ON THE SCENE:

ON THE SCENE:

For one weekend in February, Bear Lake in Manawa, Wisconsin, growls with the sound of engines. The annual Manawa Snodeo welcomes engines of many kinds, but mostly snowmobiles, to compete in classic – and sometimes wacky – competitive events. Organizers plow four different tracks on the laketop for radar runs, lakecross, ice ovals for adults and kids. It’ s not an event, though, without some sort of spectacle. For the Snodeo, this means divisions for mini-bikes, lawn mowers and, yes, racers wearing swimsuits. There’ s a vintage snowmobile show, too, as well as parades and princesses. The event started with a lakecross course in 2007 in homage to the snowmobile derbies held on the lake in the early 1970s. Now, the New London Snowriders snowmobile club organizes it and it attracts racers and fans in the thousands.