Twins snowmobile tour returns

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The Blizzard Tour, a fundraiser to fight ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), will hit Two Harbors today after a snowmobile ride that began Thursday in Proctor and went up to Lake Vermilion. The 400-mile ride features members of the Minnesota Twins baseball team current and present, including manager Ron Gardenhire, hitting coach Joe Vavra, and former players Kent Hrbek and Terry Steinbach.

Riders will get into Two Harbors around 3:30 this afternoon and stay the night. The tour is sponsored by Blackwoods Grill and Bar. Riders will head back to Proctor Saturday morning and attend a 4:30 p.m. banquet at Greysolon Ballroom in Duluth.

In its 12th year, the Blizzard Tour features 178 snowmobilers, all of whom have collected a minimum of $1,200 in donations. The rider who collects the most dollars will win a 2011 Polaris snowmobile.

A year ago, the snowmobile ride raised $503,000 to fight ALS.  Also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, ALS is a fatal disease that affects more than 30,000 people in the United States. Fifteen new cases are diagnosed each day across the country. Patients eventually become paralyzed. Although there is currently no cure or treatment, research in recent years has made startling in-roads toward those ends.

Tags: community, twins, baseball