Our History
The Iola Norsemen Snowmobile Club, established in 1968, has a long history. The club held snowmobile races on Lake Iola, the Ingval Olson Park, and later the Iola Winter Sports Club area on Count Road MM in the 1970’s. Torch runs as part of the Badger State Games, radar runs on Lake Iola and later on Iola Car Show grounds, poker runs, raffles, chili feeds, and bon fires, and float building for the Iola Lioness Christmas Parade are some of the fun club activities. The club helped grill chicken for some of the first Iola Old Car Shows with the Iola Lions Club when the show was held at the Ingval Olson Park in the early 1970’s. Trails were established in conjunction with landowners who supported the growing sport, bridges were built, and the trail system around Iola grew to include many miles of trails. A 40x50 club shed was built to hold our meetings and to use as our workshop in 2002 on Iola Old Car Show property. While there was much to do to establish an entire trail system, the club members still found ways to have fun and raise money to support both the sport of snowmobiling and the community of Iola. We still do this today.    
Although there is a lot of work involved in being a club member, there is also time for fun.  The club has a winter bonfire and chili feed, and there is also a club snowmobiling trip up north. To be eligible for the trip members must have worked enough hours during the year.  Members must have worked 20 hours for the club to pay for Friday and Saturday night and 25 hours to include Thursday night. Members may obtain these hours by working at the Iola Car Show or any club event, working on trails, use of any personal equipment for trail work, or attending meetings.
The Iola Norsemen Snowmobile Club has a family membership of over 160. We build bridges, maintain, brush and mark 44 miles of trails. There is a tremendous amount a work that goes into creating and maintaining the trails. Besides the physical work there is also the job of keeping healthy relationships with the landowners. If not for the landowners’ and snowmobile club members’ generosity there would be no snowmobile trails. We are grateful to the landowners for their cooperation and willingness to permit the use of their land for snowmobiling. In gratitude we host an annual landowners’ appreciation dinner with numerous door prizes given away.
The Norsemen are also a very community minded club. We are one of the nine ancillary members of the Iola Old Car Show. As a member organization, we have two voting delegates who elect members to the Iola Old Car Show Board of Directors. As one of the founding clubs we volunteer before, during, and after the show, putting in over 1,000 hours per year running such services as: season-long grounds maintenance, parts hauling, spectator parking, beverage sales, concert security, cart rentals, and communications equipment for volunteers. Over 28,000 hours are volunteered by over 3,000 people from over 135 organizations each year.
These days we are involved in various events. Besides being involved with the Iola Car Show, we also hold an annual gun raffle and have added a UTV raffle to our fundraising events. The club has made numerous donations. Over $42,500 has been donated to organizations and events in the Iola area. Some of the recipients have been: Veteran’s Memorial Park Walk of Honor Memorial at the Iola Legion Park, the Iola Fire Dept., the Iola Nursing Home, the Iola Historical Society, Living Oaks, the Iola Booster Club, scholarships to Iola-Scandinavia graduates, the Iola Winter Carnival raffle, I-S Art Club Ice Sculpture Contest, and the kids’ fishing contest, the North Central Snowmobile Club, the Iola Fireworks, and the Iola Lioness Post-Prom Fund, the Cora Jones Memorial, MS Foundation, Iola Village Library, Chet Krause Legacy Park, and brush cutting on township roads. We are also interested in educating our youth about snowmobile laws and safety.  A course is conducted annually for those 12 years and older. Those that pass the course are awarded dual (snowmobile & UTV) DNR certification that allows them to ride the trails. (Our trails are snowmobile only.)
Memberships are $20.00 for a family and $20.00 for a single person 18 years or older. For those who volunteer 20 hours for the club, membership is considered paid.
We as a club would like to remind you that if you ride a snowmobile you should support a club by being a member. The enjoyment of having good, safe trails to ride is due to the hard work that is done by snowmobile club members.
We wish to welcome you to the Iola Norseman Snowmobile Club and hope to see you at future club events and meetings.  You will receive a newsletter each month informing you of coming events and activities that will be taking place. Our club President is Tracey Ambacher N9172 Cty Rd G, Iola (715-281-3977); Vice President: Steve Tetzlaff 1330 Madson Rd, Iola (715-340-1283); Secretary: Tammy Louison N8602 Cty Rd J, Iola (715-445-4604), Treasurer: Sue Tetzlaff, N8817 Anderson Rd, Iola.