LAC LA BICHE - For over two decades, the long-running Winter Festival of Speed has concluded with a charity race.
Every year, the charity race, which raises money for community causes, includes drivers from the Lac La Biche area.
Bonnie Cadieux-Piquette and Kimberly Herzog are two drivers who have sat in the driver’s seat of Chevettes to compete in past charity races.
For Cadieux-Piquette, who raced in 2023, and Herzog, who took part for the first time in 2024, hitting the track for the charity race was a slightly edgy experience -and a very fun one.
“I was nervous at first, but it was a great time and helped me challenge myself to try new things,” said Cadieux-Piquette. “The first car I owned was a Chevette car, which is the make of some to the ice racing cars, so I think that may have attracted me.”
Herzog had never had the chance to participate in anything like the charity race before, so when she was approached about entering the event, it was an opportunity she simply could not pass up.
“Overall, it was so much fun, and I was so happy I was brave enough to do it,” Herzog said.
Before setting out in the race, Cadieux-Piquette had someone coach her around the track a few times to get ready for the event.
“It’s for fun, and the money goes to charity so even if you aren’t one of the first ones coming home, it’s a wonderful experience, and for a good cause,” Cadieux- Piquette said.
As last year’s Winter Festival of Speed approached, Herzog was asked if she would be willing to replace a driver who was being sponsored by the IDA Pharmacy and IGA in Lac La Biche for the charity race. The driver had dropped out at the last minute.
She agreed and soon found herself alongside 13 or 14 other drivers preparing for the event.
While Herzog felt a bit uneasy as the race approached, there was a practice run the day before, which helped ease some of her nerves. The car Herzog drove for the event was a Chevette named The Blue Bullet, which has says had plenty of kick to it. It was also a standard vehicle, something she hadn’t driven in a very long time.
“They paired the drivers with a coach for the practice race. He gave me the low down on the car and a quick review of how to drive standard,” she explained. “That, along with some driving tips from my dad and husband, helped me to be a bit more confident.”
The charity races, Herzog said, are great to have as part of the winter festival because the event draws more donations that go to a good cause but also provides an opportunity for amateur drivers to experience being a race car driver for a day.
“It was such a unique experience and one I’ll never forget, and it also draws more crowds as people come down to watch and cheer on their family and friends,” she said.
Ken Staples, who has been organizing the community’s winter festival since 1984, echoed that the charity race not only raises money for local charities, but also gives people who normally don’t participate in the sport to experience being in a race.
Staples helps organize the charity race, which he said has been part of the festival for 20 to 25 years.
“The way it started, we ran a race that we called a Pro-Am race,” he said.
The Pro-Am race involved local amateur drivers being paired up with pro drivers who own their own cars. The amateur racers would drive those cars during the race.
After this went on for a few years, it was decided to host the racing event for charity.
Amateur drivers who compete in the charity race, Staples said, “borrow” cars from drivers who run in the Chevette class, and this is why the event is held at the end of the winter festival. Part of the entry fee that charity race drivers pay to participate in the event goes as a rental to the person who is providing the car, Staples explained.
“If you do it partway through the day, and somebody in the charity race bangs up or destroys a racer’s car, then he’s done for the championship,” Staples said.
The charity races for the 2025 Lac La Biche Ice Festival of Speed are set to take place on the afternoon of March 2 at about 4:15 p.m.
