Jeffrey AronsonNear the town of Virginia, MN, the sight of the 3-mile long Rochleau Mine Pit from the 207 ft high Rukavina Bridge galvanized my attention. After a 195-mile drive northeast from Minneapolis, it provided the first break in the otherwise endless views of rolling farmland and forests, and at 450 ft deep, it looked like a Minnesota version of the Grand Canyon.
I traveled along US Rte 53 across that bridge twice daily for a week. Like most everyone, I could recite Minnesota’s Twin Cities – Minneapolis and St. Paul – but I knew nothing about its Quad Cities: Eveleth, Gilbert, Mountain Iron and Virginia. After a week with the Minnesota Land Rover Club at their first-ever North Star Rally last August, I’m happy to say I know a lot more.
The event offered the chance to visit each of the Quad Cities: event camping at Gilbert’s West Forty Park, off-roading and related activities at Mountain Ore’s Iron Ore OHV Park, side trips to Eveleth’s US Hockey Hall of Fame and Bob Dylan’s childhood home in nearby Hibbing, or room and board in the “big city” of Virginia.
Spurred by their energetic participation in the 2023 Diamond Jubilee in New York, ANARC partnered with the club to create and organizer their inaugural North Star Rally. Tony Kieffer, one of the organizers, noted “The Minnesota Land Rover Club has held an annual summer picnic for 41 years, but we are a small, hardcore group, with an informal organizational structure. With the support of ANARC and sponsors like Rovers North, we were able to put on something that we could have never done on our own and had only dreamed about doing a short time before.”
Limited by campsites to a registration of 75 vehicles, Dale Hedtke, Dr. Rik Olsen and Tony worked with Club President John Wendt (custom ’67 Series IIA 109”) to create an event with numerous family activities across multiple towns and locations within Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range.
Rovers North continued its commitment to ANARC to create and sponsor an RTV Trials Course at this event. I worked with Rovers North’s Alex Barden and FORN (Friend of Rovers North) Scott Preston. While enthusiasts from Virginia and Massachusetts drove to the event, time constraints forced Alex, Scott and I to fly to Minneapolis. That made us lean on club members to provide transportation for the drive to Gilbert.
“Minnesota Nice” rivals Southern hospitality. “We’ll need a Land Rover to drive the 195 miles from the Minneapolis airport to the Iron Ore OHV Park,” I said.
“Done,” said Tony Kieffer, Maple Grove, MN. “How about two – a Series IIIA 109” and Range Rover Classic?” Alex chose the comfort of the fully packed Range Rover Hunter, but Scott and I in the 109” had the bonus of 5-year-old Jack Kieffer, who had made the trip many times and provided running commentary throughout the drive.
“We’ll need about 160 PVC canes to use for the Rovers North RTV Course,” I wrote. “I’ll buy them and deliver them to the event site,” replied Dale Hedtke, Duluth, MN. In addition, Dale arranged for a trailer to bring boxes of Rovers North banners and flags from his home to the Iron Range OHV Park. Similar levels of readily granted, unstinting cooperation and assistance would continue all weekend.
ANARC also made it possible for West Coast Rebelle Rally competitors Liza Beres and Jenna Fribley to attend this event, make a captivating presentation on their Rebelle Rally experiences and current Defender 130 [underway October 10–19] and organize a most-devious ANARC Cup Challenge. To add a unique local touch, the Minnesota Land Rover Club engaged local celebrity “Astro Bob” King to share his celestial knowledge at the North Forty Campground after a Friday night group picnic.
At a Saturday night “picnic” dinner, held nearby at the Giant Ridge Lodge in Biwabik, the club made the time to celebrate the leadership of Andy Goldfine, a club founder who still owns the Series III he purchased from new, and Charlie Malachek, who served as president between 1993-2003. President John Wendt and Dr. Rik Olsen served as MCs for the event, and the club let me pinch-hit as the auctioneer for the generous swag provided by Rovers North, Lucky 8 and more local vendors.
Rik Olsen’s Scavenger Hunt, the Rovers North RTV course and the fiendish Rebelle Rally-inspired Challenge were individually entertaining and combined, comprised the ANARC Cup competition for this event.
