2017 Wrap Up

Happy New Year! We hope you had a happy holiday season. It was nice to have a white Christmas for the first time in a few years and we know a lot of you took advantage of trails being open. While the first few days of January tend to be a time for looking ahead, we wanted to talk about a few of our favorite moments from 2017.

We got lucky enough to have our annual Snowmobile Demo ride a few weeks late in February. We ran it right out of our back door. People loved seeing our service shop and trying out the 2017 Polaris line-up. There was a good camaraderie and it was nice and toasty over the grilled hot dogs and hamburgers.

In June, we had an ORV demo ride at KB Moto. It was a muddy, sunny day. We got to ride with customers, show off some of the cool Polaris side by sides and ATVs, and even took some videos of trail riding.

The end of July brought our annual Blast on the Beach. This year it was a really windy affair. We still had a full slate of riders and a ton of fun. Our workers managed to get a little color during the day and a lot of laughs with our customers and beach goers.

We’re looking forward to making more memories with you all in 2018. It doesn’t look like we have to do much of a snow dance for our upcoming Snowmobile Demo Ride, but we’ll knock on wood and turn around three times any way, just in case. Happy Holidays from the Appolson’s Team!

An Adventure-Seekers Paradise

This past weekend our Marketing Manager traveled to Maine for a quick Labor Day retreat…and found out it was a great place for ATVing, ORVing, jetskiing, and tons of other nature-filled activities! Check out this view from the summit of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park…not too shabby!

Happy 175th Birthday, Erie County Fair!

This year marks the 175th year of the Erie County Fair, and it’s looking to be the biggest Fair experience yet with over a MILLION people expected to attend this year’s 12-day event! But it all started from humble beginnings…

The Agricultural Society was established in 1819, then called the Niagara County Horticultural Society.  It held its first fair in 1820 on what is now the site of the Donovan Office Building in Buffalo. One year later, Niagara County split into Erie and Niagara Counties, and so did the agricultural society. After the 1821 Fair, the Society foundered due to the poor economy in the area and the difficulty of transporting livestock over nearly impassable roads.  The Society was reborn in 1841 and again started holding its annual Fair.  The Erie County Fair has been held every year since 1841 with the exception of 1943, which was canceled because of World War II.

Other interesting fair facts:

• The oldest building on the grounds is the Octagon Building, which was built in 1885 for $2,037.50.
• The James E. Strates Shows Midway first appeared at the Fair in 1924 and still arrives at the Fair each year via railroad.
• The Fair owns the only original San Francisco Cable Car operating outside those city limits.
• The metal 40-foot span main gate on McKinley Parkway was built in 1930 to allow four automobiles to enter the fairgrounds abreast.
• Lynda Bird Johnson, daughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson, formally dedicated the Historical Building on August 23, 1965.  The Agricultural and Grange Building was opened five days later.
• The Erie County Fair became the country’s largest county fair for the first time in 1970, with an attendance of 600,960.  It is currently the nation’s third largest county fair.
• The Erie County Fair set its attendance record in 2013 with a paid attendance of 1,160,184.

If you stop by this year’s Fair make sure to come and visit us in the Outdoor Showplace Building (near Gate 6)!

We had a great time at Blast on the Beach this weekend, thanks to everyone who came out and had fun in the sun riding brand new Yamaha Waverunners with us!

Come visit us at the Chautauqua County Fair!

This week we’ll be at the Chautauqua County Fair everyday from noon-10pm in the center of the Commercial Building!

Stop by and check out  all our exclusive deals we’re featuring this week plus check out the all new 2015 Polaris 60th Anniversary Edition Assault 144. See you there!

While this year’s Most Mileage Contest is in full swing, last year’s winner Chris stopped by our showroom recently to check out the latest Waverunners and redeem his prize for being crowned 2013’s Most Mileage Contest winner. Chris had bought his 2013 Yamaha FX HO in August of last year and in one short month put over 51 hours on his new ride, earning him the winning title and the $150 prize. This year he plans on bringing his brand new 2014 Yamaha Waverunner down to Key West to enjoy a change of scenery and possibly earn some more bragging rights.

If you think you can out-ride Chris this year submit before and after photos of your odometer at the start and end of your riding season by September 1 to our Facebook, Twitter @Appolsons, or via email to office@appolson.com. Whoever puts the most miles or hours on their vehicle will win a $150 gift certificate that can be used on any product or service in our store! Read up on full details on the 2014 Most Mileage Contest here.

Boating Etiquette 101

This week we’re introducing a new installment on our blog: Watercraft Etiquette 101! These are quick tips, stories, and courtesies that novice riders, and maybe even those with more experience, should know so that everyone can get out and enjoy their watercrafts together on the open sea.

Last weekend on our first Jetski Demo Ride of the season a customer of ours, first-time jetskiier Katy, did something that most  jetskiiers have probably done once or twice before. She had just finished riding and decided to park her jetskis at a dock while her and her family went to get some ice cream. As a first-timer she was unaware that parking jetskis is not the same as parking a regular boat. We kindly explained to her that if she had left her jetskis parked at the boat dock, boaters anxious to get out on the water wouldn’t have been able to launch and then gave her an anchor and showed her how to properly park her jetskis in the water.

The moral of this week’s Watercraft 101 is make sure you’re aware of the rules for launching and parking jetskis! It’s easy to forget that jetskis do not follow the same docking rules as boats, and when you want to get ice cream you have to park your jetski in the right place.

Our Technician Assistance Tuesday has gone virtual! Now you can get our tutorial videos online each month to learn the ins and outs of your equipment from our most experienced techs.

This month we’re taking you inside your jetski to show you how to summarize your vehicle so that it’s riding ready for the season.

 

Service Tip #3

This weeks service tip is for our PWC friends

When running your machine on a flush kit at home, it is imperative that the machine is running prior to you turning on the water.

The reason for this is that if the water is turned on first the cooling water will fill the exhaust waterbox, and with no exhaust pressure removing the water from the box, it will back fill the exhaust and in turn fill the engine with water.

If your in question about what a flush kit is, check out our photo and stop in the showroom to pick one up!

Stay safe out there

This photo was sent in by one of our customers–a Sheriff check of their jetski on Memorial Day. Luckily, they were all set. License, Fire Extinguisher, safety lanyard, whistle, flag, flotation device… Don’t get caught unexpectedly. Be sure to set yourself up for safe and approved fun on the waterways.