Now that January is here, the countdown has started for the ten core riders of the 2012 Prairie Women on Snowmobiles (PWOS) mission for breast cancer awareness and research.

This year the team begins the journey in Humboldt, and a kick-off celebration is planned on January 26 at the Humboldt Legion Hall. Humboldt resident Brenda Zimmer, who rode on a mission in 2010, is one of the organizers of this year’s send-off.

“It’s a tradition at these banquets that each of the core riders gets up and tells why they want to ride with PWOS,” Zimmer said. “And we always have a pinning ceremony for the cancer survivors and a candle-lighting ceremony for anyone who is going through cancer right now.”

It will be like many of the banquets the riders will attend over the eight days of their 2,000-kilometre mission. Cancer survivors, friends, families, and supporters are always welcome at these gatherings.

Local vocalist Jodie Hergott will sing during the candle-lighting ceremony, and the ladies have invited Renée Stuckel as a guest speaker. Raffle prizes and a fitness demonstration also make up the evening of entertainment and inspiration.

The organizers are calling it a “Winter Wonderland” evening, and have added “Let it Snow” on the poster, no doubt a subconscious wish that some might fall in the next two weeks so that the PWOS can actually ride the circuit.

The Journal asked riders Rosalie Venderbuhs and Natelle Nordick, both of Englefeld, what will happen if there isn’t enough snow.

“If there is no snow, we all 10 of us riders pack into the back of the van, and we are Prairie Women in a Van,” Nordick said. “We still make all our stops in all our places, but we’re not on snowmobiles.”

“They are transported on the back of a semi, on the flat back of a semi,” Venderbuhs added. “At night, they are secured in a locked up compound.”

Nordick and Venderbuhs have been fundraising together ever since they decided, independently, to ride on a mission. To date, they have raised nearly $14,000.

“We worked on our fundraisers together,” said Nordick. “We found that we were going to be tapping into the same areas and the same people since we work in the same town and we live in the same town. So we just decided to split any donations 50/50.”

“And there’s more power in two,” Venderbuhs added. “It’s like we’re married. We even have a joint bank account now.”

Both ladies laughed at the idea, then Nordick mused, “So we do know, now, that if one of my sons marries her daughter, we can pull off the wedding.”

“Exactly,” agreed Venderbuhs, “and we’ll probably fundraise the whole event!”

In spite of their good spirits and light-hearted attitude, both women are deadly serious about the promise they made to themselves and to others when they accepted the challenge of doing a mission.

“If it turns colder than -45º without the wind chill, we don’t ride,” said Venderbuhs. “But if it’s -44º with the wind chill like last year, we still ride. And you know, you make it, that hot cup of coffee at the coffee break, is really appreciated. You’ve just got to make it to your next stop.”

“We kind of have to think when we’re riding who we’re riding for,” Nordick added. “When I’m riding, I’m going to be thinking, ‘Oh god, does my thumb hurt, I’m so cold, I miss my husband and my kids — but, I get to quit in 8 days and go back to my husband, and my thumb will heal, and all that sort of thing. They can’t quit having cancer because they’re tired of it. So they give us strength, too, these people.”

All funds raised at the kick off banquet January 26 go to the 2012 mission, and those attending the dinner will have a chance to wish Nordick, Venderbuhs and the eight other core riders luck on their journey. Advance tickets are required and can be obtained from local PWOS members, at the Bella Vista Inn, and at Home Hardware in Humboldt.