CUPAR, Sask. – Thousands of gophers blanketed the roof of the local rink. More were floating in the community swimming pool and hanging out in small groups in the parking lot. One or two were even hidden in the limbs of trees.
This wasn’t a job for a team of exterminators, or 50 loyal farm dogs. Dropping 8,200 numbered gophers from 200 metres up, seems to be this central Saskatchewan community’s answer to the dilemma of how to raise enough money to finish construction of the Cuplex, their local rink.
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A committee set up to raise money was tossing about fund-raising ideas in a meeting when someone remembered a segment of the 1970s television program WKRP in Cincinatti where turkeys were tossed from a helicopter in a failed radio station promotional scheme. Turkeys don’t fly, as the station manager in the TV show found out the hard way. Neither do gophers, and Saskatchewan has lots of them.
By numbering the gophers and creating cloth disks to serve as gopher holes that could be dumped along with the soft rodents from a hot air balloon, the system is run like a lottery. For $5 a ticket, people can buy a chance that their selected numbered gopher will land next to one of the eight simulated holes. The gophers found closest to their holes were the winners. A car and other prizes are offered.
On June 6, battling shifting winds, the balloon lifted off as sunset closed in. It was the second attempt at a launch that day. Unfavorable winds forced a last minute change to the launch site. With darkness looming there would be no third try at releasing the 125 kilograms of cargo.
The crowd of about 700 watched as the balloon was filled and launched. It soared up and crossed a corner of the grounds and floated over the empty target area. But as it passed, no gophers were released. The balloon drifted towards town. Still no gophers.
The knots were too tight to untie. Finally, balloon pilots used knives to cut the ropes, freeing the giant bag to empty itself on the only place left where the gophers could be recovered – the roof of the new rink.
“The unplanned target was perfect, unplanned and ironic,” said Rob Keyser, an organizer.
The organizing team sprung into action, quickly recovering the winning rodents from the rink roof. The gopher drop had for the fourth year been a success, raising more than $20,000 for the Cuplex.
Polyester-filled cotton gophers, created four years ago in a community sewing bee, were dropped from a hot air balloon and landed on the rink’s roof. The person who had a ticket on the numbered rodent closest to its hole was the winner.
