The First Eagle River Snowmobile Derby (1964)

In the winter of 1964, innkeepers John and Betty Alward and promoter Walt Goldsworthy staged the World’s First Snowmobile Derby on little Dollar Lake at the Chanticleer Inn. An eighth grader named Stan Hayes won on a 9 horsepower sled, and Eagle River has been the Snowmobile Capital of the World ever since.