Members of the Gold Wing Road Riders Association (GWRRA) have their sights set on Westlock for the 2013 Western Canada/Alaska Motorcycle Rally next Aug 2-4.
GWRRA Edmonton chapter director Ted Brooks told town council last Monday that the three-day event at the Westlock Rotary Spirit Centre would be the world’s biggest motorcycle rally.
“We are looking at ways to make this event the best rally which is why we have been toying with the idea of calling it the world’s biggest,” Brooks said, adding that they are looking into having other attractions like the world’s biggest goose egg at the event.
With over 80,000 Gold Wing Road Riders members across the world, and 300 of those members living in the Edmonton region, the association decided that Westlock would be an ideal location.
“Westlock became our first choice after shopping around many arenas. It has the brand new Spirit Centre and camping sites available nearby for our motorcyclists as many of our visitors will bring along their tent trailers,” Brooks said.
Coun. Sheila Foley said the event sounds like a good tourist attraction.
“With the Alberta 55-Plus Summer Games only a week before, the rally would be a good draw for the community,” she said.
Brooks said that the town could also expect to see a variety of vendors set up in the Westlock region and many visitors from Saskatchewan, British Columbia, the Yukon and even from the U.S.
“People would also be interested in going up to Slave Lake and West Edmonton Mall while they are here too,” he said.
Coun. Marjorie Sterling Miller raised the issue of conflicting schedules with the event next summer as the dates may interfere with the town’s usual sport-related activities usually held around that time.
Mayor Bruce Lennon responded that scheduling should not matter, as it is a first-come, first-serve basis when it comes to booking the facility.
“Since there is a commitment on their part to book a year in advance the other people will have to work around it during those days,” he said.
GWRRA also had a few additional requests of the town such as providing all the attendants with access to the Westlock Rotary Spirit Centre.
“We can have the cost included in their registration fee or in an entertainment package of some sort,” Brooks said.
Their second request was to pre-book the camping sites in advance for those three days to ensure there is enough space for the riders who bring their tent trailers and for the RVs.
Their final request was to find out what necessary permits they needed from the town to put on a fireworks display on the Sunday night, which would follow the show and shine event.
“We have a fireworks technician already who has all the fireworks stocked up for the event, we just need to get the permits,” Brooks said.
Lennon responded that the whole event sounded great and added that the town would help out as much as they could.
