2013 Volunteer Guide to Road Crossings

by Brad King; Friday, February 22, 2013

Click to view Volunteer Guide to Road Crossings.

2013 CopperDog 150 on Google Maps

by Todd Brassard; Saturday, February 02, 2013

Volunteers! We have our trail maps and crossing locations available via Google Maps below:

• CopperDog Stage 1
• CopperDog Stage 2
• CopperDog Stage 3
• CopperDog 150 - Important Locations

Volunteer Registration Is Open!

by Todd Brassard; Monday, January 14, 2013

Click here to volunteer...

Volunteer registration is now open for the CopperDog 150 and CopperDog 40 sled dog races this coming March 1-3, 2013.  There are literally hundreds of shifts and positions to fill, so we need your help.  Please take a look at the volunteer schedule, find something that suites your liking and sign-up for as many shifts as you want.  Please watch out for conflicts in your schedule.

A few new features...

The volunteer system has some new features.  There are many more jobs listed, including jobs that are by appointment or internal to the race.  You'll have to contact our volunteer coordinator to sign-up for these jobs as they require experience or special gear.  When you sign-up you can also indicate how many people you are bringing with you.  This makes it easy for a family member or leader of a team to include multiple people with their registration, although we strongly encourage people to have their own account and volunteer schedule.

Register a couple, group, or team...

When you register more than just yourself for a volunteer shift, you become responsible to bring all of the people you indicated.  Kids age 14 and over are considered able bodied volunteers, but there must be at least one adult (18+) on each shift.  Kids 13 and younger are welcome to volunteer, but do not count towards the minimum number of volunteers that must be present.  Volunteering is fun for the entire family, we just need to make sure that our bases or covered to provide a safe event for all.

There might be bugs...

The volunteer system is still a little buggy and might blow up in your face from time to time.  Please let us know if this happens to you, if the system doesn't work as expect, or you just have ideas on how to improve it.  Send an e-mail to Todd Brassard with a description of the problem.  Cut and paste the error if you can.  Thanks for using our online system to volunteer for CopperDog!

CopperDog Volunteers ... Its Almost Time!

by Kim Pici and Todd Brassard; Friday, January 04, 2013

Note: Volunteer registration opens Monday, January 21 at 8:00AM!

The 2013 CopperDog 150 is rapidly approaching and event organizers are once again reaching out to our most important resource... volunteers from the community.  Our volunteer army is simply amazing, maybe the best in racing today. 

We welcome anyone and everyone both experienced and "newbies" to come and participate in this great event.  Volunteers are the life-blood of the CopperDog 150, every single individual counts and we greatly appreciate your support.

New this year is the Lead Volunteer program.  The focus of this program is to provide advanced race operations training to a handful (25 - 35) of passionate volunteers who will then serve as leaders and coordinators on race weekend.  This program is open to anybody who is interested in giving more to the CopperDog effort (around 8 to 12 hours) in the weeks leading up to the race and have responsibility for various aspects of the race during the event.

Important Events

Lead Volunteer Training Sessions

• We are seeking 25 - 35 passionate volunteers.
  
• At the Julita Center in Hancock
  
• Saturday, January 26 2013, 10:00am-12:00pm
• Saturday, February 16 2013, 10:00am-12:00pm
• We will be asking for a commitment between 8 to 12 hours in the weeks before the race.
• Please RSVP to  volunteer@copperdog150.com (so we set up enough tables)

Annual Volunteer Drive

• Sponsors by Aspirus Keweenaw, the Official Volunteer Sponsors of the CopperDog 150.
  
• At River Valley Bank, Calumet (on US 41)
  
• Saturday, February 2, 2013, 10:00AM - 2:00PM
• Meeting mushers, pet dogs, treats will be served, learn about the race, volunteer sign-up.

Official CopperDog 150 Volunteer Training Session

• All volunteers are strongly encouraged to attend this training event.
• Behind CLK Schools, Calumet in rear parking lot
  
• Sunday, February 24, 2013, 1:00PM - 3:00PM
• 45 minutes of indoor training, demonstration, and discussion
  
• 45 minutes of outdoor "hands-on" handling of real dog teams.
  
• There will be “hands-on” training with sled dog teams, crossing instructions, and general safety instructions from CopperDog organization members as well as several of our local Mushers.

Lead Volunteer Program (new for 2013)

by Todd Brassard; Friday, September 21, 2012

The CopperDog 150 is pleased to announce a new Lead Volunteer Program for those people in the community who are interested in serving a larger and more important role on CopperDog weekend.  The volunteers who join this program will learn about the inner workings of sled-dog racing, learn new skills and the tools used to manage the CopperDog 150, and go on to play important leadership roles during the running of the dogs in March of 2013.

Photo Credit: Bill Fink

Program goals

The goals of the are simple, but important to the evolution of the CopperDog races:

• To recruit 25 to 30 enthusiastic CopperDog volunteers
  
• To educate volunteers on the inner workings of the race and provide them with the information, tools, and insight necessary to serve in leads roles on race weekend
• To conduct four 1.5 hour training session, one per month starting in mid-November
  
• Choose assignments early for lead volunteers to give them time to make their own plans
  
• For lead-volunteers to play very active roles with logistic, resources, and people management

Who should join this program?

Become a lead-volunteer because...

• You love CopperDog and want to be a huge part of the events success in 2013
  
• You aren't ready to join a committee but would like to give a little more time to the event
  
• You are willing to commit to 6-10 hours of your time over 4 months to become a leader
  
• You want to learn more about how the CopperDog is organized and executed
  
• You want the insight, information, and tools to be a great leader during the race.
  

How do I get involved?

That's easy... just write to Todd Brassard at toddbrassard@copperdog150.com to express your interest.  Prefer using the phone, just call 906-370-9972.  Call to sign-up or for more information.

When do things get moving?

Now!  We are actively seeking to start building our team of lead-volunteers.  We need your help.  Th CopperDog 150 is an amazingly unique and fun experience.  Get involved today!

2013 Adobt-a-Musher Host Family Program

by Todd Brassard; Friday, September 21, 2012

CopperDog is seeking people in our local communities who are interested in hosting a musher and their team for one or two nights and connecting them with mushers who need a place to park their vehicles and a warm/dry place to rest.  This is the second year for this exciting program.

When are host families needed?

• Thursday, Feb 28 – Within 45 miles of Calumet
• Friday, March 1 – Within 45 miles of Eagle Harbor
• Saturday, March 2 – Within 45 miles of Copper Harbor
• Sunday, March 3 – Within 45 miles of Calumet
  

What do host families provide?

• Provide a quiet place for mushers and handlers to sleep
• A safe place to park their truck so they can feed and care for their dogs.
• Providing a meal is optional, but a nice touch

What can host families expect?

• Dogs sleep in the truck and are not allowed to run free
• Dogs may bark and may make noise
• Mushers may arrive late and depart early

How do I get involved?

If you are interested in being a host family or if you are a race team in need of a host family, or just want more information about the program, please contact Melissa Goulette, our Host Family Coordinator at melissagoulette@copperdog150.com or just give her a call 906-337-3031.

Many great friendships are formed when hosting a team.  It’s a great opportunity for a host family to learn about mushing and how these amazing athletic dogs are cared for.  The host family also ends up with a team to cheer on in the race.