The Iron Range OHV Recreation Park website includes this warning: “There is iron in the soil. Be prepared to get orange and red stains on your clothing and equipment” — duly noted and accurate. Scott, Alex and I learned quickly that every one of the RTV course 120 canes required drilling into the earth; only a silty sand opening section gave us a break. The hilly terrain forced us to become quite creative, including our first-ever water covered trials section. Thanks to the many volunteers who helped us create and marshal the course sections. Charles Mwarua, Independence, MN, Steve Sutman, Minneapolis, MN; Anders Malmquist, Plymouth, MN; and Steve Myers, Ames, IA (in a 2023 Defender Trophy) tackled their first RTV courses.
With some 2,700 acres of coverage, the Iron Range Park offered dozens of off-road trails ranging from green lanes to rock crawling. We watched Eva, Nora and Hannah Pavola in their Discovery and Range Rover County Classic join Micah Baker, Jake and Nick Wendt, and Dane Olsen, who led convoys of enthusiasts around the many trails. These younger enthusiasts reflect the newer generations stepping forward to participate and energize events.
We left the North Star Rally to a waterfront tour through Duluth and reluctantly returned Tony’s Land Rovers. Minnesota’s Mesabi Range left the Rovers North crew with lasting memories of spectacular topography and enchanting enthusiasts.
Alex Barden, Rovers North, Westford, VT
As a Rovers North employee, I had the honor of working at attending the North Star Rally. The experience was nothing short of amazing and inviting. It all started when Tony Kieffer met me at the airport in his LR4. It was an easy sighting within the swarm of traffic and a proper greeting. As this was my first Land Rover event, I was nervous; new people and new surroundings, but that was quickly reversed by Tony’s welcoming nature.
This was also the first time I would be driving a Range Rover, and to say the least, I was very excited. My ride was a Range Rover Classic kitted out for off-road driving. It drove great and turned a lot of heads during our 2.5-hour drive on the highways and back roads.
I was able to meet a lot of wonderful enthusiasts who attended the event. I had one memorable night ride in an LR4 along a riverbed trail in a charming old mine town, courtesy of enthusiasts Mike, Leanne and their adorable dog, Miss Eddie.
Jeff and Scott were great trailblazers for me and we had a wonderful time getting to know each other over meals and many drives in Tony Kieffer’s Series IIA 109”. I’m grateful that I got to experience this event and meet some really cool people along the way. Thank you, Tony and all of the attendees for your hard work and hospitality. As this was my inaugural Land Rover event, I’m glad it was with the Minnesota Land Rover Club. I can’t say enough good things about the group and I look forward to returning!
Scott Preston, Southwest Harbor ME, Board of Directors, ANARC
After a crazy summer, I looked forward to spending a little bit of August at the second ANARC-partnered rally of 2024. As an ANARC Board member, I believe these partnerships to be one of the best accomplishments of the organization.
I also had the privilege of assisting Jeff Aronson of Rovers Magazine and Alex Barden of Rovers North design, set up and organize the Rovers North RTV course.
Minnesota’s reputation of being friendly, welcoming hosts did not disappoint. Each and every club member we met seemed to go out of their way to make it an amazing event for us. The RTV course was a new event for most attendees and was extremely well received. The banquet on Saturday night was not only a wonderfully run event but a chance to see so many friends from across the country. If you haven’t been to the Minnesota annual picnic, I would highly recommend it as I will definitely be adding it to my calendar to attend again.
Tony Kieffer, Minnesota Land Rover Club, Minneapolis, MN
As one of our members said afterwards, it felt like a “really legit Land Rover Rally!” Having so many people and sponsors from across the country was amazing to see. The weekend was great. People had fun, told stories, and made plenty of new friends.
Highlights for me were the RTV course and the Friday night BBQ at the campground. The RTV course was such a new experience for so many of the club members. They really did not know what to expect and had a ton of fun testing their driving skill. We are looking forward to putting the gates, flags and banners to use again at a couple events next year.
At the Friday BBQ it was so gratifying to see everyone just having a great time, enjoying the food, telling stories from trails taken earlier in the day along with events from years in the past, looking at the Trek vehicles displayed by Lucky 8 and Land Rover of Minneapolis, along with talking about adventures to come. We thank ANARC for their partnership with the Minnesota Land Rover Club.”