ASHTON — John Scafe is hoping and praying for more snow.
Like he has for 30 years, Scafe is helping organize the annual American Dog Derby, which this year is being held on its 100th anniversary. But without cool temperatures and snow, the centennial race can’t go on, he said.
For the past four weeks, Scafe has been doing what he calls “the snow dance” in hopes of urging the heavens to produce more of the white stuff — at least until after the dog derby scheduled for Friday, Feb. 17, and Saturday, Feb. 18.
Friends beg Scafe to stop all that dancing for more snow.
“They’ll say, ‘Quit doing your snow dance, we’ve got enough.’ I say ‘Once the dog races are over, I don’t care what happens,’” he said.
The increasingly warm temperatures and resulting snow melt throughout the region have Scafe worried.
“I am very concerned, but I think there’s enough snow to run the dog derby,” he said.
This week, the U.S. National Weather Service expects Ashton temperatures to be at around 34 degrees on both Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday it’s anticipated to warm up by three degrees. A 20 percent chance of rain is also expected that day. On Friday the weather service expects temperatures to reach around 39 degrees, and it anticipates a 30 percent chance of rain that day as well.
Warm weather and rain, of course, translate into difficult sledding conditions. They also cause dogs to overheat and may cause them to break a bone as they try to maneuver through the melting snow.
“I’m struggling not to cancel anything, but my No. 1 priority is the safety of mushers and dogs. I don’t want any accidents. We have a real good record, and we want to keep it that way. The mushers understand that a weather change makes a lot of difference,” he said.
Scafe is confident that there will be plenty of snow on the trails.
“Everything actually looks a lot better than it did last year. It was questionable because of the snow conditions. I think we’re OK. I’m pretty confident,” he said.
Scafe says the best racing conditions are just a few degrees above zero.
“If it’s about 10 degrees and cloudy, that’s just about perfect weather,” he said.
The race starts at 8:30 a.m. on Main Street. There the city will bring in about five feet of snow, spreading it down the road to enabling the racers to start and head to the various trails.
Currently, 35 teams have pre-registered for the annual event.
“They’re coming from all over the country — from Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Wyoming and Utah. We never know how many from year-to-year,” Scafe said.
Scafe expects that between the mushers and other visitors there will be an estimated 1,800 to 2,000 people at the race.
Other activities include a soup tasting, a dance, children’s snowshoeing and a Mutt Race, where families can have their own dogs pull sleds.
“It’s for any kind of sled. Kids can ride in a sled down a track for 50 yards. It’s just to have fun,” he said.
Scafe invited everyone to attend.
“Just come and have fun. Come watch the races. It’s exciting to see them start,” he said.
In the meantime, Scafe also asked everyone to beseech a higher power for more snow.
“I’m asking for prayers. We just need it for the next week. We’re going to put snow on order,” he said.
For more information on the upcoming dog derby visit www.americandogderby.com.
