IBEW Local 1147 (Wisconsin Rapids WI) President wins $50k and a new Snowmobile

Saratoga man wins snowmobile, $50K in contest


By ANTOINETTE RAHN
Daily Tribune Staff
ROME - It might be autumn, but Joe Helmuth and his family are ready for winter. Really ready.

Helmuth, 49, of Saratoga is the grand prize winner in Arctic Cat's Joker's Wild Sweepstakes, a contest that drew tens of thousands of entries. His winnings include a one-of-a-kind 2005 Arctic Cat Black F7 Firecat snowmobile and $50,000.
Helmuth's family - including his wife, Karlene, and sons, Kelsey, 17, Evan, 13, and Taylor, 10 - is known as the Cat Clan. Family members gathered at Evenson's Marine in Nekoosa on Tuesday to pick up the sled and a symbolic check for the money they'll receive.

"This is really the first time I've ever won anything like this," said Helmuth, who figures he has been riding snowmobiles for about 35 years. "I was lucky 27 years ago when I met my wife, and I've been in a dry spell since."
The opportunity to win would have slipped by if it hadn't been for Evenson's Marine owner Loren Evenson, who suggested that Helmuth take a chance.

"I was down here this spring, and as I was starting out the door, Loren said I should fill out an entry. I said then 'I never win anything,' but I filled it out," said Helmuth, president of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1147. "A couple of weeks ago, UPS dropped off an express package marked urgent. I figured it was union stuff, since I'm active in the union, but it was from Arctic Cat.
"At the time, I knew there was a sled involved, so I called my wife and asked her if she was sitting down and told her I won the sled. Then I read a little further down and asked my wife if she was still sitting down, and told her we also won $50,000."
Having a local winner is a great thing, said Evenson, who along with his son, Curt, owns the snowmobile and all-terrain vehicle business.

"We've never had a winner like this," Evenson said. "Joe's been a great customer. This couldn't have happened to a nicer guy or family."
The family's F7 Firecat snowmobile is sleek and black, with graphics of a royal flush card hand and flames. The graphics are a favorite of both Kelsey and Taylor.

"And the engine," added Taylor.
The Helmuth boys should know - the family owns four sleds. They're vehicles the children have ridden since they could sit up.
"My wife and I met through snowmobiling. Our first date was a 100-mile ride for (multiple sclerosis society)," said Helmuth. "We've been riding with the boys for years. When they were younger and my wife was working at night, the boys and I would go with my mother-in-law. She loved to ride.
"We'd put them on the sleds and off we'd go."
Helmuth's mother-in-law, the late Shirley Whitney of Nekoosa, bought her first snowmobile in 1971. The family still owns it.

"She would have loved this," Helmuth said of his mother-in-law. "She's with us in spirit, but she would be so excited."
When conditions permit, the family rides throughout the area, Helmuth said. That doesn't include the trips to Wyoming in the spring.

"When everyone else heads to Florida for spring break, we go west to snow country," he added.

With a family history rich in snowmobiling, there's no doubt the Firecat will be put to good use.

And as for the money?
"It will definitely help with the kids' education," Helmuth said.

You can reach Antoinette Rahn 422-6726 or arahn@wisconsinrapidstribune.com.