The Hairy Squatters prepare for the Nemo outhouse races like Sturgis prepares for the motorcycle rally: They start planning for next year as soon as this year’s event is done.
According to Kate Haswell, the team of teachers from the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations have been preparing for the race since last year. She even booked their cabins at Nemo Guest Ranch last summer.
“This is the time of the year,” Haswell said. “This is our rally. We have a great time -- but we like to win, too.”
Saturday was the fifth annual Nemo “500” Outhouse Races, which brought 16 teams together to race in three divisions around Nemo Guest Ranch.
The rules: Teams, consisting of two to five members, build an outhouse to race through the snow. Outhouses must be completely human-powered: no motors allowed.
Nemo Guest Ranch owners Willie and Troy Saye started the races in 2007. Troy Saye said the event continues to grow every year. This year, there were participants from as far away as Chadron, Neb.
“They’re coming from all over the state and all over the country,” he said.
Each year, proceeds from the race are donated to a different organization. Last year, more than a thousand people raised more than $10,000 for charity.
This year’s beneficiary is the Northern Hills Alliance for Children’s First Step Child Care Center in Deadwood, which is scheduled to open March 7. All funds raised will go to the daycare and its operating costs.
“We just thought it was a really great project they are doing up there,” Willie Saye said.
“I’m overwhelmed already,” Northern Hills Alliance chairwoman Nyla Griffith said. “It could’ve been 20 below … but people dressed for the weather, and people are getting cabin fever, so they came out.”
“There’s so many more people here, it’s incredible,” Griffith said. This is the biggest turnout the event has had since its inception.
Griffith said although her agency has all of the funds needed to get started, there are always incidental costs that aren’t anticipated, and this money will help with those costs.
“I’m sure we’re going to be OK financially, with this event and the generosity of the community,” Griffith said.
The races drew a good crowd, too. Sturgis residents Mike and Kathy Kelley said they had never been to the races before but were glad they came this year.
“I couldn’t believe how many people showed up for this,” Mike Kelley said.
Some teams attract a following: More than 65 other teachers turned out to cheer on the Hairy Squatters to the finish line. The support must have worked, because the Squatters won first place in Division One, with a time of 1 minute, 35 seconds
“You really meet a lot of amazing people, and we all really like supporting the team,” Haswell said.
The Squatters have participated for the past four years and have taken first place for the past two, as well as winning the award for most team spirit the year they were known as Little Outhouse on the Prairie. The first year they competed, they built their outhouse on skis and took third place. It was then they decided they needed to rethink their design. This year, the Squatters put their outhouse on bike wheels to make it go faster and welded it together.
“We re-engineered our outhouse to make it much more streamlined,” Haswell said.
Not wanting to rest on their laurels, the Squatters have already begun planning for next year.
“I think our theme next year might include a marching band,” Haswell said, “try and build some state pride.”
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