Cliff Buchan
News Editor

Watch for galloping horses in Forest Lake and Wyoming on Saturday. Thatís right ó galloping horses carrying the mail.

Forest Lake and Wyoming are the south legs of a 200 mile Pony Express reenactment that will raise funds for Courage Camps.

Some 50 horses and riders will carry the mail on a jaunt sponsored by the Northwest Saddle Club of Lino Lakes. Club President Jim Charpentier says the goal is to break the old record of 11.5 hours.

The 200 mile odyssey begins in Hugo at the intersection of US-61 and CR-4 (N. 170th St.) at 7 a.m. and will end at Lake Georgia east of Itasca State Park at 6 p.m. if all goes according to plan.

The Pony Express reenactment has a goal of raising $25,000 for the Courage Camps. Funds will come from corporate and individual donations. Riders are also seeking sponsorship to defray their costs for trailering their horses.

Under the Pony Express format, each rider will do a one-mile sprint carrying a Pony Express bag filled with mail. At the end of the one mile ride, the bag will be handed off on the fly to the next rider.

Once completed with their segment, the riders will trailer their horses 20 miles where they will again fall in line for the next one-mile spring.

The ride continues north to North Branch along old US-61 before turning west on TH-95 and on to Princeton and west to TH-25 where the course turns north and moves on to Brainerd.

Once past the Brainerd Lakes Area, the course turns west on TH-210 to the Motley area before heading north and west over county roads before ending at Camp Courage in Lake George.

ìThe public is invited to participate by viewing the riders as they pass and make their mail bag exchanges,î said Dan Ramberg, event chair. Ramberg is owner of Woodloch Stables in Hugo where the race will have its headquarters.

Public can help

Being a spectator on Saturday isnít the only way the public can get involved.

For a suggested donation of $5, area residents can have a letter carried by the riders on Saturday. Special stationery and envelopes is available at a number of area businesses.

They include:

ïAce Hardware in Forest Lake and Wyoming.

ïRussellís Barber Shop in Wyoming.

ïCornerstone Pub and Prime in Wyoming.

ïRustic Inn in Stacy.

Buttons promoting the Pony Express Ride in 2005 are also being sold at the five area businesses.

Letters are to be sealed and addressed with no postage applied and deposited in the collection box at each business. Only about 1000 letters are being prepared and they will be considered collectorís item.

The ride Saturday is a race to break the clubís 30-year-old record of 11.5 hours for the 200 mile distance.

The fund-raiser will collect dollars for Camp Courage, a safe, accessible natural environment where children and adults with physical disabilities, sensory and language impairments, and other disabilities or illnesses discover abilities they never knew they had or may have lost.

For more information about Saturdayís ride or to provide financial assistance, call Ramberg at 651-429-1303 or 612-919-5147 or Charpentier at 651-462-1900. More information can be found on-line at www.nwsaddleclub.org.

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Forest Lake Times
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880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
651-464-4601
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