ag Grounds, the Plum Coulee Arena, the Rosenfeld Rec Centre, the Altona Rec Centre, the St. Jean Baptiste Park (which is absolutely beautiful), the Morris Stampede Grounds, the Niverville Arena, Debonaire Campground in St. Malo (which includes HOT TUB, showers, and laundry!), the Grunthal Ag Grounds, the Kleefeld Rec Centre, the Parc des Redemptoristes in Ste. Anne and the Dugald Ag Grounds. Some of the other overnight stops (Morden, St. Pierre & Lorette for example) will be at private farms, many of which have multiple corrals and pastures for the horses to be turned out overnight to stretch their legs. Each community will also be providing hay for the horses at the overnight stops.

Lunches and Meals are being planned for us, with such sponsors as Bigway Foods in St. Pierre, the Co-Op in St. Joseph and much more coming together to host the riders as they come through. Think it will be a saw-off between calories out riding all day vs. calories in with all the yummy food at the stops.. ! Be prepared for many pink pancakes!

Manitoba Horse Council has moved the date of the East/West Regional Championships so that it is on the same weekend as our Wind-Up Party in Bird's Hill Park, and are joining the two events together to encourage lots of spectators and attendees. They are organizing the final Wind-Up Supper for the WPY Ride!

A special thanks to some new volunteers which have come on board - Art Wiebe has been helping to scout trails and help with organization, and Pete Rempel will be volunteering to help with logistics, trails and whatever needs doing throughout all three weeks of the ride!

The Alberta Wild Pink Yonder ride is starting on August 12th, so we wish them luck with their 3rd annual event while we continue to get ready for our 1st Annual Ride!

Our purpose is to raise money that will be used for breast cancer research.

We hope you’ll ride with us, starting Sept 10th.

All funds raised by Wild Pink Yonder
in Manitoba will stay in Manitoba
and be used for breast cancer research
as directed by CancerCare Manitoba!